The NFL schedule traditionally gets plenty of attention. Government officials usually check it to see when the Washington Commanders or their favorite team are playing. However, there has been scrutiny as the league has carved out games for streaming services.
Of the 272 regular-season games, 22 will stream as the primary network (one more than announced last season), and 14 will be primarily on cable.
That leaves 236 games that will be on CBS, Fox, NBC or ABC, meaning 87% of the schedule will be on broadcast television, the same percentage as last year. All games in a team’s home market air on a broadcast network.
President Donald Trump weighed in with his dissatisfaction with the costs for fans who want access to all of the games as investigations by the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice continue.
“You have people that live for Sunday. They can’t think about anything else, and then all of a sudden, they’re gonna have to pay $1,000 a game? It’s crazy, so I’m not happy about it,” Trump said while interviewed on “Full Measure” last weekend.
While fans are not paying $1,000 per game to watch on television or streaming, trying to view everything with “NFL Sunday Ticket,” a cable or satellite package, and subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Peacock could total nearly $1,000 for the season.
Even with greater scrutiny of its distribution models, the league stuck to the same plan, according to Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution.
“Our focus is on getting the best games into the best windows," Schroeder said. "And even with the additional games that went to Netflix, we think we’re expanding the reach of those games.”
More windows, more problems?
The league was able to create new standalone windows after getting back four games from Monday night doubleheaders in previous seasons. Two went to Netflix (Thanksgiving Eve and the Saturday early game in Week 18), one to Fox (one of the international games) and one to NBC (a Saturday game in Week 17).
CBS and Fox were able to add Saturday games in Week 15 that were Sunday regional games in past seasons. Fox also has a Christmas Day game for the first time since 2023.
While the league and ESPN thought having two Monday night games some weeks would benefit viewers, it often divided them because one game started at 7 p.m. and the other at 8:15 p.m.
“I think our fans felt a little conflicted with having two games on Monday," Schroeder said. "It wasn’t working as we intended. We could take these games and find a better home and broader distribution for them."
The games on Netflix should also draw a large audience, given its U.S. and global reach. The streamer has 81.4 million U.S. subscribers compared to 60 million for ESPN. Netflix will also be able to distribute its five-game package globally.
There will be 10 Monday night games simulcast on ABC this season. ESPN will also air the Super Bowl for the first time, while ABC will air it for the first time since 2006.
Tim Reed, ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions, also thought moving away from the doubleheaders helped “Monday Night Football” have a more complete schedule.
“The ability to streamline and simplify the schedule just helps. I assume it helped the league and makes it easier to land all the games,” he said.
With 10 broadcast windows to fill Thanksgiving week, there will be only six 1 p.m. games on Sunday, with three each on CBS and Fox. Baltimore at Houston (CBS) and Atlanta at Minnesota (Fox) are expected to be the showcase games in the early window, while Seattle at San Francisco gets the late afternoon spotlight on Fox.
Christmas week will have 11 windows — Christmas Eve, three on Christmas Day, two on Dec. 26, CBS doubleheader plus early game on Fox, NBC Sunday night, and ESPN Monday night. Once ESPN makes its decision on the two games it will air on NFL Network, CBS and Fox will each get one game, making it likely there will be a total of six 1 p.m. Sunday games. The 49ers-Chiefs contest is the featured late-afternoon game on CBS.
“How do you satisfy everybody? You probably can’t, but you can be fair," said Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports president, insight and analytics. "It leaves things a little light for the afternoon windows, but as long as we’re not shouldering more of that burden and feel we’re being treated fairly, it’s OK,”
CBS, Fox happy with results
CBS, which had its best regular season in 2025, has the Chiefs four times and the Cowboys twice in its Sunday 4:25 p.m. doubleheader window.
Its best lineup looks to be Week 15, with Bears-Bills on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 8:20 p.m., followed by Steelers-Ravens on Sunday at 1 p.m., and Cowboys-Rams at 4:25 p.m.
“That will be a great scene in Buffalo for us, and then you go from that game to Sunday and a monster doubleheader with Ravens-Steelers early, a legendary black-and-blue game, and then having the Cowboys in LA against the Rams,” said Dan Weinberg, CBS Sports EVP of programming.
CBS also has the Cowboys in Week 3 against the Ravens, which will be played in Brazil.
By carrying the Patriots-Lions game in Munich on Week 10, Fox will have its first tripleheader since Week 8 in 2016. After the Sunday morning game, it will also feature Vikings-Packers as a showcase game at 1 p.m., followed by 49ers-Cowboys in the late afternoon slot.
Tom Brady makes his first return to Foxborough, Massachusetts, as a broadcaster when the Patriots face the Packers in Week 9.
“I think there are 60 dates this season with NFL football. That is quite different than 20-25 years ago," Mulvihill said. “Sunday is still the core of the football experience and always will be. I think the league is mindful of not undermining the brand and power of Sunday football.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.