In 2014, Mark Cuban predicted the NFL would eventually “implode” because of greed, overexpansion and television overkill. He specifically pointed to the league stuffing games onto Thursdays and non-traditional windows, turning football into an around-the-clock television product instead of the event programming that once made it special. It sounded ridiculous. The NFL wasn’t imploding. It was conquering America.
“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered,” Cuban famously said.
Then came the line that still hangs over the NFL today like a warning label: “They’re getting hoggy.”
Fast forward to 2026 and Cuban was wrong, at least so far. The NFL didn’t collapse. It became more powerful than ever. Which suddenly makes his warning far more interesting, because now the greed question isn’t about survival. It’s about limits.
Could the NFL ever get TOO greedy?
This season, the NFL will air games on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday is basically the league’s load-management day. The NFL now owns Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It’s staging international games in the UK, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, France and Spain, because apparently Roger Goodell looked at FIFA and thought, “Cute little global operation you’ve got there.” Somewhere a soccer fan in Madrid is trying to explain an illegal formation while Goodell counts streaming revenue projections.
Here’s the wild part: the NFL still wants more.
The league’s current television and streaming agreements are worth approximately $110 billion through 2033. Yet this month, the NFL is actively negotiating to restructure those deals early with media partners before the season even begins. The NFL is leveraging change-of-control provisions tied to Paramount’s Skydance acquisition to reopen talks with CBS while preparing to negotiate individually with Fox, NBC, ESPN and Amazon afterward.
The league reportedly wants anywhere from a 50% to 100% increase in future rights fees. The NFL looked at a $110 billion deal and said, “We have undersold ourselves.” That’s either brilliant business or the opening scene of a future Netflix documentary titled “At What Point Was Enough, Enough?”
When the NFL Became Television
This is where Fox Chairman Emeritus Rupert Murdoch suddenly enters the story like a billionaire emergency responder trying to save broadcast television.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Murdoch privately warned President Trump during a February dinner that the NFL’s aggressive move toward streaming could “kill” over-the-air broadcast networks. Following that conversation, the FCC initiated an inquiry into sports rights migrating to streaming platforms while the Department of Justice began examining aspects of the NFL’s media structure. Because Murdoch understands something maybe better than anybody alive: the NFL isn’t just ON television anymore. The NFL IS television.
Last year, 86 of the top 100 broadcasts in America were NFL games. Not political debates. Not award shows. Football.
Fox currently pays roughly $2.25 billion annually for its NFL package. CBS pays around $2.1 billion annually. NBC, ESPN, Amazon, Netflix and YouTube are all in bed with the league because live sports remain the only thing left in media that people absolutely insist on watching live.
Without the NFL, affiliate fees weaken, local station ratings drop, ad rates shrink, sports divisions become less relevant and entire media ecosystems wobble. Fox Sports itself became a powerhouse because Murdoch stole NFL rights from CBS back in 1994. That move transformed Fox from The Simpson’s network into a legitimate sports and entertainment giant overnight.
So, when Murdoch sees the NFL aggressively pushing deeper into streaming with Amazon, Netflix, YouTube and more, he sees something terrifying: the possibility that the NFL no longer needs traditional television nearly as much as traditional television needs the NFL. The league has now reached monopoly level cultural power. The league isn’t negotiating from strength anymore. It’s negotiating from dominance.
That leads to the uncomfortable question hanging over the entire sports media industry: what exactly is the endgame here? Will there eventually come a day where networks aren’t involved at all? Will football become almost entirely streaming? Mostly subscription-based? Eventually pay-per-view? Financially, the temptation for the NFL is obvious.
The Super Bowl now draws more than 120 million viewers across platforms. If someday the NFL convinced even 50 million households globally to pay $20-$30 directly for a premium Super Bowl stream, you’re suddenly talking about roughly $1 billion to $1.5 billion in direct revenue from one game.
No network middleman, affiliate splits, carriage disputes or shared revenue headaches. Just direct cash flowing straight into league accounts while Roger Goodell slowly emerges from a pile of streaming subscriptions like a Bond villain.
Realistically, the NFL probably cannot fully put the Super Bowl behind a paywall tomorrow. Politically and culturally, America would revolt. Congress would likely get involved. Advertisers still value gigantic free audiences.
But partial premium models? Enhanced betting streams? Exclusive camera feeds? Alternate broadcasts? Premium playoff access? Maybe this is simply capitalism working exactly how capitalism works.
The Case for the NFL’s Defense
That’s the other side of this argument.
Nobody criticizes Netflix for chasing every possible subscriber dollar. Amazon wasn’t built on restraint and moderation, so why should the NFL voluntarily stop printing money? Opening negotiations years early? The move of a league that knows it holds all the leverage. More international games? An aggressive play for global market share.
That’s the tension. Because individually, every decision makes business sense.
Collectively though, fans need six subscriptions, four passwords and the patience of a hostage negotiator just to find kickoff. At some point your remote control is going to ask: “Would you like to upgrade to NFL Diamond Elite Platinum Max Plus for access to fourth quarters?”
We still haven’t said no. Fans complain constantly. Then ratings go up. People scream about subscription fatigue. Then buy another subscription. People threaten boycotts. Then the Super Bowl breaks another record.
That’s why Cuban’s warning still matters.
Not because the NFL is collapsing. The NFL isn’t collapsing anytime soon. The machine is too massive, too culturally dominant and too perfectly designed for modern consumption habits, but eventually every empire starts believing the audience will tolerate absolutely anything forever.
That’s usually when the danger begins. Maybe the NFL still hasn’t found that line yet, or maybe they’re getting a little hoggy.
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With decades of experience behind the mic, John Lund is more than a sports commentator and weekly columnist for Barrett Media—he’s a storyteller, humorist, and true fan. He’s hosted shows in mid sized markets like Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City to larger cities like San Francisco, Detroit and Dallas. John has even hosted nationally on ESPN Radio. Known for his sharp wit and deep sports knowledge, John welcomes your feedback. Reach him on X @JohnLundRadio or by email at John@JohnLundRadio.com.
