There’s no league better at conjuring new, lucrative media rights out of thin air than the NFL. The league is once again playing the long game, eyeing the eventual sale of a separate international package that could fetch more than $1 billion in rights fees, sources tell Front Office Sports.

The NFL declined to comment on potentially adding to its current rights deals, valued at $111 billion over 11 years. But piece by piece, the building blocks are sliding into place. Consider:

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just speculated his league will eventually expand its International Series to 16 games in foreign cities—up from five this year and eight next season. If Goodell gets his wish for an 18-game regular season, he will have more inventory of the most valuable property in entertainment: live NFL games. Goodell’s also not ruling out playing an international Super Bowl overseas in London. That could be the potential cherry on top of a lucrative international game package.

One source familiar with the league’s expansion strategy confirmed that selling a separate package of international games is a definite possibility. However, he said the NFL has not made a decision—or kicked off the process. 

“That’s really all to be determined,” Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s chief media and business officer, told Front Office Sports newsletter writer Eric Fisher at the league’s fall meetings in Atlanta. “But there’s clearly been a focus on international, how we grow the game there, grow our commercial operations, grow the fan base. That certainly has a lot to do with how we do our game packages, both here and abroad. But we haven’t made any decisions yet.”

Patrick Crakes, the former Fox Sports executive turned media consultant, tells me selling a separate international package “makes a lot of sense” for the country’s richest, most powerful league. 

“I think they’ll move fast. Maybe in a year or so?” Crakes told me. “Think they’d ask for at least $1 billion to $1.5 billion for 11 to 13 international games.”

John Kosner, the former ESPN and NBA executive, predicted to me back in December 2023 that the league would create a Sunday morning package of international games. That would effectively create a fourth window on Sunday, with games airing from early in the morning to almost midnight ET. It would be the league’s sixth overall TV/streaming package, counting Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football.

“By creating a weekly international package of games, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, the NFL would create a brand-new, sixth regular-season games package—ideal for a global streamer like … Netflix. How valuable would that be?” asked Kosner. “Well, an international Super Bowl could become a potential carrot for bidders.” 

Who Could Air the Games?

As previously noted by Kosner and ProFootballTalk, dangling a juicy new international package could attract global streamers like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, or Apple—not to mention legacy media partners such as Disney, NBC, CBS, and Fox, which currently pay more than $2 billion a year each to televise games.

The NFL is playing five international games in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brazil this season. Since launching the International Series in 2007, the NFL has played games in Mexico, the U.K., Germany, and Brazil.

Considering the NBA’s eye-popping haul of $77 billion over 11 years for its media rights, the NFL is expected to opt out of its current media deals (with the exception of Disney) after the 2028 season, per CNBC.

The additional revenue could also help Goodell reach his stated target of $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027. Goodell recently pushed through a proposal allowing owners to sell 10% of their clubs to private equity groups. The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement runs through March 2030. Both an 18-game season and a 16-game international slate would be major negotiating points for a new CBA—and are likely joined at the hip. But the NFL usually gets its way, noted Kosner. Just ask the previous defenders of 14-game and 16-game regular seasons.

“All of the major leagues are looking for growth overseas; a weekly NFL game that counts would raise the ante considerably,” he says. “These moves would all require owner and player approval—but the NFL has shown itself to be deft in getting its constituents aboard to make the game bigger and even more profitable. I believe it will happen.”

The most dangerous place to be is between Jerry Jones and a microphone. Especially since he’s now targeting local radio jocks. The billionaire Cowboys owner made himself look small by seemingly threatening radio hosts on the team’s flagship radio station in Dallas. 

On Tuesday, after the Cowboys were embarrassed 47–9 by the Lions, Jones grew irate over questions about whether he did enough during the offseason to improve his 3–3 team. 

“This is not your job. Your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. … I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions, men. … I’m not kidding,” he told hosts Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy during his weekly appearance. 

Is Jones kidding? What were the hosts supposed to ask him about after the Lions humiliated America’s Team in front of their home fans on the owner’s 82nd birthday? Shariff hit the nail on the head when he tweeted that Jones, with his Texas-size ego, wants it both ways.

“I said the standard of the Dallas Cowboys has sadly been lowered. Jerry wants praise for 12-win regular seasons. He wants a parade for the branding, TV ratings, and attendance. He must not realize NO ONE CARES,” Shariff tweeted. “The standard for America’s team is supposed to be rings, period.”

Three-time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe also let Jones have it on ESPN’s First Take for making the hosts fear for their jobs. “I hate, I detest, I despise, someone that will prey on the weak. Because Jerry Jones is in an advantageous situation, because he has the power in this situation, he would actually say that publicly. That tells me a lot about a man. That tells me a lot about a man that has power—and who would abuse that power,” Sharpe said. “To tell that man, ‘I will get somebody in here to ask me favorable questions.’ That is absolutely that guy’s job. … See, Jerry wants all of the credit when things go well but none of the blame.”

The Fallout

Hours later, after the NFL owners meetings wrapped up, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini asked Jones about his comments. 

“If I’m going to be grilled by the tribunal, I don’t need it to be by the guys I’m paying. I can take it from fans and take it from other people. I take a lot of pride in how fair and how much I try to work with the media, we’re brothers and sisters. But I was a little frustrated there today,” Jones said.

“The wrong ones were doing the questioning. Now, if those had been real fans sitting there or if there had been people that knew what they were talking about, football people, I might have had a different answer.”

Shariff tweeted a response and said more was yet to come during his Wednesday show:

“Is this real life???

I WISH Jerry Jones paid me.

He insults us again and we’ve had back and forth over WAY bigger things in our 14 years.

I truly don’t understand what the hell is going on. 

Full thoughts tomorrow morning @1053thefan #ShanandRJ”