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Ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman talks streaming, cautions league

Former NFL star Shawne Merriman appeared on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich" about the future of the league.

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The picture the NFL wants you to have of America's most popular sport is that this is a steamroller crushing it at every turn, with revenues, ratings, salaries, and, of course, entertainment and drama breaking through one ceiling after another in a seemingly endless streak of success.

And much of that is indeed an accurate portrait.

But there's another snapshot the average fan is increasingly seeing and that's of an NFL that is taking more out of your wallet than ever, whether you're headed to games or watching at home.

It's the NFL that was born in America but is looking to export games to feed fans abroad – obviously at the expense of packed stadiums at home.

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Sam Darnold calls plays t the line of scrimmage

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) calls a play at the line of scrimmage against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field on Jan. 17, 2026. (Steven Bisig/Imagn Images)

And, it is the NFL that has partnered with gambling conglomerates as a way of increasing revenue and interest, perhaps at the expense of feeding addiction.

So, yes, the NFL is America's reality show. It's fun and captivating, but it's also unquestionably troubling at times. 

So how did the NFL behemoth get here?

"When I started in the NFL, it was the most popular sport," said former San Diego Chargers team doctor David Chao, who worked 17 seasons for the team. "By the time I was done, it was more popular than all the other sports combined.

"And what's the fundamental difference? You go to a sports bar during baseball season. It's all men watching games. You go to a sports bar on Sunday during football season, it's half women watching games. They've doubled their audience. And they added fantasy. But what is fantasy? It's personal ownership and stake. It's personal stake in the games."

Chao points out that fans years ago asked him whether a player was available for a game because they wanted the Chargers to win. Fans still care about their teams, but the league has added new fans that want to know that information because they want to set their fantasy team to win.

Or they want to have their gambling bets win.

The NFL's ‘Existential Threat’ 

Gambling has become a revenue source for the NFL that simply didn't exist a decade or so ago. 

The NFL has shifted from outright opposition to active commercial partnership with the sports betting industry. Caesars Entertainment now serves as the league's official casino sponsor while DraftKings and FanDuel are official sports betting partners.

These agreements allow the partners to use NFL trademarks, promote betting activities in league media and engage fans with NFL-branded betting experiences. And while the NFL maintains boundaries designed to protect the integrity of the game, that is a too-thin line for anyone who understands how potential betting information works.

"It's a disaster, it's the existential threat to football," said famed NFL agent Leigh Steinberg, whose career was Hollywood's template for Tom Cruise's character in the 1996 movie "Jerry Maguire." "All it takes is one inside piece of information being leaked to a gambler that's trying to do a prop bet or an athlete that actually shaves performance, and it's a slippery slope to having a true contest, and it starts to resemble wrestling.

"Gambling is maybe good news for revenue, but it's bad news for the integrity of the game and continued fan interest."

SEN ERIC SCHMITT PUSHES FOR LEGISLATION TO TACKLE RISING SPORTS TICKET COSTS

NFL Feeding Gambling Addictions

Sportsbook in Las Vegas

The sportsbook in the Circa Resort & Hotel ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 10, 2024. (Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Steinberg is the author of four books, including his latest, due out March 24, titled "The Comeback: A Playbook for Turning Life's Setbacks Into Victories." Part of that book details Steinberg's battle with alcohol addiction, and he's concerned that the NFL's ties to gambling could have a terrible effect on some of its fans.

Beyond likely losing a lot of money, that is.

"They're going to create a whole new generation of gambling addicts," he said. "Because certain people can't handle this. Second of all, if you don't feel the games are played on a level playing field with equal officiating, rules, every player trying his hardest … If you introduce into the fan's brain that there's a possibility that something else is going on other than what they see on the field, it's a disaster."

There is already a faction of NFL fans on social media who refer to the NFL as scripted. Some NFL staff even publicly joke about this narrative. But all it takes is one player, innocently or not, sharing injury information that gets leaked into gambling circles as to affect betting lines, and the NFL would have a scandal on its hands.

NFL Exporting Games Around Globe

Daniel Jones in action

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) carries the ball against the New York Giants in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

But none of this is so far slowing the NFL from its steady, seemingly inexorable expansion into becoming a global game.

"In today’s world, we have to be global," Commissioner Roger Goodell told fans in Ireland last season before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings played in Dublin. "Every time we play an international game, fans say they want more. I really, truly believe our game can and will be global. Our job is to share our game with the rest of the world."

