Cory's Corner: The NFL Chuckles At Streaming Fatigue
It was never about TV or streaming, it was about a connection. And no matter how the NFL is delivered, fans will get that much-needed connection.
For years, media experts have predicted the NFL's decline. The logic seemed sound. Americans now have more entertainment options than ever before. Streaming services, YouTube, podcasts, social media, video games and countless niche interests compete for attention every hour of every day.
Yet the NFL remains America's undisputed king.
In fact, the league's ratings over the past five seasons suggest the opposite of decline. NFL regular-season games averaged 17.1 million viewers in 2021, 16.7 million in 2022, 17.9 million in 2023, 17.5 million in 2024 and 18.7 million in 2025, the second-highest average since viewership records began in 1988. Even accounting for changes in Nielsen's measurement methodology, the trend is unmistakable: Americans are watching more football, not less.
That raises an obvious question.
Why does the NFL continue to thrive when nearly every other form of entertainment is fighting for attention?
The answer begins with scarcity. There are only 17 regular-season games. Every Sunday and now Thursday and Tuesday and Wednesday feels important. Holidays are immune to football’s power. Every game can affect playoff positioning. Every week generates storylines that dominate conversations at work, school and online.
The NFL has also mastered something that most entertainment companies desperately seek: appointment viewing.
People may binge-watch a television series over several weeks. NFL fans show up at kickoff whether the game is on Sunday at 8 a.m. or if it’s on Thanksgiving Eve, because the outcome matters in real time. In a culture increasingly built around on-demand entertainment, football remains one of the few shared national experiences.
Ironically, the league's greatest challenge may be emerging from its own success.
The NFL's media-rights deals now generate more than $10 billion annually. Games are spread across CBS and Paramount+, Fox, NBC and Peacock, ESPN and ESPN+, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube's Sunday Ticket package. Each platform paid enormous sums for the privilege of carrying NFL games.
The strategy has worked brilliantly for the league.
But it has become increasingly frustrating for fans.
Twenty years ago, a football fan could watch nearly every NFL game with a cable package and a broadcast antenna. Today, following the entire league can require half a dozen subscriptions. Want Thursday Night Football? You'll need Amazon Prime. A Christmas game? Then pony up for Netflix. An exclusive playoff game? Maybe Peacock. Out-of-market games? Sunday Ticket.
At some point, streaming stops feeling like convenience and starts feeling like cable television all over again. Remember when it was cool to “Cut the Cord?” Now, after paying cheap streaming prices, the pendulum has swung the other way.
This phenomenon — subscription fatigue — is becoming one of the most important questions facing sports media.
Fans have generally shown a willingness to follow the NFL wherever it goes. Amazon's Thursday Night Football continues to grow. Netflix drew massive audiences for its Christmas broadcasts. Exclusive streaming games have not produced the backlash some critics predicted.
But there is evidence that fans are reaching their limits.
The average household already pays for multiple streaming services. Every new NFL package forces consumers to decide whether one more monthly charge is worth it. Instead of expanding viewership, fragmentation may encourage fans to narrow their focus. Rather than watching every nationally televised game, they simply watch their favorite team.
Could that drive more fans to attend games in person?
Probably not in significant numbers.
The economics simply do not work. A family frustrated by a $15 or $20 monthly subscription is unlikely to solve that problem with several hundred dollars in tickets, parking, concessions and travel expenses. The cost difference is enormous.
What is more likely is a continued rise in communal viewing. Sports bars, restaurants and watch parties become more attractive when they already carry every streaming service. Fans may decide it is easier to gather with friends than manage another subscription.
That is the NFL's hidden advantage.
Football has never really been about television. Television is merely the delivery system. What fans are actually buying is connection—to their team, their community and a shared experience.
The NFL understands this better than any entertainment company in America.
The platforms may change. The streaming services may multiply. Subscription fatigue may grow.
But as long as football remains the closest thing America has to a weekly national gathering, the league's grip on the public imagination is unlikely to loosen anytime soon.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (11)
Savage57
June 02, 2026 at 06:53 am
At some point in the future, the NFL will arrive in homes via a cafeteria-style viewing option, where you pay for every game you watch, which will mirror pretty much how we consume all forms of entertainment.
mrtundra
June 02, 2026 at 07:07 am
Something you didn't mention is the local media control over games' broadcasts. I live in western Wisconsin and cannot watch the Packers, if the vikings are on at the same time, due to Minnesota media controlling the area I live in. Who, in their right mind would want to watch the vikings, anyway? Couple that with all the subscriptions you may have to buy, just to watch the Packers, and things get really expensive, very quickly. My son figures that this season, we may only be able to watch 5 Packers games, total, if we do not buy all the add on streaming channels. Either that, or we could go to a bar. Not an ideal situation, for us. The big Packer Bar, nearest me, had burned down a few years ago and does not appear that it will come back to life, anytime soon. IMO, the NFL is screwing over the fans and I feel someday ,the games won't even be on network television channels(ABC, CBS NBC, etc.). CBS is floundering, now and I wonder if they will be able to afford the NFL, in the near future. Going to games is not feasible, either.
Cheezehead72
June 02, 2026 at 07:27 am
I have mentioned this before and I will mention it again. I get UZZU and for 130 per years I get all the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL games. I also get ESPN, ESPN2, FSN1, FSN2, Big Ten, Network and other stations. There are other avenues.
ArlenWilliams
June 02, 2026 at 08:48 am
Very well written article
dobber
June 02, 2026 at 09:14 am
Cory-bot thanks you because it's programmed to do so.
But when SkyNet takes over, Cory-bot will--of course--need to kill us all.
Since'61
June 02, 2026 at 09:39 am
Cookie! Thanks, Since '61
Spock
June 02, 2026 at 11:04 am
Got that right, dobber. First and only comment by ArlenWilliams seems a bit suspicious. ;)
Alberta_Packer
June 02, 2026 at 09:56 am
Also - a backlash from fans to the NFL's fragmented media rights - has been the rise of illegal streams or "bootlegging" sites (a byproduct of greed). Prompting a U.S. Justice Department antitrust investigation into the league's broadcast strategy. Which IMO will go nowhere.
Since'61
June 02, 2026 at 10:01 am
The problem is not only the cost of all the services but also the fact that the broadcasters on some of these services are absolutely awful. Fans are paying for broadcasters who can barely speak n some cases. Yes, I turn the sound down during most games regardless of the service but it's not fair to the fans to pay for terrible in game coverage. However the NFL could not care less about their fans as long as they are paying. Thanks, Since '61
LeotisHarris
June 02, 2026 at 10:19 am
The production is often awful as well. Camera angles are chosen for maximum exposure of advertising rather than focus on the action on the field. Like all NFL broadcasts now, the goal is to present a reality TV product. Netflix, Amazon, and Nickelodeon can't pull that off in anything close to a cohesive manner.
I miss Jim and Max on the radio. McCarren and Larivee do a nice job, and I can usually interpret Larry's groans or exclamations during the play while Wayne catches up. Late stage capitalism sucks, but whatareyagonnado?
TXCHEESE
June 02, 2026 at 11:02 am
Couldn't care less about the broadcast. Just give me the video. There are maybe two or three announcers that I will bother even having the volume on when watching.
As far as subscriptions, they are a pain, but what most of these offer is a super cheap or free additional user(s). Our family splits these up. My daughter subscribes to Peacock, my son Youtube, and us Amazon, and we give the additional user logins to the others.