The NFL is not chasing streaming platforms despite criticism and concern the league is moving more away from broadcast. Mike North, the league’s VP of Broadcast Planning, recently appeared on The Schrager Hour to pull back the curtain on how the NFL decides where its games land.
What We Know: The release of the NFL schedule saw games shift to Wednesday’s in week one and twelve. It also saw broadcast pick up additional games that were originally on ESPN, but left as part of the acquisition of NFL Network. The NFL has intentionally placed games on streaming platforms where audiences already spend time, according to North. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and others each earned their packages by proving large-scale viewership. Notably, North confirmed YouTube remained an active bidder deep into the placement cycle for the 2026 season. Ultimately, Netflix secured the Wednesday night Thanksgiving package over YouTube and others.
What They Said Mike North on how the NFL chooses which streaming platforms to partner with “We’re not breaking new technology here. We’re going to places where our fans already are. We talked about Amazon. They’re doing broadcast level television viewership numbers. Everybody’s got Amazon, right? We all need paper towels. Everybody’s got Netflix, we all watch Stranger Things. We’re going where the people are, we’re fishing where the fish are. This is where the fans tell us that they’re ingesting their content now. Why wouldn’t live sports be part of that content?”
Mike North believes the league’s intentions with streaming platforms are not short-term “These are all 10-20-30 year decisions. I don’t think anybody’s just grabbing the money and running. I think this is all about sustained future health of this league. Right now, it’s working. If it starts to look differently on that little graph on that line chart, we’ll adjust.”
What Remains Unclear: While the NFL continues to hold a hard stance on the amount of games on broadcast networks, the future is still debatable. With the league reportedly seeking upwards of a 50% rights increase from their broadcast partners, several networks could be out of the bidding. The NFL rights deals all have opt-outs following the 2029 season, with ESPN the lone outlier with the 2030 season. No details were also shared on why YouTube chose to not agree to a game broadcast this upcoming season.
What It Means: According to North, the NFL is playing the long game with streaming platforms. However, it will be interesting to see if higher rights costs wet the appetite for streaming platforms to continue paying. If NFL product is not bringing in enough added subscribers to the platform, while networks continue to evaluate the cost of doing business with the NFL. The league could be in a pickle where no one will either desire nor afford the rights fees it feels it commands. If that were to come to pass, that would affect a league where the majority of revenue for teams is dependent on league media rights.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
