YouTube's Plans For 2026 NFL Season Have Apparently Changed
YouTube has been a rising power in the NFL media landscape in recent years. Their acquisition of the NFL Sunday Ticket was a massive coup for YouTube TV and the company is hoping to add some games to their main product as early as this season.
Mere weeks ago YouTube was reportedly in talks with the NFL to broadcast as many as five games in 2026. But according to reports, those plans have hit a snag.
John Ourand of Puckreported that YouTube could "wind up with nothing" as the NFL seems inclined to award part of the five-game package to Netflix instead. Per the report, Netflix is expected to televise three of the five games that were set aside, with one of the traditional networks (either ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC) getting the other two.
The NFL on YouTube
NFL fans aren't exactly shedding any tears for YouTube in this case, since many prefer watching on television instead of streaming services to begin with.
"Thank god. Football should be on tv. These streamers mostly suck," one user remarked.
"Good. Streaming sports is B.S.," wrote another.
"Good," a third said bluntly.
However, some have also noted that YouTube seems to be getting an increasingly raw deal with so many games being pulled from the NFL Sunday Ticket, thus reducing the value of the package they spent billions to acquire.
"YouTube has to love that not only are they not getting games, but also paying for a Sunday Ticket package that's best games are also getting pillaged," a user pointed out.
The potential shift from YouTube to Netflix also seems to suggest that the NFL is becoming increasingly happy with what Netflix is doing with their games. The iconic streaming service has become an ever-growing force in sports broadcasting.
More importantly, Netflix has been putting up historic streaming numbers for their Christmas Day games, which absolutely has to factor into the NFL's decision-making process.
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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 8:28 AM.