NFL's push for growth is inexorable at expense of fans and amid an 'existential threat'

The representation the NFL wants you to person of America's astir fashionable athletics is that this is simply a steamroller crushing it astatine each turn, with revenues, ratings, salaries, and, of course, amusement and play breaking done 1 ceiling aft different successful a seemingly endless streak of success.

And overmuch of that is so an close portrait.

But there's different snapshot the mean instrumentality is progressively seeing and that's of an NFL that is taking much retired of your wallet than ever, whether you're headed to games oregon watching astatine home.

It's the NFL that was calved successful America but is looking to export games to provender fans overseas – evidently astatine the disbursal of packed stadiums astatine home.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Seattle Seahawks backmost Sam Darnold (14) calls a play astatine the enactment of scrimmage against the San Francisco 49ers during the archetypal fractional successful an NFC Divisional Round crippled astatine Lumen Field connected Jan. 17, 2026. (Steven Bisig/Imagn Images)

And, it is the NFL that has partnered with gambling conglomerates arsenic a mode of expanding gross and interest, possibly astatine the disbursal of feeding addiction.

So, yes, the NFL is America's world show. It's amusive and captivating, but it's besides unquestionably troubling astatine times. 

So however did the NFL behemoth get here?

"When I started successful the NFL, it was the astir fashionable sport," said erstwhile San Diego Chargers squad doc David Chao, who worked 17 seasons for the team. "By the clip I was done, it was much fashionable than each the different sports combined.

"And what's the cardinal difference? You spell to a sports barroom during shot season. It's each men watching games. You spell to a sports barroom connected Sunday during shot season, it's fractional women watching games. They've doubled their audience. And they added fantasy. But what is fantasy? It's idiosyncratic ownership and stake. It's idiosyncratic involvement successful the games."

Chao points retired that fans years agone asked him whether a subordinate was disposable for a crippled due to the fact that they wanted the Chargers to win. Fans inactive attraction astir their teams, but the league has added caller fans that privation to cognize that accusation due to the fact that they privation to acceptable their phantasy squad to win.

Or they privation to person their gambling bets win.

The NFL's ‘Existential Threat’ 

Gambling has go a gross root for the NFL that simply didn't beryllium a decennary oregon truthful ago. 

The NFL has shifted from outright absorption to progressive commercialized concern with the sports betting industry. Caesars Entertainment present serves arsenic the league's authoritative casino sponsor portion DraftKings and FanDuel are authoritative sports betting partners.

These agreements let the partners to usage NFL trademarks, beforehand betting activities successful league media, and prosecute fans with NFL-branded betting experiences. And portion the NFL maintains boundaries designed to support the integrity of the game, that is simply a too-thin enactment to anyone who understands however imaginable betting accusation works.

"It's a disaster, it's the existential menace to football," said famed NFL cause Leigh Steinberg, whose vocation was Hollywood's template for Tom Cruise's quality successful the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. "All it takes is 1 wrong portion of accusation being leaked to a gambler that's trying to bash a prop stake oregon an jock that really shaves performance, and it's a slippery slope to having a existent contest, and it starts to lucifer wrestling.

"Gambling is possibly bully quality for revenue, but it's atrocious quality for the integrity of the crippled and continued instrumentality interest."

SEN ERIC SCHMITT PUSHES FOR LEGISLATION TO TACKLE RISING SPORTS TICKET COSTS

NFL Feeding Gambling Addictions

The sportsbook successful the Circa Resort & Hotel up of Super Bowl LVIII successful Las Vegas, Nevada, connected Feb. 10, 2024. (Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Steinberg is the writer of 4 books, including his latest owed retired March 24 titled "The Comeback: A Playbook for Turning Life's Setbacks Into Victories." Part of that publication details Steinberg's conflict with intoxicant addiction, and he's acrophobic that the NFL's ties to gambling could person a unspeakable effect connected immoderate of its fans.

Beyond apt losing a batch of money, that is.

"They're going to make a full caller procreation of gambling addicts," helium said. "Because definite radical can't grip this. Second of all, if you don't consciousness the games are played connected a level playing tract with adjacent officiating, rules, each subordinate trying his hardest … If you present into the fan's encephalon that there's a anticipation that thing other is going connected different than what they spot connected the field, it's a disaster."

There is already a faction of NFL fans connected societal media who notation to the NFL arsenic scripted. Some NFL unit adjacent publically gag astir this narrative. But each it takes is 1 player, innocently oregon not, sharing wounded accusation that gets leaked into gambling circles arsenic to impact betting lines, and the NFL would person a ungraded connected its hands.

NFL Exporting Games Around Globe

New York Giants backmost Daniel Jones (8) carries the shot against the New York Giants successful the 2nd fractional during the 2024 NFL Munich Game astatine Allianz Arena.  (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

But nary of this is truthful acold slowing the NFL from its steady, seemingly inexorable enlargement into becoming a planetary game.

"In today’s world, we person to beryllium global," Commissioner Roger Goodell told fans successful Ireland past play earlier the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings played successful Dublin. "Every clip we play an planetary game, fans accidental they privation more. I really, genuinely judge our crippled tin and volition beryllium global. Our occupation is to stock our crippled with the remainder of the world."

The NFL volition play a grounds 9 planetary games successful 2026 crossed 4 continents, 7 countries and 8 stadiums: 

• London, U.K. (Two games successful Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, One successful Wembley Stadium)
• Madrid, Spain (Bernabéu Stadium)
• Melbourne, Australia (Melbourne Cricket Ground)
• Mexico City, Mexico (Estadio Banorte)
• Munich, Germany (FC Bayern Munich Stadium)
• Paris, France (Stade de France Stadium)
• Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Maracanã Stadium)

Paris, Melbourne and Rio are caller additions to the International slate. And they won't beryllium the last, if things spell according to plan.

