With a new NFL media rights deal potentially on the horizon, new bidders on the outside looking in are likely to make their pitch to be brought into the football family. 

To do so, the offers need to be quite lucrative. 

The NFL reportedly had a fall timeframe to complete a new media rights deal, but John Ourand of Puck reported earlier this month that it is now believed the league wants it done before Week 1 in September. The league technically can’t exit the current media rights deals until after the 2029 season, but there isn’t expected to be any opposition to getting something new done with its partners. 

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With additional media partners potentially entering the fold in this potential new deal, as well as the incumbents like FOX, CBS and NBC, the NFL should see more than its roughly $10 billion per year.

But one former NFL Pro Bowler believes these streaming services trying to jump one another to acquire rights to the most profitable professional sports league in the U.S. will need to find ways to team up themselves.

“There’s all kinds of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) services and all different ways to distribute,” ex-NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman said on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.” “The NFL is working heavy in their FAST channels distributing out to Pluto and Amazon Freevee, YouTube. This thing is not gonna stop and what will happen is it’ll become a bidding war. And what we’re gonna see over time, because NFL rights are getting so expensive, is bundling. 

EX-NFL STAR CAUTIONS LEAGUE ABOUT ‘GIVING FANS TOO MUCH’ AS THANKSGIVING EVE GAME REPORTEDLY EYED

“These networks are gonna be bundling up – YouTube with a TikTok. There’s gonna have to be a lot of that because these NFL rights are going to be so damn expensive, these streaming services are going to have to figure it out.”

If that happens, the question then becomes how does it impact the NFL consumer? 

The FCC said last month it would seek public comment about the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services, which includes the other major sports leagues in the country like the NBA, MLB and more. For the NFL specifically, to catch every ounce of action throughout the 2025 season, fans had to pay at least $575, with some spending nearly $800.

Shawne Merriman #56 of the San Diego Chargers walks on the sideline in the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

NFL Sunday Ticket’s new subscribers had to pay $276 for the season, but existing customers with a YouTube TV membership had to fork over $378. With no membership to YouTube TV, it was $480. Then, the primetime slots went to different streaming platforms like Netflix ($7.99 for cheapest subscription), ESPN’s new streaming service to only include live sports ($29.99), and Peacock’s “Premium” membership ($10.99) to watch “Sunday Night Football.”

In total for streaming, ESPN cost $179.94, Peacock was $54.95 , Amazon Prime Video was $35.96, and NFL+ was $20.97. Add it all up for new Sunday Ticket subscribers, and the 2025 NFL season cost for those fans was $575.81. If you were an existing Sunday Ticket subscriber without YouTube TV, it cost $779.81.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted that negotiations for a new media rights deal won’t happen until the NFL Players’ Association votes in a new executive director. 

And to finish with food for thought: Ourand also noted in a newsletter last month that streamers will be getting the larger chunk of the NFL media rights pie.

Shawne Merriman attends Warner Bros. Pictures And Gravity Pictures’ Premiere of ‘The Meg’ at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on Aug. 6, 2018 in Hollywood, California.  (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

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“That model would likely include five games each, including four international games the league took back from NFL Network and the two Christmas Day games that Netflix currently has for one more year,” Ourand wrote. 

As Merriman put it, “The NFL is smart. They’re gonna make the most money they possibly can.” 

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Pakistan middle-order batter Salman Ali Agha has reacted to his controversial run-out in the second One Day International against Bangladesh, saying he would have taken a different decision if he were in the opponent’s place.

The incident occurred during the match at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka when Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran Salman Agha out at the non-striker’s end.

The Pakistani batter showed visible anger while leaving the field after the dismissal.

Following the incident, former Pakistan cricketers Ramiz Raja and Hamad Hafeez also criticised Mehidy Hasan’s action, calling it against the spirit of sportsmanship.

The Bangladesh captain also faced criticism on social media.

Speaking at a post-match press conference, Salman Agha said the run-out was valid according to the laws of the game, but believed sportsmanship should have been prioritised in that moment.

He explained that he thought the ball had become dead after hitting the bat and pad, which is why he was trying to return the ball to the bowler.

Earlier in the match, Bangladesh won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first. Pakistan scored 274 runs in 47.3 overs.

During the chase, Bangladesh’s innings was interrupted by rain.

When play resumed, the target was revised to 243 runs in 32 overs, but Bangladesh were bowled out for 114, handing Pakistan a 128-run victory.

The three-match ODI series is now level at 1-1, with the deciding match scheduled to be played on Sunday.

Aryna Sabalenka roared past Linda Noskova on Friday to book an Indian Wells title showdown with Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.

Sabalenka beat 14th-ranked Czech Noskova 6-3, 6-4 and Rybakina downed Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-4 to set up a mouth-watering rematch of their Melbourne final.

Rybakina also beat Sabalenka in the 2023 championship match in Indian Wells — where the Belarusian star has come up empty in two prior trips to the final.

“I want that match,” said Sabalenka, who has been in imperious form in the California desert this year.

She fired 37 winners with 11 aces, applying relentless pressure from the baseline in a commanding win over Noskova.

She broke the big-serving Czech twice as she powered to a 5-1 lead in the opening set.

There was a hiccup as she tried to serve out the set, and Sabalenka, who had lost just one point in her first three service games, was broken.

Noskova kept the set alive with a battling hold in a marathon eighth game, fending off a set point with a service winner and sealing the game with an ace.

Serving for the set again, Sabalenka opened with a double fault and went down 0-30, but a pair of big serves and a backhand winner brought her to set point, and she claimed it with an ace.

Sabalenka broke Noskova to open the second and was on her way. Noskova fended off a second break, but she was unable to convert a break opportunity in the eighth game as Sabalenka brought it home, capping the victory with a forehand winner on her third match point.

“I think I really played great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “I was serving well. I was playing well. I like the way I put her under pressure on her serve.”

Rybakina, who is set to rise one spot to number two in the world on Monday, had too much firepower for ninth-ranked Svitolina, who was coming off a three-set win over two-time champion Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.

Rybakina recouped an early break in a tight first set and seized control with a break for 6-5, her steady pressure on Svitolina’s serve provoking too many mistakes from the Ukrainian.

Top-10 streak

Rybakina won seven straight games from 4-5 down in the first, breaking Svitolina twice on the way to a 4-0 lead in the second set.

The experienced Svitolina made her keep grinding, saving a match point on her own serve then saving another on the way to a break for 5-3 as she won three straight games.

But Rybakina made no mistake as she served for the match a second time, nabbing her 12th straight victory over top-10 opponents.

“Not, maybe, my best performance, but I’m super happy to win this match and be in the final again,” Rybakina said.

Although she trails Sabalenka 8-7 in their career head-to-head, she has won their last two meetings, in the title match of last year’s WTA Finals and at the Australian Open — where she claimed her second Grand Slam crown.

Despite those recent successes Rybakina was expecting a battle on Sunday.

“We played so many times, and I think it all depends on close moments, which we usually have — whoever steps in, plays more aggressive, more solid,” Rybakina said. “It’s going to be a difficult match.

“We’re both going to try to serve well, that’s for sure, put pressure… we will see what’s going to happen.”