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The NFL faces two major issues as the 2026 season approaches: how fans watch games and the continued discussion over playing surfaces.
The former has been the subject of controversy, to the point that there was a hearing earlier this month on the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, as fans are paying top dollar to watch games exclusively on streaming sites.
However, former NFL tight end turned FOX analyst Greg Olsen understands that the league is a money-making business.
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Greg Olsen, NFL analyst and former player, discusses how Zebra data helps teams analyze and improve player performance and how RFID technology improves the fan experience in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 5, 2025. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
“I get it. From a high-level unbiased perspective, I get it. I understand the frustrations and why this conversation is there. The number of different streams and subscriptions, and I need to have cable to go with my cable. I understand all of that; I’m also a realist,” Olsen recently told Pak Gazette Digital.
“While I may not have designed it this way and I may not always agree with it, I think we just have to operate within the rules that we all live by. This is the modern era, and I think people are going to adapt. I think the networks are going to pivot and adapt, I think the cable channels are going to pivot and adapt, not unlike how these streamers will continue to evolve. At some point, it’s all going to work itself out.”
Netflix and NFL signs advertise the two major Christmas Day NFL games broadcast live on Netflix in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 1, 2024. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
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The conversation about the playing surface is intensifying this summer, as 11 NFL stadiums host FIFA World Cup games, which must be played on grass. Of those 11 venues, six use grass, but were forced to make the change to adapt to FIFA regulations.
Half of the league’s stadiums use grass, despite NFLPA CEO Lloyd Howell saying that 92% of league players I prefer grass. Even though NFL players begged for grass and were told no, stadiums had no choice but to, as NFLPA head JC Tretter once said, “roll out the green carpet of grass.”
However, Olsen somewhat dismissed the “interesting” conversation.
“When they get injured, they don’t like playing on grass. And when they play on bad grass in the rain, and they play on bad grass in the Northeast and the Midwest in the winter at the end of the season, the balance is bad, it’s sloppy and no one can run, the guys with skills don’t feel fast, they can’t understand their shoes, they complain about that too. So I think there’s an element where you’re never going to make everyone happy,” Olsen fumed.
The NFL logo is displayed on the field after the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, on December 28, 2025. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
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“If they made a rule that they were all grass, people would be outraged. If every field had to be traditional natural grass, I think everyone south of Mason-Dixon would be fine. I think at the end of the season, Northeast games would be very difficult… Just Mother Nature. It is what it is.”