The NFL will play a record nine international games in 2026 across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums: 

  • London, U.K. (Two games in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, One in Wembley Stadium)
  • Madrid, Spain (Bernabéu Stadium)
  • Melbourne, Australia (Melbourne Cricket Ground)
  • Mexico City, Mexico(Estadio Banorte)
  • Munich, Germany (FC Bayern Munich Stadium)
  • Paris, France (Stade de France Stadium)
  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Maracanã Stadium)

Paris, Melbourne and Rio are new additions to the International slate. And they won't be the last, if things go according to plan.

"We would like to get to 16 games, so everyone is playing one game a year internationally," Goodell said.

Players Do Not Want 18th Game

But every game that is exported is a game that leaves the United States. 

Well, the NFL has a long-range plan for that which may appease some fans but will surely displease players and that is adding another game. Even though Goodell cautioned during Super Bowl week that adding an 18th game was "not a given," he added that NFL owners want to discuss such an expansion with the NFL Players Association. 

That's because the NFL definitely wants to some day offer an 18-game regular season and two bye weeks that begins on or before Labor Day and ends on the Sunday prior to President's Day. That plan would include two preseason games to give each team a dry run for a home and away game.

"Our members have no appetite for an 18th regular-season game," NFL Players Association interim Executive Director David White said during the union’s annual Super Bowl week news conference in San Francisco.

But the players' union has balked at additional games in the past. And then it has given in to additional games in collective bargaining in return for more money. So the league believes one more game can again be negotiated.

Cam Skattebo on his back in pain

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo (44) reacts after an injury during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

More Games Cost YOU More Money

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    高层强硬表态:拒谈休战,划清多重红线


    面对持续升级的冲突,伊朗高层释放出毫不妥协的强硬信号。

    伊朗官员明确表示,战争结束的关键在于构建长期威慑力,而非短期妥协;议会议长则向地区各国传递核心立场,强调美国驻军无法带来安全,要求美方必须撤出。

    伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格希更是直接划清红线,宣称霍尔木兹海峡虽保持开放,但美国、以色列及其盟友无权使用,同时驳斥了谈判休战的“妄想性言论”,明确表态“既不寻求休战,也不接受谈判”。

    针对能源设施安全,伊朗官方媒体发出严正警告,若哈尔格岛石油基础设施遭袭,将对相关国家的石油和天然气设施展开对等打击。

    顽强作战的核心支撑:储备、成本与对手短板


    伊朗之所以能在高强度冲突中保持持续作战能力,背后有着多重支撑。

    首先是充足的武器储备与不对称作战优势,伊朗公开的大规模地下隧道网络中,无人机与火箭弹整齐列阵,法尔斯通讯社发布的视频显示,“沙希德”无人机与各类导弹组成的长列绵延不绝,直观展现了其低成本武器库的庞大规模。

    据全球军力指数评估,伊朗已跻身全球前20大军事强国,拥有中东地区规模最大的导弹库,列装数千枚弹道导弹和巡航导弹,射程覆盖以色列及欧洲东南部部分地区,同时具备至少六个月高强度战争的武器储备能力。

    其次,伊朗的作战模式形成了显著的成本优势,一枚“爱国者”防空导弹造价高达400万至500万美元,而伊朗无人机单架成本极低,据测算,阿联酋拦截506架伊朗无人机的支出最高达7.59亿美元,是伊朗攻击成本的30倍,这种“成本不对称”让对手面临防空弹药耗尽的巨大压力。

    此外,对手的作战短板进一步凸显,参与对伊军事行动的美国“福特”号航母,部署已达10个月远超常规周期,上周还发生持续30多小时的火灾,导致600余名船员被迫睡在地板和桌上,长期高强度运行使其舰艇和船员难以维持最佳状态。

    地缘冲突发酵,原油市场波动风险飙升


    地缘冲突的持续发酵直接推高了全球原油市场的波动风险。

    作为全球五分之一石油运输的关键通道,霍尔木兹海峡航运持续受阻,大量商船被迫停摆或改道,全球能源供应陷入紧张。

    尽管国际能源署已启动历史上最大规模的集体释储行动,32个成员国同意释放4亿桶战略石油储备,且署长法提赫·比罗尔表态“如有必要”将进一步释储,但仍难以完全缓解市场担忧。

    受这些情况的影响,国际油价将继续面临宽幅震荡但是价格中枢持续上移的情况。

    图片点击可在新窗口打开查看
    (WTI原油期货连续日线图,来源:易汇通)

    北京时间17:19,WTI原油期货连续现报96.88美元/桶。" alt="地下军工厂逼哭五角大楼 油价4.5%暴涨只是开胃菜">
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