How Netflix and YouTube will be splitting NFL 'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders in 2026

How Netflix and YouTube will be splitting NFL 'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

NFL fans annually mark their calendars in mid-May, awaiting the release of the season schedule. This year, however, there is still a lack of clarity about where games will be streamed in the first place,

Looking specifically at "Monday Night Football," there are four open doubleheaders that ESPN returned to the NFL following ESPN's acquisition of NFL Network.

But who will be taking over those four spots? It appears streaming services are the leading candidates.

Netflix and YouTube are both vying for the high-profile games in the national spotlight. The deal is expected to be split between the two platforms.

Here's what to know about the new home of the "Monday Night Football" doubleheaders.

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Who will broadcast NFL 'Monday Night Football' doubleheaders in 2026?

The current plan for "Monday Night Football" doubleheaders is to split them between Netflix and YouTube, respectively, per Alex Sherman. This would mean each streaming service is expected to receive about four or five games.

This adds on to the Christmas games that Netflix already features, giving them up to a half dozen total broadcasts next season.

YouTube is set to land a five-game package from the NFL as part of its entrance into the NFL streaming space. The site only showed one game in 2025.

Despite these changes, the NFL still plans to increase the number of games aired on broadcast television networks, which stood at 87% last season.

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Netflix-NFL contract

Netflix is entering their final season of a three-year deal with the NFL, which centers around Christmas Day broadcasts. In 2024 and 2025, this included two games each on Netflix, with the third Christmas game in 2025 going to Amazon Prime.

For each game, Netflix pays approximately $75 million for the rights. For the 2025 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, viewership averaged at 27.5 million and peaked at over 30 million. The halftime show with Snoop Dogg averaged higher numbers than the game, at 29 million.

Netflix's contract with the NFL is set to expire this in 2027 and any new contracts or extensions are unclear at this time.

YouTube-NFL Contract

YouTube signed a seven-year contract with the NFL back in 2023 that was valued at $2 billion. This gave them the rights to the entire NFL Sunday Ticket package, which streams on YouTube TV.

Last season saw YouTube also obtain the exclusive rights to the Chiefs vs. Chargers game in Sao Paulo, but this deal would mark the most games that YouTube has ever exclusively streamed in a single season.

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