SBJ Football: Media partners break down NFL schedule

Hello! It’s Jason Wilson, filling in for Ben Fischer, who’s off this week.

This edition of SBJ Football features our colleague Austin Karp covering the NFL schedule release. Then Mary Gaughan examines how the league’s record international slate reflects how its evolving its strategy for reaching new fans.

And, they’re off!

No, we’re not talking about Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. It’s that time on the calendar when NFL teams and media partners have their own spring holiday with the schedule release. As this newsletter lands, teams are jockeying for the best social media unveils (check out more on what resonated in Friday’s editions of Morning Buzz and the Daily).

But from a media perspective, the feeling across the board is that the NFL gave a thoughtful, balanced schedule to partners. That, of course, comes with the usual-suspect platitudes of “pleased” or “excited” or “pumped” or “thrilled” or “couldn’t have gone better” from network execs (which looks to be true, given the hard work of Mike North’s scheduling team at the NFL league office).

How the league feels

There seemed to be more moving parts than in recent years, with additional games out in the market and new partner priorities. That created a ton of late maneuvers to add or shift inventory — with some partners like Sunday Ticket rights holder YouTube getting shut out.

“Not everybody can win every opportunity, but we’re incredibly excited to have a very big partnership with YouTube around ‘Sunday Ticket’ that’s going to go for a number of more years,” said NFL EVP/Media Distribution Hans Schroeder.

There also was the backdrop of an FCC inquiry into the NFL, but Schroeder noted the league didn’t see that as a distraction in creating the schedule. “I don’t think we felt any pressure, to be honest,” Schroeder said, regarding pressure on keeping more games on broadcast TV. “Our focus is always, ‘How do we find the most reach? How do we serve our fans in the best possible way that we can?’”

Schroeder noted the league was keen on expanding the distribution of its “tentpole moments.” This included creating a tripleheader for Fox in one day (featuring a morning game), selling three games to Netflix (two of which are the first Australia and Thanksgiving Eve games), giving NBC and Peacock a Saturday doubleheader and more.

Also new for Netflix this year: a weekly NFL show. “We’ve got to figure out exactly what the content and programming angle is, but think about a weekly, topical, highlight news, entertainment-type show that’s engaging the Netflix audience on a weekly basis,” noted Schroeder.

For Amazon and Fox, there is going to be a lot of holiday cheer this season. Amazon gets “TNF” games on Black Friday, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, while Fox has a Thanksgiving game.

Where do things go with YouTube?

Schroeder also noted the NFL will likely have three regular-season games to work with in the market heading into the next campaign. Could YouTube re-enter such conversations given how negotiations broke down this season?

“It’s a great relationship,” Schroeder said. “They mentioned in one of their earnings calls that we’ve reached the highest number of subscribers of ‘Sunday Ticket’ ever. They’ve done a great job continuing to build that product. We couldn’t be happier with it.”

CBS pleased with NFL slate

Dan Weinberg, CBS Sports’ EVP/programming, called this coming season “one of the best schedules that we’ve seen over the last several years.”

The network again put a focus on its Sunday 4:25pm ET national windows, which has been the NFL’s best window for three straight seasons. “The volume and the tonnage of games all season long is terrific,” Weinberg said.

CBS will again lean into being the home of the AFC, and that includes four games with the Chiefs as QB Patrick Mahomes comes back from an injury. Those Chiefs games are spread over CBS’ schedule. “As far as we’re concerned, the more of the Chiefs we can get, the better,” said Weinberg.

But while the AFC is a high priority, Weinberg also emphasized a “tremendous presence” of big NFC franchises, including the Cowboys twice.

CBS also has a Cowboys-Ravens game from Rio in the national window in Week 3, but don’t necessarily look for the network to be gung-ho in adding more international games. “It’s frankly not something that we think about too much. In this case, it lined up very well,” said Weinberg.

Prime (Video) time

Coming off a record season-long audience for its “TNF,” Prime Video will keep the momentum rolling when it starts Year 5. Amazon was able to land a coveted game as the Bills open the new Highmark Stadium in Buffalo against the Lions.

“A rare and special occasion,” said Jeff Kaiser, Amazon’s head of sports programming. “The first regular-season game from a new stadium, especially one from a storied NFL city like Buffalo. We’re really thrilled that the NFL was providing Amazon with that opportunity. ... We have the added advantage of having Ryan Fitzpatrick as part of our shoulder programming crew, who I know is excited to celebrate this moment.”