"We would similar to get to 16 games, so everyone is playing 1 crippled a twelvemonth internationally," Goodell said.

Players Do Not Want 18th Game

But each crippled that is exported is simply a crippled that leaves the United States. 

Well, the NFL has a long-range program for that which whitethorn appease immoderate fans but volition surely displease players and that is adding different game. Even though Goodell cautioned during Super Bowl week that adding an 18th crippled was "not a given," helium added that NFL owners privation to sermon specified an enlargement with the NFL Players Association. 

That's due to the fact that the NFL decidedly wants to immoderate time connection an 18-game regular play and 2 bye weeks that begins connected oregon earlier Labor Day and ends connected the Sunday anterior to President's Day. That program would see 2 preseason games to springiness each squad a adust tally for a location and distant game.

"Our members person nary appetite for an 18th regular-season game," NFL Players Association interim enforcement manager David White said during the union’s yearly Super Bowl week quality league successful San Francisco.

But the players' national has balked astatine further games successful the past. And past it has fixed successful to further games successful corporate bargaining successful instrumentality for much money. So the league believes 1 much crippled tin again beryllium negotiated.

New York Giants moving backmost Cam Skattebo (44) reacts aft an wounded during the archetypal fractional of an NFL shot crippled against the Philadelphia Eagles connected Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, successful Philadelphia.  (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

More Games Cost YOU More Money

The information for the enlargement is obvious: More games adhd to merchandise inventory, which the NFL tin person to much revenue.

And astir of that gross comes done the league's tv and streaming contracts. 

Consider that successful 2024 the NFL and Netflix signed a three-year declaration that enactment unrecorded games connected the streaming elephantine for the archetypal time. Netflix is paying an estimated $150 cardinal per twelvemonth for this right, which amounts to 4 games.

Imagine what the NFL could bash if it added 16 much games to its inventory by adding an 18th week to the season. It tin merchantability much games to its broadcast partners, which present see streaming services Amazon, YouTube, Peacock and Netflix.

Those streaming services, with their disappointing 30- to 45-second delays compared to unrecorded action, would beryllium capable to bid connected the NFL's caller fare and past the winning bidders would apt bash what capitalists person done from clip immemorial: Pass their outgo on to consumers. 

"Part of the crushed shot got truthful fashionable is that for a mates of 100 dollars anybody could bargain a TV and, with rabbit ears, implicit the aerial ticker aggregate shot games," Steinberg said. "If each of a abrupt you consign and divided the bundle to mean consumers person to wage hundreds of dollars to aggregate networks and streaming services, it whitethorn beryllium a windfall successful revenue, but it mightiness beryllium short-sighted.

"Because what keeps you going is that everyone successful this state tin ticker shot adjacent without a cable. And if you person to wage for Hulu oregon Netflix oregon Amazon, does that diminish the assemblage that is captious for dialog for the networks?"

The Coming Wednesday NFL Game

Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers takes a wound retired of a turkey limb aft the crippled against the Detroit Lions astatine Ford Field connected Nov. 27, 2025 successful Detroit, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

This coming year, the NFL wants to adhd a Wednesday broadcast anterior to its accepted Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday schedule.

"Every offseason we look for caller opportunities to champion service our fans successful the schedule-making process," an NFL spokesperson told Fox News and OutKick. "As Commissioner Goodell has said, Thanksgiving and NFL shot person go synonymous and fixed the continued maturation of instrumentality involvement astir our games connected Thanksgiving and Black Friday, looking for further opportunities tied to this peculiar vacation is breathtaking for america to explore." 

An NFL root added that the summation of the Wednesday crippled is not the lone caller broadcast model the league is exploring for 2026, suggesting different days are successful play.

And the Wednesday crippled would apt impact teams coming disconnected a bye week.

"The NFL's been doing this creep for a while," Chao said. "They bash the Thursday play kickoff crippled and past much Thursdays during the season. They snuck successful a Friday connected everybody. They snuck successful games connected Christmas. Obviously, erstwhile the assemblage shot play is over, they play connected a Saturday.

"I wouldn't beryllium amazed if they went to Friday-Saturday-Sunday aft the precocious schoolhouse and assemblage shot season. And it's each astir revenue."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Player Health And Safety An Issue

But what astir subordinate wellness and safety, which the NFL insists is simply a priority?

"The Wednesday game? They're going to merchantability it based connected safety," Chao said. "They'll say, ‘You don’t similar Thursday games? … We'll descent successful Wednesday and you don't person to play connected 4 days rest. You'll person (10-11) days earlier and (11) days after' – a mini-bye connected the beforehand extremity and a mini-bye connected the backmost end.

"And they'll merchantability that arsenic helping players' wellness and safety." 

The happening is fans volition bargain it. The 2025 Thanksgiving Day NFL games shattered viewership records arsenic the mean viewership crossed each 3 games — Packers vs. Lions, Chiefs vs. Cowboys and Bengals vs. Ravens — was 44.7 cardinal viewers, the highest Thanksgiving Day mean connected record.

That 44.7 cardinal people surpassed the erstwhile precocious of 34.5 cardinal viewers and represented the 4th consecutive twelvemonth the NFL has acceptable a Thanksgiving Day viewership record.

So, yes, the NFL steamroller continues to crush it – important warts and all.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports sum connected X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.