Read in Browser [[link removed]]

Morning Edition

February 2, 2026

POWERED BY

Good morning from San Francisco. Or is it Santa Clara? Or San Jose? All of the above. The FOS team has descended on the Bay Area for Super Bowl week, with events spread across the region [[link removed]]—from downtown SF to Levi’s Stadium. All week, we’ll bring you news and interviews from the scene. We’ll also have a big set on Radio Row, thanks to our partners at Toyota—stop by and say hi if you’re around. Today’s lead story: Getting you up to speed on the biggest questions facing the league. We’ll seek to get as many answers as we can.

— Dan Roberts [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

FOS at the Super Bowl With the Super Bowl days away, the Seahawks’ focus is being tested by the Raiders’ expected move for Seattle assistant coach Klint Kubiak. Read the story [[link removed]]. Super Bowl LX resale prices are dropping in a hurry, with entry tickets down nearly 30%. Read the story [[link removed]]. The NFL is bringing its America 250 celebration to the Super Bowl, with special jersey patches for both teams. Read the story [[link removed]]. Patriots haters are surely sick of seeing them in the Super Bowl yet again. But this is a new era, and it might be time to hate them a little less. Read Dan Roberts’s column [[link removed]]. Big Questions for Roger Goodell As Super Bowl Week Kicks Off [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

SAN FRANCISCO — As the NFL begins the run-up to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium between the Seahawks and Patriots, the NFL is awash in rising revenues, growing viewership, unchallenged popularity in U.S. sports, and the rising potential of even more money to come.

There are still plenty of key issues surrounding the league, however, as commissioner Roger Goodell conducts his annual Super Bowl press conference on Monday.

That yearly tradition formerly was held toward the end of Super Bowl week, but the league moved it to a Monday scheduling in 2024, in part to keep the media focus of the week on the upcoming game itself.

Still, Goodell will have no shortage of critical topics to address as the NFL approaches inflection points on most of the core areas of its operations. Among them:

Media rights: The league has already signaled that it will exercise an opt-out after the 2029 season [[link removed]], with talks to begin as soon as this year. How that unfolds, particularly in the wake of historic viewership this season [[link removed]], has massive implications on both the league and its rights holders. 18-game season: Last spring, an expanded regular season was seen as inevitable [[link removed]], but not necessarily imminent. A potential timetable for implementation, however, could be moving up, as Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently told a Boston radio station [[link removed]], with great certainty, that “every team will go to 18 [regular season] games and two [preseason games].” That matter, of course, will need to be collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association. International growth: Fundamentally intertwined with a larger regular season is the possibility of every team in the league playing at least one non-U.S. game every season. Kraft, in the same interview, said, “We’re going to push like the dickens now to make international more important with us.” How that would happen in a way that advances the NFL’s global ambitions but remains mindful of player health and safety concerns will be the key test. The league played seven international games in 2025, a number set to increase this year. [[link removed]] ESPN deal: The NFL is now a 10% equity holder in the Disney-controlled outlet following the closing of a large-scale deal [[link removed]] with the sports media giant. What will be the future relationship between the two titans? Bears: The league’s team in the No. 3 U.S. media market is now in the middle of a two-state bidding war [[link removed]] between Illinois and Indiana over a future domed stadium. Goodell has personally toured sites [[link removed]] in both states. To what degree will he get further involved in the situation? Domed stadiums: The Chicago situation is just one of a fast-growing trend around the league toward building indoor facilities, one also playing out in Tennessee, Cleveland, Washington, Kansas City, and Denver. Those venues, while potentially bringing bigger benefits for their home communities, also promise to help shift the nature of the league as it becomes more of an indoor sport. Bad Bunny: Goodell has stood firmly behind the Super Bowl LX halftime show performer, [[link removed]] saying last fall that the Puerto Rican superstar was “one of the leading and most popular entertainers in the world.” As the game approaches, complaints about the show and the selection of Bad Bunny are beginning to resurface among political conservatives. Broader politics: Compared to the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump, the league has adeptly managed to stay more out of the crosshairs of the White House. Is the increasingly unpredictable nature of Trump headed for a renewed collision, though, with the NFL’s growing popularity? Giants: The long-struggling club recently hired coaching veteran John Harbaugh [[link removed]], signaling a potential new era, but co-owner Steve Tisch is part of the newly released Epstein files [[link removed]]. Will the commissioner intervene here?

Goodell’s media session is set for Monday afternoon at the San Jose Convention Center, just before key players and coaches for the Seahawks and Patriots arrive there for the Super Bowl Opening Night that is accessible to fans.

