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The NFL has not yet unveiled its schedule for the 2026 season, but fans should expect a minor change when it finally drops.
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According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, the NFL’s schedule release will “include a slight increase in its broadcast footprint from last year.”
“The schedule will include a slight increase in its broadcast footprint from last year, which may make the government happy. Remember, the DOJ and FCC have been looking into the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which gives the NFL a limited antitrust exemption in return for making its games available on broadcast networks,” Sherman wrote.
“For NBCU, it will be the value of ‘Sunday Night Football,’ the most-watched show on U.S. television for the last 15 years. Fox will tout how the NFL had its highest ratings on the network since 2015 last year, averaging 19.63 million viewers. Amazon will brag about the audience for “Thursday Night Football,” which has increased a whopping 60% since coming to Prime Video in 2022 and how last year’s audience was its biggest ever.”
Department of Justice takes aim at the NFL.
In order to watch every NFL game, fans must have access to Amazon Prime Video, CBS, FOX, NBC and Netflix. The Sports Broadcasting Act was formed in 1961 to help teams collectively secure TV deals with national networks.
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A month ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that an investigation has been launched into the NFL and whether it has engaged in “anticompetitive tactics that harm consumers.”
“To watch every NFL game during the past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions,” Republican Sen. Mike Lee said, via The Wall Street Journal.
It’ll be interesting to see how this investigation plays out, especially since the 2026 schedule will be released later this month.
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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 6:37 AM.