Ex-NFL star predicts streaming giants will team up for bundles as league rights become ‘so damn expensive’

With a new NFL media rights deal potentially on the horizon, new bidders on the outside looking in are likely to make their pitch to be brought into the football family. 

To do so, the offers need to be quite lucrative. 

The NFL reportedly had a fall timeframe to complete a new media rights deal, but John Ourand of Puck reported earlier this month that it is now believed the league wants it done before Week 1 in September. The league technically can’t exit the current media rights deals until after the 2029 season, but there isn’t expected to be any opposition to getting something new done with its partners. 

With additional media partners potentially entering the fold in this potential new deal, as well as the incumbents like FOX, CBS and NBC, the NFL should see more than its roughly $10 billion per year.

But one former NFL Pro Bowler believes these streaming services trying to jump one another to acquire rights to the most profitable professional sports league in the U.S. will need to find ways to team up themselves.

“There’s all kinds of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) services and all different ways to distribute,” ex-NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman said on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.” “The NFL is working heavy in their FAST channels distributing out to Pluto and Amazon Freevee, YouTube. This thing is not gonna stop and what will happen is it’ll become a bidding war. And what we’re gonna see over time, because NFL rights are getting so expensive, is bundling. 

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“These networks are gonna be bundling up – YouTube with a TikTok. There’s gonna have to be a lot of that because these NFL rights are going to be so damn expensive, these streaming services are going to have to figure it out.”

If that happens, the question then becomes how does it impact the NFL consumer? 

The FCC said last month it would seek public comment about the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services, which includes the other major sports leagues in the country like the NBA, MLB and more. For the NFL specifically, to catch every ounce of action throughout the 2025 season, fans had to pay at least $575, with some spending nearly $800.

NFL Sunday Ticket’s new subscribers had to pay $276 for the season, but existing customers with a YouTube TV membership had to fork over $378. With no membership to YouTube TV, it was $480. Then, the primetime slots went to different streaming platforms like Netflix ($7.99 for cheapest subscription), ESPN’s new streaming service to only include live sports ($29.99), and Peacock’s “Premium” membership ($10.99) to watch “Sunday Night Football.”

In total for streaming, ESPN cost $179.94, Peacock was $54.95 , Amazon Prime Video was $35.96, and NFL+ was $20.97. Add it all up for new Sunday Ticket subscribers, and the 2025 NFL season cost for those fans was $575.81. If you were an existing Sunday Ticket subscriber without YouTube TV, it cost $779.81.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted that negotiations for a new media rights deal won’t happen until the NFL Players’ Association votes in a new executive director. 

And to finish with food for thought: Ourand also noted in a newsletter last month that streamers will be getting the larger chunk of the NFL media rights pie.

“That model would likely include five games each, including four international games the league took back from NFL Network and the two Christmas Day games that Netflix currently has for one more year,” Ourand wrote. 

As Merriman put it, “The NFL is smart. They’re gonna make the most money they possibly can.” 

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