SAN FRANCISCO — As the NFL begins the run-up to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium between the Seahawks and Patriots, the NFL is awash in rising revenues, growing viewership, unchallenged popularity in U.S. sports, and the rising potential of even more money to come.
There are still plenty of key issues surrounding the league, however, as commissioner Roger Goodell conducts his annual Super Bowl press conference on Monday.
That yearly tradition formerly was held toward the end of Super Bowl week, but the league moved it to a Monday scheduling in 2024, in part to keep the media focus of the week on the upcoming game itself.
Still, Goodell will have no shortage of critical topics to address as the NFL approaches inflection points on most of the core areas of its operations. Among them:
- Media rights: The league has already signaled that it will exercise an opt-out after the 2029 season, with talks to begin as soon as this year. How that unfolds, particularly in the wake of historic viewership this season, has massive implications on both the league and its rights holders.
- 18-game season: Last spring, an expanded regular season was seen as inevitable, but not necessarily imminent. A potential timetable for implementation, however, could be moving up, as Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently told a Boston radio station, with great certainty, that “every team will go to 18 [regular season] games and two [preseason games].” That matter, of course, will need to be collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association.
- International growth: Fundamentally intertwined with a larger regular season is the possibility of every team in the league playing at least one non-U.S. game every season. Kraft, in the same interview, said, “We’re going to push like the dickens now to make international more important with us.” How that would happen in a way that advances the NFL’s global ambitions but remains mindful of player health and safety concerns will be the key test. The league played seven international games in 2025, a number set to increase this year.
- ESPN deal: The NFL is now a 10% equity holder in the Disney-controlled outlet following the closing of a large-scale deal with the sports media giant. What will be the future relationship between the two titans?
- Bears: The league’s team in the No. 3 U.S. media market is now in the middle of a two-state bidding war between Illinois and Indiana over a future domed stadium. Goodell has personally toured sites in both states. To what degree will he get further involved in the situation?
- Domed stadiums: The Chicago situation is just one of a fast-growing trend around the league toward building indoor facilities, one also playing out in Tennessee, Cleveland, Washington, Kansas City, and Denver. Those venues, while potentially bringing bigger benefits for their home communities, also promise to help shift the nature of the league as it becomes more of an indoor sport.
- Bad Bunny: Goodell has stood firmly behind the Super Bowl LX halftime show performer, saying last fall that the Puerto Rican superstar was “one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world.” As the game approaches, complaints about the show and the selection of Bad Bunny are beginning to resurface among political conservatives.
- Broader politics: Compared to the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump, the league has adeptly managed to stay more out of the crosshairs of the White House. Is the increasingly unpredictable nature of Trump headed for a renewed collision, though, with the NFL’s growing popularity?
- Giants: The long-struggling club recently hired coaching veteran John Harbaugh, signaling a potential new era, but co-owner Steve Tisch is part of the newly released Epstein files. Will the commissioner intervene here?
Goodell’s media session is set for Monday afternoon at the San Jose Convention Center, just before key players and coaches for the Seahawks and Patriots arrive there for the Super Bowl Opening Night that is accessible to fans.
