Donald Trump is not just the President of the United States of America, but a longtime fan of the NFL. He has much history with the league, and is still involved in the matters of the NFL. After winning his Presidency in 2024, he attended the 2025 Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.
He is also quite vocal about the NFL’s policies, including criticizing the Bad Bunny Super Bowl 2026 halftime performance. He recently criticized the league again.
Reporter debunks Donald Trump’s “$1,000 a game” claim
In an interview with Full Measure News, Trump criticized the NFL’s growing shift toward exclusive streaming platforms. Speaking with host Sharyl Attkisson, he claimed that the platforms are taking too much money from the viewers.
U.S. President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump speaks at the Build the Red Wall rally at Dream City Church in Phoenix on April 17, 2026. via Imagn Images
He further stated, “They’re making a lot of money. They could make a little bit less. They could let the people see. You have people that live for Sunday. They live. They can’t think about anything else and then all of a sudden they’re going to have to pay a thousand dollars a game. It’s crazy. So I’m not happy about it.” However, the claim that a game costs “$1,000 a game” is wildly incorrect, and was pointed out by a lot of fans.
The Athletic’s senior NFL media reporter Andrew Marchand quickly pushed back on the wrong claim. In an X post, he wrote, “The NFL doesn’t cost $1K per game, as President Trump stated in this interview. While there is no real per game number, 87 percent of its games are on broadcast, over-the-air TV. It does have games on subscription services, including Amazon Prime Video, ESPN and Netflix.”
Trump’s recent comments come as the federal government is currently investigating the NFL’s broadcasting deals. Reports suggest he was lobbied to do so by a prominent figure.
Donald Trump lobbied by FOX to investigate NFL’s media rights
According to The Wall Street Journal, Fox Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch and his executives are said to have personally lobbied Trump during a White House dinner in February. They warned the President that expanding NFL streaming deals with platforms like Netflix and Amazon would harm traditional broadcast networks like FOX.
Not long after, the Department of Justice opened an antitrust investigation into the NFL’s media practices and its use of the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act exemption. The FCC also launched an inquiry into sports content fragmentation, while Senator Mike Lee called for a review of the current model’s impact on consumers.
The league has defended its media strategy, and has pointed out that 87% of games remain available on free over-the-air television. It remains to be seen what new developments occur in Donald Trump’s actions against the NFL.