The behemoth of U.S. television is angling to capitalize on its surging popularity even earlier than expected.

The NFL, by far the most-watched programming anywhere in the business, could start discussions on new rights pacts as soon as next year, according to a CNBC report. The league was already a “virtual lock” to exercise an opt-out after the 2029 season in most of its domestic rights deals, but starting talks with networks in 2026 on new pacts would be a full seven years before the 2033 expiration of its current deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, Fox, and NBC. 

“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,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said to CNBC. “Obviously, it’s not going to happen this year. But it could happen as early as next year. That could happen.”

An industry source told Front Office Sports that the possibility of earlier talks is one of a series of potential scenarios for the NFL connected to the upcoming contract opt-outs. Goodell and Patriots owner Bob Kraft, the head of the NFL’s media committee, remain in regular contact with all the network and streaming platform heads, in part through events such as the league’s annual meeting and the Sun Valley Conference. 

Ultimately, though, all roads point to the league garnering a sizable increase from the more than $10 billion per year it collectively gets in domestic rights, and Goodell is already on record thinking the NFL’s rights are “undervalued.”

“The networks are eventually going to have to pay up,” a source told FOS. 

Deal Points

There are plenty of reasons why the NFL would want to push the envelope as soon as possible regarding its domestic media rights, the league’s top revenue source. Thanks in part to Nielsen’s newly introduced Big Data + Panel audience measurement process, the NFL is off to a historic start to the season, and its power to aggregate audiences is reaching unprecedented levels.

After setting a U.S. television record in February with the audience for Super Bowl LIX, the first two weeks of the 2025 regular season hit another viewership milestone, averaging 20.7 million viewers per game. There have been several individual records established within that, particularly the Week 2 Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs that was Fox’s most-watched regular-season Sunday game in network history. 

More records are expected as the season continues, particularly with the late-afternoon Thanksgiving game between the Chiefs and Cowboys. 

That lofty status, however, is not guaranteed as the entire media business goes through historic levels of disruption amid the growing rise of streaming. 

Additional factors at play include the likely arrival of an 18th regular-season game in the NFL schedule, MLB’s own pursuit of a media-rights bonanza in 2028, and a volatile political climate that all lend further support to the NFL locking in an elevated long-term situation for its rights. 

Roundball Crux

Perhaps most directly, the NBA’s ability to double its domestic rights fees in $77 billion worth of new deals beginning this year with Amazon, ESPN, and NBC opened plenty of eyes at the NFL—particularly given the NBA’s viewership struggles through much of last season. Those three networks are all NFL rights holders as well.

“That’s the thing that really caught the league’s attention,” a source told FOS.

Added Kosner Media founder and former ESPN executive John Kosner, “The NFL knows it has the most valuable content in the U.S.—sports or otherwise. The league looks at other recent sports media deals, and it feels its rights are already undervalued.”

The recently signed $7.7 billion deal over seven years between UFC and CBS parent Paramount, another NFL rights holder, cut along the same lines. 

The NFL’s incumbent rights holders are not required to participate in any discussions outside of the specified opt-out windows, but with massive competition expected for any package that would become available, none are expected to refuse. A league source told FOS that even with the opt-outs exercised, talks could begin in that scenario in 2027, meaning a shift to 2026 is not necessarily as radical as it might first appear. 

One executive at a league TV partner, who declined to be named, thinks the story amounts to a “nothing-burger.” But consultant Patrick Crakes, a former infantry officer as well as media executive, believes Goodell is “prepping the battlefield” to opt out early.

“It’s much like The Godfather. The NFL is going to make [its partners] an offer they can’t refuse,” says the former Fox executive.

ESPN, Fox, and Prime declined to comment. NBC and CBS could not be reached.

The sudden departure of host Molly Qerim from ESPN’s First Take has opened up one of the choicest gigs on sports TV. 

The embrace debate show led by featured analyst Stephen A. Smith is a TV powerhouse, anchoring ESPN’s weekday studio lineup and serving as a showcase for up-and-comers such as Monica McNutt and sports radio legends like Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.  

In August, First Take averaged 418,000 viewers, up 24% from the previous year.

It won’t be easy to succeed Qerim, who expertly set the table for a decade. As one TV veteran familiar with the job notes: “The hosting job is very nuanced. People think it takes a big personality to sit in Molly’s chair, but it’s really about bringing out and managing the other personalities and getting them to perform and entertain. Knowing when to push, pull, pivot, etcetera.”

Some free advice: Stephen A. should not consider doubling as host and commentator. That was Skip Bayless’s move when he brought Undisputed back from hiatus. Bad call. It was the beginning of the end for Bayless’s FS1 debate show. As executive producer of First Take, Smith will have the final word on who sits across from him.

