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As the U.S. Department of Justice investigates whether the NFL uses anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers, President Donald Trump said he is not happy with how much it is costing fans to watch the league as the sports media landscape shifts toward streaming.
“It’s tough,” Trump said during an interview on Full Measure that aired Sunday. “You got people that love football. They’re great people. They don’t make enough money to go and pay this. It’s tough. And they could be killing the golden goose.”
The DOJ opened an investigation into the NFL last month, but Trump won’t guarantee that the government will take any definitive action against the league.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Trump said of any next steps. “They’re making a lot of money. They could make a little bit less. They could let the people see. You have people that live for Sunday. They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden, they’re gonna have to pay $1,000 a game? It’s crazy, so I’m not happy about it.”
While no NFL games cost $1,000 to watch, if a fan wanted to legally stream every game of the 2025 NFL season, they would have had to pay more than $1,000—a figure that was widely circulated online and on social media last fall. Streaming is not required for the majority of games, though, which are mostly available on over-the-air TV networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.
Amazon Prime Video exclusively streamed the Thursday Night Football package for a fourth season, while Netflix, Peacock, and YouTube also had some exclusive streaming broadcasts (all games in a team’s home market are required to be also shown over the air if a streamer or cable channel is showing it nationally). YouTube TV had NFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market rights for a third season.
“There’s something very sad when they take football away from many, many people,” Trump said. “Very sad. I don’t like it.”
The NFL’s 2026 schedule will be released on Thursday, when streamers are expected to land the rights to a number of key game broadcasts.
‘Unwatchable’ Kickoff
Trump also reiterated his disdain for the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule, which was first implemented during the 2024 season and tweaked last year to encourage more returns.
“They have that stupid kickoff thing that you can’t watch,” Trump said. “It’s unwatchable. I hate the games where they have the new phony kickoff. I don’t think it’s any safer. I hope college football doesn’t do that. … They ruin the game.”
The NFL had 168 concussions during games in the 2025 season, up 30% from the 129 in the 2024 campaign.
“They have to be careful, because others have tried this, and all of a sudden, you don’t have a sport anymore,” Trump said of the kickoff changes.
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