• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 4 hours ago

It seems the NFL isn’t getting all it wants from its TV network partners.

Two of its biggest deals -- Paramount’s CBS and Fox Corp -- have essentially balked or stalled on the league’s early effort to push for a shocking 50% to 60% increase as per existing option by the league to renegotiate its current long-term deals.

The actual opt-out dates are closely tied to the 2029-30 NFL season.

Fox, for one, has had Lachlan Murdoch confirm that the network will not renegotiate and that it is "very pleased" with the current deal and sees "a clear path forward" after 2029.

Paramount Skydance, amid its battle and lawsuit over its $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, has stalled talks with the league as it has to contend with numerous issues surrounding the approval of the deal.

It will only be starting a trial date to combat a 12-state "anti-trust" lawsuit in March 2027.

Hugh Johnston, chief financial officer of Walt Disney, has said the NFL has not even engaged Disney on a new deal yet, only to confirm Disney has its sports rights locked up into the 2030s.

It may be worse than it appears. According to CNBC, the NFL is seeking as much as a 100% increase in future deals -- while the networks have been looking for around a 25% hike on future agreements.

Long term, the NFL is looking to pull in $20 billion in annual media rights fees from its five current TV/streaming partners -- double the current total of  roughly $10 billion.

In the meantime, the new 2026-27 NFL season will start up just weeks from now. There are no major concerns about how the new season will perform in terms of viewership.

Last year, the league’s average regular-season game rose 10% to average 18.7 million Nielsen-measured viewers.

That data can be a strong selling point for TV media partners if it continues. But it also setting off alarm bells for league officials that they may be underselling what is the most dominant programming on TV/streaming networks and platforms.

And what if the NFL -- for whatever reason -- sees a slip in regular-season viewership, which has happened from time to time over the years?

Does that mean another NFL media rights negotiating wrinkle to consider?