Long before he took office, U.S. President Donald Trump had a long-standing relationship with the National Football League.
From multiple failed attempts to buy a team to reacting to the ebbs and flows of the league on social media, Trump has always presented himself as an avid football fan. As such, he made the most of his platform to complain about the rising cost of watching games, given all the different streaming services fans have to subscribe to.
With that in mind, Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, tried to clear the air on that matter.
The NFL “loves” its streaming model, says executive
“We love our model,” Schroeder told ESPN’s Stephen Holder. “We think we have the most fan-friendly model there is of any sport or entertainment as far as distribution… We think broadcast [networks] have been an incredible home. And, now, we also know fans are increasingly spending their time on other platforms as well.”
Per Schroeder, they’re just following trends and meeting the fans where they already are.
“They tune into broadcasts for the NFL, and that’s where we want to be,” added Schroeder. “But we also want to be on these platforms with a limited amount of our games, where we know our NFL fans are already as well.”
That might be fair to a degree, but fans’ complaints have grown exponentially in recent years. The NFL currently has partnerships with ESPN+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV, Peacock, Paramount+ and Netflix. That’s not counting NFL+ or alternative platforms like Hulu+ or Fubo.
That has become a trend across other leagues like the NBA as well, with costs soaring for fans and the overall viewing experience tiring; fans don’t even seem to know who’s streaming what.
Regardless, that’s not going to change anytime soon. If anything, the league will likely continue to push for more expansion, more games and more streaming partnerships, and the fans will inevitably keep paying and tuning in.