PFT Live with Mike Florio PFT PM: NFL TV deals will break the bank (again) + Mailbg
Feb 20, 2026
Big-money NFL TV deals and how new packaging could send rights fees through the roof. A secretive search for a new NFLPA leader and how owners might leverage TV cash for an 18-game season. The Sunday Ticket antitrust appeal and possibilities for unbundling broadcasts. Creative fixes for NBA tanking and a lively mailbag covering Cardinals rebuild, coaching prospects, NIL effects, and postgame media rules.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Let Viewers Pick Out-Of-Market Games
- Consumers would benefit if out-of-market games were sold like college football TV rights, letting viewers pick games.
- Florio recommends breaking the all-or-nothing Sunday Ticket model to increase choice and competition.
Partial Fixes Won't End Tanking
- The NBA's tanking problem resists partial fixes because teams will adapt strategies to any new rules.
- Florio argues only fully random lotteries, reversed-order rewards, or removing the draft eliminate tanking incentives.
Radical Options To Eliminate Tanking
- To truly remove tanking, adopt a pure random draft lottery, award top picks to champions, or abolish the draft.
- Florio suggests these radical options align incentives or eliminate perverse rewards for losing.