Roger Goodell Says NFL Could Look to Renegotiate Broadcast Contracts as Soon as 2026

Even though the NFL's current media rights deals don't expire until after the 2029 season at the earliest, commissioner Roger Goodell says the league could go back to the negotiating table at some point next year.

Speaking to CNBC's Alex Sherman, Goodell said a renegotiation with its media partners "could happen as early as" 2026.

"I think our partners would want to sit down and talk to us at any time, and we continue to dialogue with them. I like that opportunity," Goodell said. "Obviously it's not going to happen this year. But it could happen as early as next year. That could happen."

The NFL finalized its current media rights deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox and NBC in 2021. The 11-year pact with all of those outlets pays the league $10 billion annually. It also includes an opt out for the league after the seventh season.

There are certain incentives for all parties to negotiate a new deal as soon as possible. The obvious benefit for the NFL would be locking in more money and revenue. Media rights holders would be able to extend the number of years they have rights to NFL games.

However, Sherman pointed out two potential roadblocks for the NFL to being able to start media rights negotiations. The first one being that there could be a potential battle over an 18-game season.

The NFL would presumably want to have an 18-game schedule in place before negotiating a new media rights deal because an additional week of regular-season games means the league can ask for even more money.

Goodell has made it clear that the league wants to go to 18 games. Former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. said leading up to the Super Bowl in February that "no one" in the union is in favor of adding another game to the schedule.

As for the second issue, Sherman noted it could be "tricky" for any talks to happen early in 2026 because of the pending deal between ESPN and the NFL that would give the league a 10 percent ownership stake in the media outlet.

Given ESPN's standing as a media-rights holder for the league, renegotiating a deal before that acquisition is official could present a conflict of interest.

The NFL's desire to renegotiate its media rights deals comes as the NBA's 11-year, $76 billion rights deal begins starting with the 2025-26 season. MLB is reportedly close to finalizing a three-year media rights deal that could be worth $2.4 billion.

UFC recently signed a media rights deal with Paramount that will pay the MMA promotion $7.7 billion over seven years.

At a time of great uncertainty for traditional television with the shrinking of the cable and satellite markets, live sports has become the go-to option for many broadcast and streaming networks.

The NFL, in particular, remains the most reliable source of engagement. The league noted on Sept. 9 it had the highest average viewership for games in Week 1 since at least 1998.

In 2024, 45 of the top 100 most-watched primetime shows were NFL games, including each of the top 11.