NFL fans across the country are furious over the league’s latest broadcasting move for the 2024 playoff bracket. This change made it so that viewing NFL Wild Card playoff games is only accessible through purchasing NBC’s streaming service known as “Peacock Premium,” which will run fans $49.99 annually or $4.99 every month.  

  Instinctively, fans weren’t too pleased with the NFL’s recent decision as it seems to be another step to make watching your favorite team pay to view. The NFL is already in hot water with its announcement in 2022 giving Amazon the sole rights towards “Thursday Night Football”. This $1.3 billion dollar deal left a bad taste with fans as there were plenty of technical issues with the service and a premium cost. With the current controversy stirring around in the NFL world, league commissioner Roger Goodell has caught flack from fans all over social media. He and other higher ups are being torn apart with fans claiming this is “pure greed” and that they will be “watching it illegally and suggests everyone does the same”.

  Many people are curious about why the NFL would even make such a deal like this. It all comes down to revenue. With the NFL being one of the leading powerhouses in the sports world people are going to watch it despite the circumstances even if that means they need to pay extra to enjoy winter playoffs. That means the league will bring in $110 million per game through this deal with Peacock. Even with fans threatening to not pay for the previous year’s Amazon deal, they did despite the distaste towards the idea. 

  One positive for fans worldwide is that if NBC’s deal is unsuccessful with fans it is only a 1-year contract allowing them to fix what needs to be done. One thing that seems to be certain is the NFL’s transition to streaming services. With NBC only signing a 1-year contract, should the league look for a partner to fall in line?  Is it a good idea for the NFL to find an official partner with a streaming service?