The NFL finds itself in a political and public relations battle over the perception that it\u2019s making it harder to find games without paying extra. It\u2019s a big deal as the league has long enjoyed antitrust exemptions by making most of its games available to the public via network television.<\/p>\n
In recent years, as the NFL has taken more games to cable and, more specifically, paid streaming services<\/a>, it\u2019s signaled that it\u2019s less concerned about keeping things free and affordable for fans. At least that\u2019s how it can be interpreted.<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s biggest talking point in defending against these claims is that 87% of all games last season were telecast on free, over-the-air broadcast networks<\/a> (including free local broadcasts for any market whose team was playing on a streaming service). That percentage is likely what will keep Donald Trump\u2019s DOJ and FCC at bay<\/a> over fragmentation concerns.<\/p>\n Pro Football Talk\u2019s Mike Florio thinks that while that number sounds impressive, there\u2019s a little bit of sleight of hand going on in how it\u2019s presented.<\/p>\n Making sense of the \u201c87 percent of all games are on free TV\u201d talking point. pic.twitter.com\/nrz5N4Z6Xi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 PFT Live (@PFT_Live) May 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis talking point that has been making the rounds now and is starting to stick with some people in the media who aren\u2019t thinking critically\u2014 87% of the games are available on free TV,\u201d Florio said on a recent episode of PFT Live. \u201cThat\u2019s become the\u2014 basically, \u2018Leave us alone.\u2019 87% of the games are on free TV, and it sounds great. And you\u2019ve got people who do what we do for a living who are signing on to that and parroting it, but the big thing that we\u2019re missing\u2014 most of those games are clustered into 3 windows on a Sunday, where you\u2019re going to get at most 3 games. You\u2019re not getting the rest of them unless you get Sunday Ticket.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they\u2019re on free TV, yeah, but you ain\u2019t getting 87% of them. I\u2019m not getting 87\u2014 nobody\u2019s getting 87% of the games for free.\u201d<\/p>\n Florio goes on to say that while those clusters of games on network TV (CBS and Fox) account for the bulk of that number, there is an ever-growing number of games shifting to streamers and pay-TV, which undercuts it. Thursday Night Football is exclusive to Prime Video. Monday Night Football is mostly exclusive to ESPN, except when simulcast on ABC. You\u2019ve got Christmas Day games on Netflix and certain playoff games on streamers. Netflix is reportedly getting the exclusive rights to the NFL Australia game and a Thanksgiving Eve game. And the league will likely continue chipping away for those exclusives that bring in big rights fees.<\/p>\n Sunday Night Football remains on NBC, and the league is promising a \u201cslight increase<\/a>\u201d in broadcast exposure this season thanks to expanded primetime windows on NBC, CBS, and Fox.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s true that local markets will get access to those paywalled games, that doesn\u2019t do much for NFL fans around the country who don\u2019t have the means to plunk down ever-rising subscription fees for Netflix, Peacock, Apple, YouTube, and whoever else ends up getting rights down the road. This is, for better or worse, the way of the sports media world, but the NFL\u2019s 87% figure doesn\u2019t hold up under much scrutiny.<\/p>\n \t\n