Prime Video will have a game on New Year’s Eve for the first time, and it could offer fresh opportunities for the platform. “We’re talking through different ideas and plans right now with the production team,” said Kaiser.

Fox gets its wish list

For Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ president of insights and analytics, there were five goals for the network heading into scheduling for this season, and he feels the top priorities were met by the NFL.

“Those guys are working on it literally around the clock in the last couple weeks and even prior to that, they put in just an incredible amount of work to make sure that all the partners are treated fairly,” he said.

The five things Fox wanted: 1) More windows than anyone else; 2) an emphasis on being the home of the NFC; 3) going big on holidays; 4) getting Tom Brady back to Foxborough for a game; and 5) building strength in 1pm regional windows leading into national windows.

“We love the fact that we have more NFL windows than anybody else,” said Mulvihill. “That was true last year, and it’s true this year. And that came together as late as this weekend when we were able to close the deal for the Germany game and for the Week 15 Saturday game.”

With around 130 NFC team appearances, goal No. 2 was met. “Just reaffirming our network as the home of the NFC at a time where the NFC is really reestablishing itself as the dominant conference, that was really important,” he said.

With Brady the No. 1 analyst for Fox, the network circled Packers-Patriots to get the GOAT back to his old stomping grounds. “Didn’t know it was going to end up necessarily in Week 9, but that feels like a good place for it.”

Perhaps the biggest push for Fox came around giving a boost to national windows. “We really wanted our strength at 1pm to be on doubleheader weeks and not singleheader weeks,” Mulvihill told SBJ. “We felt like there’s a real benefit to having good 1pm games leading into our 4:25s. It becomes a kind of insurance if your planned 4:25 game doesn’t come up as strong as you hope and you can move something from 1pm to 4:25.”

ESPN’s road to Super Bowl LXI

Before any schedule decisions were even made, ESPN had big changes afoot this season. That included programming the newly acquired NFL Network, as well as shaping a “MNF” slate that would not have any side-by-side matchups like in recent season.

“Single games on Monday night, Weeks 1-17, that actually was a big clarifier and also a way to be a little clearer and more specific about what we were looking for with the league,” said Tim Reed, ESPN’s VP/programming and acquisitions. “The other piece to that is we knew we were going to have 10 [ABC] simulcasts of those 17 weeks, and as far as it goes from priority perspective, we were looking to definitely try to figure out how to maximize those.”

Nine of those ABC simulcasts are locked in, with one more TBD.

All of this would be artfully crafted to build momentum and give ESPN the best path into what will be its first Super Bowl yet (and Disney’s first since 2006).

A dozen ManningCasts are in the works, and plans for any animated “MNF” alt-cast remain TBD. “We’re going to continue to explore the options there, so I would stay tuned on that one.”

As far as NFL Network, the channel expectedly will be heavy on international games again.

Sunday night fever

NBC is coming off a monster season that included record viewership for “SNF,” and it will come out of the gate with two big games in Week 1 — a Wednesday night Super Bowl rematch with Patriots-Seahawks and then Cowboys-Giants to open up the Sunday night slate.

“We always really want to focus on the beginning part of the season and how do we get out of the gate in a big way,” said Justin Byczek, NBC Sports’ EVP/programming and management. “With what the Giants have done in the offseason and the signing of coach [John] Harbaugh, the excitement that’s brewing in New York around the draft to kind of get a quick look at what that team is going to be and how they’re going to play under the new coach and certainly under the backdrop of the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Super Bowl team.”

That game will also see NBC honor the 25^th anniversary of 9/11.

Byczek also noted that with Bills-Chiefs, the network will have its best Thanksgiving prime-time matchup since getting that window.

“It’s the rivalry of the decade, and the way that these two teams have played both in the regular season and the postseason, it’s kind of must-see TV,” he said. “Thanksgiving night is usually one of our highest nights of the year, and this year we’ll certainly live up to those expectations, and then some, with that matchup there. It’s something that if you’re a football fan, you just simply can’t miss.”

Wise words

After what was an arduous process, everyone in NFL media circles can take a breath and reflect on a job well done.

Perhaps folks can even enjoy this schedule-day anecdote from former longtime NFL PR chief Joe Browne, who tweeted, “When Pete Rozelle was Commish, we often would give clubs their sked in early AM, give media sked late AM, make certain it made AP wire & then Pete would take us out for Mexican food and, perhaps, a margarita. U think things have changed??”

The NFL unveiled its largest international slate yet Wednesday, announcing a record nine games across four continents and seven countries for the 2026 season ahead of Thursday’s full schedule release.

