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Roger Goodell has a new contract.
In a memo sent by the NFL’s Compensation Committee on Sunday, all 32 teams were informed that the league had agreed to a contract extension with Goodell. The new deal expires on March 31, 2031, and will keep him on as commissioner through the ’30 season.
Goodell began his tenure as commissioner on Sept. 1, 2006. By the time his new contract is over, he will be 72 years old and have been in charge of the NFL for 25 full seasons—by far the longest tenure in league history.
The NFL has undoubtedly had its ups and downs over the past two decades. As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer put it last September, the complete picture of Goodell’s reign “very much depends on who’s painting it.”
Here’s a look at both the best and worst of it—as well as what he can improve on over the next five seasons.
The best
Television contracts
The way you watch NFL football (and where you watch it) has blossomed under Goodell’s tenure, and there’s no better example than the current media rights deals.
As currently constituted, NFL games are broadcast through traditional television networks CBS, ESPN/ABC, NBC and Fox, as well as Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video, the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football. These deals began in 2023, with CBS (’23, ’27, ’31), Fox (’24, ’28, ’31) and NBC (’25, ’29, ’33) each receiving three Super Bowls, and ESPN/ABC (’26, ’30) getting two. The agreements with Amazon, CBS, Fox and NBC run through the 2033 season while ESPN/ABC’s runs through ’34.
Additionally, the league has continued to expand its presence on non-traditional platforms (aka, streaming). The NFL’s Sunday Ticket package moved from DirecTV to YouTube TV in 2023, Netflix was added to the mix in 2024 to stream Christmas Day games and Peacock also airs select matchups throughout the season. Netflix is currently negotiating on a per-season basis and added the league’s Week 1 game in Melbourne between the 49ers and Rams, as well as the first NFL game on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Packers vs. Rams) in 2026.
Altogether, according to Sports Business Journal, these media rights deals will bring in over $110 billion(!) in revenue for the NFL—and better yet, can be renegotiated soon. The league reportedly has an opt-out window with CBS, NBC and Fox following the 2029-30 season, and is “weighing whether to waive its right to opt out … in exchange for higher rights fees.”
The International Series, Global Markets Program
Growing the game globally has become one of the NFL’s calling cards since Goodell took over in 2006, and in just his second season at the helm, games were being played overseas on a regular basis.
The NFL International Series, as it’s formally dubbed, began in 2007 with a matchup between the Dolphins and Giants at London’s Wembley Stadium. Since then, the league has played at least one game internationally every season—save 2020 due to the COVID pandemic—expanding the series to Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and, in 2026, Australia. This coming season will feature a record nine International Series contests.
On top of this, the NFL launched the Global Markets Program in 2022, providing its clubs with marketing rights to countries outside of the United States in an effort to “build awareness and fandom globally through fan engagement, events, commercial opportunities and NFL Flag development.”
All of this is likely serving as groundwork for eventual international expansion, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. For now, it’s simply a great initiative to spread the game and the NFL’s brand worldwide.
Turning everythinginto an event
The draft used to be stuffed into one Saturday afternoon; the schedule reveal a press release; and free agency a mad dash all at once. Now? The NFL has essentially become a year-long marketing ploy, with something happening at every turn of the calendar.
Whether it’s a three-day-long marathon of players being selected broadcast on multiple networks; all 32 teams releasing when and where they’ll play their 17 opponents through a highly produced social media post; or the legal tampering period kicking off the NFL’s new league year before it begins, anything and everything in the sport is now an event. In turn, more eyeballs have been on the game than ever before, and of course, more money is coming in.
The worst
Inconsistent and reactive disciplinary standards
As noted by SI’s Conor Orr last week, Goodell would have never done to any of his owners what Adam Silver did to Steve Ballmer and the Clippers last week. That’s unless, of course, it’s a make-up call.
Goodell’s leniency toward the Patriots for what was an enormous cheating scandal in Spygate, before later bringing down the proverbial hammer on Tom Brady—four games for being “generally aware” of Deflategate—shows just how inconsistent and reactive the NFL has been with discipline during his tenure.
Another glaring example came back in 2014, when Ravens running back Ray Rice was handed just a two-game suspension after he was charged with assaulting his then-fiancée in an elevator. When video of the incident eventually surfaced, the league pivoted, suspending him indefinitely before ultimately barring him for six games. Rice never played again, Goodell admitted that he “didn’t get it right,” and the NFL ultimately added a six-game minimum suspension for cases of domestic violence.
Conversely, the NFL suspended wide receiver Josh Gordon six(!) times throughout his career for various drug-related offenses—including season-long banishments in 2015, ’16, and ’20. In the years since, the league has eliminated game suspensions for positive THC tests and only tests players once a year, during a specific two-week window between the start of training camp and the first preseason game.
While Gordon’s repeated suspensions were largely his own doing, the comparison still underscores the league’s wildly inconsistent approach to punishment, and its tendency to backtrack and adjust standards after the fact.
A lack of compassion for player safety
Laced within the NFL’s thirst for more is the fact that the league is not only playing a 17-game regular season (and hoping for 18), but also hosting matchups on every day but Tuesday throughout the 2026 campaign.
While Goodell has publicly stated that the NFL has “no higher priority” than player safety, the reality of concussions and CTE has never been more apparent. And as the league continues its clear push for more games—while also giving teams shorter and less consistent windows for recovery between them—it’s hard to believe that the health of those who are the lifeblood of the sport is truly front of mind when business decisions are being made.
What can be improved?
Fans probably won’t like to hear this, but overall, Goodell has been a net-positive for the NFL. That said, more can be done to make the game—and everything attached to it—even better over his next five years as commissioner.
At the forefront is the league’s relationship with gambling. Since sports betting was legalized nationwide back in 2018, it’s been the Wild West, and the NFL naturally embraced it as a business opportunity. They’ve partnered with sportsbooks, allowed gambling content to be intertwined with its broadcasts and leaned into this new reality in order to improve the overall experience. With it, however, have come questions as to when—and if—they’ll draw the line. 10 players have been suspended for gambling-related violations over the last several years, and a Cardinals executive was also suspended this offseason for violating the league’s gambling policy. The overlap can get ugly fast. Just look at the NBA and college football.
Other areas for improvement center around officiating (though the league is implementing a new strategy to improve it, and is also entering its second season using the virtual measurement), the aforementioned issues regarding discipline and player safety, and fan accessibility as viewing platforms and subscription services continue to grow.
That said, the NFL is ultimately in good hands with Goodell, and will continue to be through at least the 2030 season.
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MIKE KADLICK
Mike Kadlick is a senior NFL news writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.
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