• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 8 hours ago

What expectations can we draw from the NFL for this coming season -- now that the NFL preseason games have grown 17% to average 2.2 million versus a year ago? 

Perhaps not much. 

Regular-season results account for much more. And strong competition -- especially among big brand NFL teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers, and the Dallas Cowboys -- are always major factors.  

Perhaps one telling sign will be how the Super Bowl champions of a year ago -- the Philadelphia Eagles, a major market team -- perform.

The best game of the pre-season was the contest that typically opens up play for the year: The July 31 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between Los Angeles Chargers and the Detroit Lions, which grew 40% from a year ago to 6.9 million viewers.

Still, these results pale in comparison to regular-season viewing of a year ago -- at 17.5 million viewers across all its TV networks and streaming platforms. That average was virtually unchanged from a year ago -- down a scant 2.2% from 2023-2024 season.

NFL programming on legacy TV networks has been the easier winner when it comes to ascending to top levels of a TV programming series. “Sunday Night Football” on NBC (and Peacock) has been sitting on top of all prime-time series -- sports, entertainment or otherwise  -- for many years.

Last year, iSpot.TV said the NFL accounted for 23% of all impressions on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.

Advertisers on those networks spent $6.76 billion collectively -- just on linear TV ad spend.

Looking forward, of course, is what effect viewing will have on streamers -- specifically Paramount+, Peacock, ESPN (new service), Fox One, and Amazon Prime Video -- in future years.

Is there even more value for the NFL there -- and how to monetize that? In other words, how much more valuable can the NFL get? 

Hold your breath: Now amid an eye-popping $110 billion, 11-year deals collectively among linear TV networks and streamers (struck in 2021), the league also negotiated a key option: They can “opt” out of virtually current deals (expect with ABC/Disney) after the 2028-2029 season.

This will give TV networks/streamers almost certainly more cost headaches: The NFL can ask for even more money.

Analysts have said it is a “virtual lock” the league will go for -- what amounts to an easy quarterback sack.