• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

Is Goodell Overplaying His Hand?

The NFL wants more money from its broadcast and streaming partners and hasn’t been shy about its desire to rip up its current, and still-young, contract to get it. On the media side, there are quiet but growing questions about whether the league’s ask is too high.

Roger Goodell
Roger Goodell has already telegraphed his moves: The league’s first stop on the renegotiations roadshow will be longtime partner CBS, which is now owned by the munificent Ellison clan, before wending his way to Fox, etcetera. Photo: Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
John Ourand
March 23, 2026

Join Puck to listen to this article

As regular readers, sports fans, members of the professional media class, and the guys in legal are now abundantly aware, the NFL is currently in the midst of an upscale shakedown—an attempt to renegotiate its media rights with existing partners, ahead of schedule, and at a premium that could reach 60 percent. Nevertheless, the league is likely going to get what it wants: It’s the juggernaut of American sports broadcasting, and perhaps the last possible defibrillator of linear TV. And its leadership feels understandably devalued following a rash of frothy deals among lesser competitors, such as the NBA ($76 billion) and UFC ($7.7 billion), which reset the market for sports rights.