The tryouts have already begun. SportsCenter anchor Amina Smith got her shot on Monday’s show and did well. Ditto for Shae Cornette on Tuesday. 

Here’s our scouting report of nine on-air talents who could mesh with Smith and other First Take regulars. 

Inside ESPN

• Monica McNutt: Smart, funny, and feisty. She went viral for standing up to Stephen A. on his own show. (See McNutt’s interview at last year’s Tuned In event here.)
• Shae Cornette: Her résumé as a former Bears reporter is a plus for this NFL-driven show. She hosted Tuesday morning’s First Take and fit right in.
• Amina Smith: Relatively new ESPN hire (March 2024). But she hosted Monday’s show.
• Christine Williamson: Like Cornette, she’s filled in for Qerim before and did a great job.
• Courtney Cronin: Her reporting chops could help take this show in a new direction.
• Nicole Briscoe: The SportsCenter anchor is talented and versatile. She’s got the right résumé.
• Evan Cohen: Awful Announcing is high on the host of ESPN Radio’s UnSportsmanLike. 

Outside ESPN

• Colleen Wolfe: Loads of experience at NFL Network, including hosting NFL GameDay Kickoff and tentpole events like Super Bowl and NFL Draft. Qerim also hailed from NFLN.
• Sherree Burruss: Former sideline reporter who’s made waves since joining NFL Media in 2023. 

ESPN president of content Burke Magnus told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic last week that the network will try out various talents from inside and outside ESPN over the next 30 to 45 days to fill the hosting role Qerim has held since 2015. 

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and U.S. House members Pat Ryan and Joaquin Castro—three Democrats and an independent—have jointly written a letter to the leaders of Disney, ESPN, MLB, and the NFL about “serious concerns” regarding ESPN’s planned new partnerships with the sports leagues, Front Office Sports has learned. 

Last month, ESPN announced its intention to acquire NFL Network in exchange for a 10% stake in ESPN, part of a wide-ranging partnership with the league that also includes linear distribution and trademark rights for NFL RedZone. ESPN has separately reached an agreement in principle to license the MLB.TV streaming service.  

The senators explained their concerns to Disney CEO Bob Iger, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. You can read the letter in its entirety here.

“The agreements between ESPN, the NFL, and Major League Baseball (MLB) that have recently become public raise serious concerns and could entrench ESPN’s dominance over competitors in sports distribution,” the letter said. “As prices rise across the board, including for cable and satellite TV and streaming services, sports fans should not be forced to pay more or jump through more hoops to watch their favorite team. We are concerned that these new deals could hurt consumers by disadvantaging competitors, limiting choices, raising prices for viewers, and creating potential conflicts of interest.”

ESPN’s deal with the NFL still must pass regulatory muster. Ironically, initial speculation involved President Donald Trump possibly holding up the deal, and Trump’s Justice Department is reportedly planning a “substantive review” of the agreement. Now more potential pressure on the deal is coming from the other side of the aisle. 

The letter says the NFL’s equity stake in ESPN would give the league “an incentive to grant ESPN anticompetitive preferential treatment over other distribution partners” and that it “would likely harm ESPN’s competitors, who could find it challenging to compete, ultimately resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for viewers if disadvantaged competitors subsequently fail.”

The letter further alleges that ESPN’s stated willingness to do deals for other leagues to obtain an equity stake in the network lays out a “blueprint for future consolidation and consumer harm.”

The NFL, through its stake in Skydance, already owns an equity stake in CBS, another of its rights partners. (Front Office Sports’s primary investor, RedBird IMI, is part of RedBird Capital, which is also an investor in CBS’s parent company, Paramount.)

The letter also says a deal with the NFL could make ESPN’s rivals further struggle to compete with its distribution, that more people watching the NFL on RedZone would make viewers less likely to watch games on other networks—CBS and Fox, which aren’t named in the letter—that the deal could impact ESPN’s news coverage, and that merging the NFL’s and ESPN’s fantasy football operations would result in less competition. 

Goodell assured ESPN employees that the league would not get involved with their journalism, FOS previously reported. 

On the MLB front, the senators worried that the aforementioned deal in principle “could make it more difficult and more expensive for current cable or other linear MLB.TV subscribers to watch games.”

The senators raised 12 questions for Disney, ESPN, the NFL, and MLB related to these concerns, including how the NFL and ESPN would “safeguard” against giving each other preferential treatment, and whether MLB.TV would remain available as a stand-alone product vs. requiring a subscription to ESPN. 

Spokespeople for ESPN, the NFL, and MLB declined to comment for this story.