SPONSORED BY ALUMNI VENTURES

FOS Exclusive: Early Access to Start-Ups

Front Office Sports and Alumni Ventures are teaming up this week only to give readers early access to high-growth start-up opportunities [[link removed]] in sports, media, and entertainment—including companies shaping the future of performance, fandom, and live experiences, alongside top venture firms like Sapphire, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and Bessemer.

You get access to a curated deal flow of high-potential start-ups, with no cost and no commitment to join. You invest only if a company excites you—don’t miss your chance before access closes.

Join Alumni Ventures Sports & Humans First Syndicate today → [[link removed]]

What Else We’re Watching Caitlin Clark is optimistic that a WNBA CBA deal will be done soon, and the season could stay on schedule. Read the story [[link removed]]. Newly released DOJ documents show dozens of major sports figures connected to Jeffrey Epstein. Read the story [[link removed]]. Record crowds flocked to the Australian Open, fueling organizers’ ambitions—and fans’ frustrations. Read the story [[link removed]]. NFL, ESPN Finalize Landmark Deal After Federal Approval [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

SAN FRANCISCO — The NFL, ESPN, and network parent company Disney have closed on their large-scale agreement that gives the league equity in the sports media giant and ESPN control over the NFL Network.

Nearly six months after first striking the expansive deal [[link removed]], the parties received federal government approval, including from the U.S. Department of Justice, on the pact. ESPN will acquire NFL Network, as well as rights to distribute NFL RedZone to pay-TV operators, while the league gains a 10% equity stake in ESPN—a holding valued in the billions of dollars. The network will also take over the NFL’s fantasy football operations and merge them with its own.

The full changeover for NFL Network will not happen until April, and those employees of NFL Media who work there will become part of ESPN. Front Office Sports previously reported the deal was firmly in line for an early 2026 completion [[link removed]].

“With the closing, we will begin integrating NFL employees into ESPN in the months ahead,” ESPN and the NFL said in a joint statement. “As we look to the future, NFL fans can look forward to expanded NFL programming, greater access to NFL Network, innovative fantasy experiences, and unparalleled coverage of America’s most popular sport.”

NFL Network, created in 2003 and now holding nearly 50 million subscribers, will become part of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service [[link removed]] that debuted last summer.

With the combination of ESPN with NFL Network, the outlet will now show 28 NFL games per season, including three from NFL Network, and the most in ESPN’s history. The league, however, retained rights to four international games previously shown by the NFL Network and will now look to resell those rights—potentially to one or more streaming outlets.

The NFL, meanwhile, will still operate NFL Films, NFL.com, and other related digital assets, and it will continue to produce NFL RedZone.

The agreement leaves ESPN’s equity split of 72% controlled by Disney and its subsidiaries, 18% by Hearst, and 10% with the NFL.

Looking Ahead

The deal’s completion arrived about 36 hours before Disney is due to report its fiscal first quarter earnings early Monday.

In addition to hearing more about this NFL pact and the progress of ESPN’s DTC efforts, investors are eager to know more about the succession plan for outgoing CEO Bob Iger. His current contract ends Dec. 31, 2026, and Disney is expected to reveal its future leadership plan well before then. The Wall Street Journal reported [[link removed]] that Iger will also end daily management of Disney before the end of the year.

The Super Bowl LX week in the Bay Area, meanwhile, will culminate with a large-scale handoff toward next year’s NFL title game [[link removed]] in Los Angeles, which will be the first aired by ESPN. That Super Bowl in February 2027, a landmark event in ESPN’s 46-year history, will be further buttressed by the inclusion of the NFL assets.

Separately, the league expected to opt out of its current media rights deals [[link removed]] early, including with ESPN, and begin talks this year on new and more lucrative pacts.

Editors’ Picks College Athletic Departments Are Wooing Recruits With Content Studios [[link removed]]by Ellyn Briggs [[link removed]]Schools are creating content studios to win recruits and donor dollars. Alcaraz Wins Australian Open, Becomes Youngest Man to Win Grand Slam [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Alcaraz has won seven Grand Slam titles. Paul George to Lose Nearly $12 Million in NBA Drug Suspension [[link removed]]by Ryan Glasspiegel [[link removed]]The Sixer is suspended for 25 games. Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Games [[link removed]] Show [[link removed]] Shop [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]]

If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here [[link removed]].

Update your preferences [link removed] / Unsubscribe [link removed]

Copyright © 2026 Front Office Sports. All rights reserved.

460 Park Avenue South, 7th Floor, New York NY, 10016