Yes, The NFL Can Essentially Do Whatever It Wants

The National Football League has taken it upon itself to start the 2025 regular season by demonstrating its unmatched power. 

There’s a game Thursday, another Friday night, a full Sunday slate, and one on Monday. It’s to the point that some are questioning a weekend overload, given the NFL’s willingness to schedule any day of the week and college football’s full Saturday slate.

RELATED: Is Five Straight Nights Of Football Too Much Football?

But that’s wrong—and the NFL knows it.

There's no night of the week that the NFL can't schedule, there's no number of games in a row that's too many. The league can do no wrong with fans, because it has the advantage of a nationwide addiction to sports betting, fantasy sports, prob betting, daily fantasy, and prize picks. 

When people have a stake, they watch—and no sport commands those stakes like football, especially the modern NFL.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

NFL Takes Advantage Of Gambling To Become The Most Dominant Sport

Want to know how easily the NFL does what it wants? While other leagues have moved away from overt political gestures since the so-called Great Awokening, the NFL continues to tout its progressive policies. The league has steadfastly kept its DEI programs, with Goodell touting them even after the 2024 election.

Ahead of Thursday night's season opening game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL made sure to have a performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," commonly referred to as the "Black National Anthem."

Think it will dent ratings or cost the league fans, even a little? Of course not. No more than scheduling games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would. And the NFL knows it.

The league became the dominant sport in America in part because football is fun to watch, obviously, and there are passionate fans of individual teams. But the national interest that it's created over the last 30 years, where it's obliterated other sports in viewership, interest and revenue? That's a direct result of several key factors.

Baseball is a six-month commitment. It’s every night, with day games on Tuesdays. There’s little reason to watch games that don’t affect your team directly. And, crucially, it’s extremely difficult to gamble on. Gaps between teams are minuscule. Even the best teams this season lose 40 percent to 45 percent of the time. That makes it feel less predictable. 

The NFL though, grew in popularity because it was easy to follow. It's 17 games, previously 16, and primarily on one day when most fans aren't working. And while pre-pitch clock MLB games were frequently dragging on and on, NFL games were predictably 3 hours long. Even though there's far more time spent on commercials and shots of players standing around than live action. 

After grabbing that market share, the NFL exploded as the rise of fantasy and betting pushed it along. Now, with a nationwide obsession with gambling, it’s untouchable. There could be a game every night of the week and people would watch, because many feel compelled to bet on it—whether it’s who wins, who makes the first catch, or who gains the most yards.

They can do whatever they want. And they do. And they will. It's almost on purpose, to push the boundaries and see how far sports betting takes them. And the evidence is right there in front of us. It's as the internet so often says: it's to the moon.