When it comes to standalone windows and Sunday Ticket/RedZone, there's a delicate balance to strike

On one hand, it's encouraging to see the NFL trim the cluster of 1:00 p.m. ET games and drop more of them in standalone windows, where they can be watched and appreciated without a bunch of other games happening at the same time. On the other hand, there's a point at which the reduction of Sunday afternoon games makes products premised on volume less valuable.

That's the risk the NFL is assuming, as to Sunday Ticket and RedZone.

Years ago, Sunday Ticket was marketed as a way to watch up to 13 out-of-market games, every Sunday. That was when the league had two prime-time windows, on Sunday night and Monday night. Now, only two weekends have 13 total Sunday afternoon games: Week 2 and Week 3.

The Sunday morning international slate starts in Week 4; that takes a game away from Sunday afternoon. The byes begin in Week 5, carving away one or two (or, in Week 11, three) games every weekend thereafter.

In Week 12 (Thanksgiving week), there are only nine games on Sunday afternoon. In Week 16 (Christmas week), there are eight.

Obviously, fewer games on Sunday afternoon impact the value of both Sunday Ticket and RedZone. Those products are driven by the volume of games. Taking games away necessarily reduces the power of purchasing the ability to monitor a frenzy of football activity.

For now, the league isn't concerned. As NFL Media executive V.P. and COO Hans Schroeder said during a Friday conference call regarding the 2026 schedule, "We . . . had our highest number of Sunday Ticket subscribers ever. . . . We also had the highest year of RedZone ever, from a viewership perspective."

It's a testament to the popularity of pro football. Still, the expansion of standalone windows will reduce the inventory on Sunday afternoons.

Keep that in mind as to the inevitability of an 18-game regular season. If an extra game comes with an extra bye for each team, there will be 20 weekends for 288 games — instead of 18 weekends for 272. That will spread the weekly inventory even thinner. Throw in the likelihood of 16 annual international games, and that's more games getting vacuumed away from Sunday afternoon and, in turn, more content being lost by Sunday Ticket and RedZone.

Keep this in mind, too. As the existing inventory gets pulled into more windows, one way to address that problem is to add more teams.

While no one with the league has publicly mentioned expansion in any serious terms, at some point the light bulb will engage over someone's head.