But as the league expands its global footprint with first-time regular-season games in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro and Paris alongside returns to London, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City, the NFL’s international strategy is increasingly shifting from simply staging games overseas toward building year-round localized fandoms through tailored media coverage, player-driven storytelling and grassroots participation.

Former Giants DE and UK-based NFL media analyst Osi Umenyiora has witnessed the league’s international growth both on the field and through his media work in Great Britain. Umenyiora said one of the biggest changes has been the evolution of the fan.

Reflecting on the NFL’s first regular-season game in the UK in 2007 between the Giants and the Dolphins, Umenyiora said: “When I first played here in ‘07, [the crowd] was just a hodgepodge. It was a mix of people who just love football, and it was more of the spectacle. ... What you see now is people truly understand the game, and they’re fans of particular teams as opposed to a fan of just the NFL.”

That evolution has forced the NFL to rethink how it builds fandom internationally.

“You can have these one-off events where you go there, you play a game, and then you leave,” Umenyiora said. “What happens then when you leave?”

The answer has pointed to greater accessibility, localized storytelling and year-round engagement with the league and players.

The NFL has continued growing its international media infrastructure, including an expanded multiyear partnership through 2027 in the UK with Sky Sports, which added more live games and a free-to-air agreement with Channel 5.

For Umenyiora, tailoring coverage to international audiences has become critical to sustaining growth. He said, “It needs to be done in a way that is almost tailored toward the particular audience of the country that you are trying to have fans of.”

That translates to simplifying the presentation of the game without being mired in the details of American football, with Umenyiora explaining from the perspective of the fan: “I want to watch the game. I want to see the athletes competing at the highest level. I want to understand the basics and just enjoy myself as opposed to learning every single intricate detail of the game.”

Planting a flag

The NFL is also leaning into player-driven fandom internationally, particularly among younger audiences consuming content through digital and social platforms. The league has also invested in initiatives such as the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, established in 2017, designed to identify and develop international talent.

The league’s globalization strategy has also expanded through participation opportunities, particularly flag football. Additionally, all 32 NFL clubs now participate in the league’s Global Markets Program across 22 international markets.

NFL clubs have expanded those efforts internationally through flag football programs tied to the league’s Global Markets Program. The Bears recently expanded their NFL Girls Flag program in Manchester for a third consecutive year, while the Jets launched Jets Flag Elite London alongside the fourth year of their Jets NFL Girls Flag League.

Umenyiora believes these participation efforts will become more integral as the NFL continues growing internationally, particularly with flag football set to debut at the L.A. 2028 Olympics.

NFL Media EVP/Media Distribution Hans Schroeder pointed to the league’s first game in Australia in Week 1 as an example of how the NFL views international games as a launch point for long-term growth tied to flag football and the Olympics.

“When you look at some of the places that we think there are great opportunities for us to continue to grow, a Week 1 game certainly makes sense to do that, but it doesn’t have to be that,” Schroeder said. “Certainly, it aligns a lot with our global growth, our strategic focus on global and how we’re going to grow the game there. And it’s a great intersection in Australia with Brisbane and the [2032] Olympics and flag football being in the Olympics and how that all is going to come together with a market that has a passionate NFL fan base.”

For Umenyiora, the league’s record-setting 2026 international slate signals the NFL’s international ambitions are far from capped: “There’s going to be a point where there’s probably going to be an international game played every week at some point.”

But as the NFL’s international footprint continues to gain traction, the league’s long-term global ambitions may depend less on how many games it exports overseas and more on how effectively it can build sustained local fandom around them.

• Netflix at its upfront Wednesday afternoon confirmed it is extending its deal with the NFL through the 2029-30 season, matching the expiration of rights deals with Fox, CBS, Prime Video and NBC (ESPN has an extra year), reports SBJ’s Austin Karp. For more on the NFL’s role in the upfronts, see this week’s SBJ Media newsletter.
• Karp is also keeping an eye on the NFL prospects for ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch, as sources tell him his deal is coming up in a couple of months.
• The Ravens are looking outside M&T Bank Stadium to generate revenue with The Flockyard, an upcoming premium hospitality option, writes SBJ’s Bret McCormick in this week’s SBJ Facilities newsletter.
• Lumen Field, the home of the Seahawks, is one of the sports venues that 3D digital mapping firm Mappedin is working with to help fans find any locale in the stadium, even guiding them from the parking lot to their seat, as SBJ’s Rob Schaefer details in this week’s SBJ Tech newsletter.