The NFL will not play a Friday Week 1 game next season; Fox and CBS could reportedly be interested in purchasing more local stations; and the “ManningCast” is adding another game to its schedule. Plus news on iHeartMedia, CBS Sports, Katie Nolan and the Cleveland Browns.
NFL will not play Friday game in Week 1 of 2026 season
The National Football League will not be playing a Friday Week 1 game in 2026, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder confirmed on Tuesday. The league has included Friday contests on its Week 1 schedule for the last two seasons emanating from São Paulo, Brazil, including the upcoming game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers streaming exclusively on YouTube.
The league was only able to schedule Friday games the past two seasons because Labor Day took place early enough that Week 1 coincided with the first Friday of September. Under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which exempts the collective sale of media rights from antitrust scrutiny, the league is prohibited from playing Friday or Saturday games from the second weekend of September through the second weekend of December. After this year’s earliest-possible Labor Day of September 1, next year’s is the latest-possible on September 7.
As part of its pending non-binding agreement with the NFL, ESPN is shifting four games in its inventory to air on NFL Network. The entity would continue to meet affiliate requirements by airing seven games per season, the other three of which will be licensed to ESPN, but the transaction brings four additional games to the media rights marketplace. While Schroeder did not comment on these games specifically or a new rights package, he said the league will continue pursuing new opportunities.
“We love building new partnerships,” Schroeder said. “The strength of the league has been on having great partners for a long period of time, but as new companies, new partners, opportunities emerge, we’re going to be very focused on that as well in a way that [is] very fan-focused on how we best serve them.”
Fox, CBS could reportedly have interest in purchasing more local stations
As the Federal Communications Commission aims to “refresh the record” on the national television cap that currently limits ownership of broadcast television stations that reach over 39% of U.S. households, FOX and CBS could have interest in purchasing more local outlets, according to Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter. Parent companies FOX Corporation and Paramount Skydance were part of a joint filing that included various media entities asking the FCC to reform the cap, arguing that it is an “antiquated and harmful restriction” amid a marketplace with streaming and technology companies as competition.
Fox and NBCUniversal sent the FCC additional letters arguing that it should not be distinguishing between independent station owners and national networks that own local stations. Fox acquired stations located in Seattle and Milwaukee as part of a deal with Nexstar in 2019 that resulted in the sale of its Charlotte outlet, and CBS bought an independently-owned Paramount station in Atlanta to a fully owned and operated outlet.
Multiple sources cited in the report explained that while broadcasters want to own stations in states with political competition, the outlets with NFL teams are equally important for Fox and CBS. This would allow the ventures to boost advertising sales by garnering deals at the national and local levels. Weprin noted that it is “no coincidence” that the Fox agreement with Nexstar and CBS shift in Atlanta occurred in “established NFL markets.”
While independent station groups such as Nexstar, Gray TV and Sinclair own a variety of local television outlets around the country, larger media conglomerates also take part in the business, albeit at a reduced scale. Fox currently owns and operates 29 local television stations around the country, and CBS has 28 local outlets of its own as well. The FCC cap restriction includes a discount for stations broadcasting on UHF frequencies, allowing companies to count their audience reach at a factor of one-half.
‘ManningCast’ expanding to 12-game schedule
The “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli” alternate broadcast presentation will be expanding to a 12-game schedule for its fifth season on the air. This includes 11 games that will occur during the regular season and a broadcast of an NFL Wild Card game taking place on Monday, Jan. 12. All episodes of the “ManningCast” will air on ESPN2, and the show is also available through the new ESPN direct-to-consumer platform.
The regular-season slate opens with an NFC North showdown between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears on Monday, Sept. 8. Two weeks later, the presentation returns for a tilt featuring the Detroit Lions against the Baltimore Ravens. The alternate presentation will not be on the air for games occurring in Week 2, 4, 6 or 7 when the “Monday Night Football” broadcast property airs two games across ESPN and ABC. The regular-season finale will take place in Week 18 for a matchup to be determined as part of a Saturday doubleheader.
ESPN and Omaha Productions reached a nine-year agreement last season that continues their partnership through 2034. The deal included the continuation of the “ManningCast,” which averaged 1 million viewers per game last season and featured regular guest appearances from former NFL head coach Bill Belichick. The program will now have different first-half guests for each week and other personalities throughout the full game. Peyton Manning will also continue utilizing interactive whiteboard technology that allows for real-time synthesis of plays.
Plus: iHeartMedia, CBS Sports, Katie Nolan, Cleveland Browns
- iHeartMedia has reached an amended and restated employment agreement for CEO and chairman Bob Pittman, along with COO and president Rich Bressler. These deals run through the end of 2029, and Pittman’s agreement contains framework for retirement termination at its conclusion with the requirement of a written notice of at least 60 days.
- CBS Sports will be airing U.S. English-language coverage of Concacaf men’s qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2026, the company announced on Tuesday. The 36 matches will be streaming live on Paramount+, and select games will be live on CBS Sports Network or the CBS Sports Golazo Network.
- Katie Nolan is expanding her role with SiriusXM as the host of a new one-hour weekday call-in program on Mad Dog Sports Radio. The show, which will be titled “Fan Service,” aired its first episode on Tuesday at 12 PM ET amid the debut of a new lineup for the sports talk radio station that also includes Stephen A. Smith.
- The Cleveland Browns have reached a multiyear agreement with Audacy and Good Karma Brands to extend their partnership for the team’s radio network. Heading into the upcoming season, Browns games will be airing on 92.3 The Fan, 98.5 WNCX and 850 ESPN Cleveland, along with additional in-season programming that includes a preview show, coaches’ program and more.
