NFL Exec: We’re Reaching More Fans Without Spreading Too Thin

NFL game broadcasts were on a record number of media platforms this season, but the league’s top media executive pushed back on the notion that America’s top sport is spreading itself too thin.

“This idea that like, it’s super fragmented, we’re moving things around, when you step back, that’s not really the case,” NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp said during an interview with Front Office Sports in New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX. “And we’re finding with the viewership numbers, people are finding the game.”

In 2024, there were exclusive NFL game broadcasts on linear channels ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and NFL Network, as well as streaming platforms Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, Peacock, and Netflix. That’s 10 different channels or services that aired NFL games. Additionally, YouTube TV carried the out-of-market NFL Sunday Ticket package.

What Do the Numbers Say?

TV ratings were down 2% in the regular season compared to 2023. “A lot of people obsess about the minutiae, week-to-week, year-to-year fluctuations,” Rolapp said. “We don’t.” Amazon had its highest NFL viewership yet, and Netflix set league streaming records on Christmas Day. 

The NFL had 70 of the 100 most-watched events in the U.S. during 2024, so it’s no surprise that media-rights fees are the league’s largest revenue stream—something that can be increased at the end of this decade by opting out of the $110 billion broadcast deals that are set to run until 2033. On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called those opt-outs “incredibly valuable.”

“There’s been a lot of talk about the opt-outs,” Rolapp said. “We can opt out of some of them, none of them, all of them. We haven’t made any decisions. But the reason they exist is that if anyone can tell you what the future is gonna look like, certainly in 2030, they’re lying to you. Nobody knows. We’re in a time of unprecedented change. So, when you don’t know what the future looks like, you put a premium on flexibility, and that’s why they exist.”

Beyond U.S. Borders

As the NFL continues to expand its presence outside the U.S., including a regular-season game in Australia in 2026, signs are pointing toward the league creating and selling a TV package of international games, likely worth billions of dollars.

Goodell said he could “absolutely” see the NFL doing that, and Rolapp shed a little more light on the thinking.

“Yeah, I think that’s possible,” he said. “We’re looking at all iterations of this. When you think about international, you need to think about the platforms you’re on. So, you take those Netflix games we did on Christmas Day—those were the first game packages that we sold to one media partner for global distribution. That is not something before streaming that was really available.”

This season, Peacock aired the league’s debut in Brazil on a Friday night, while NFL Network carried games from London and Munich on Sunday mornings. Rolapp also admitted that 9:30 a.m. ET game windows that have been used for London and Germany contests “kind of work better internationally” for viewership purposes.

The league has announced five international games for the 2025 season (three in London and one each in Berlin and Madrid). Games in Brazil and Ireland are still expected, but signs are pointing toward a previously anticipated eighth game in Mexico City not happening.