As the NFL season kicks off, the league is hoping to grow its international fanbase. CNBC’s Julia Boorstin joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the NFL's streaming and global push.

The NFL is making significant moves to expand its global audience and adapt to the growing demand for streaming content. This season marks the first time a game will be streamed globally and for free on YouTube, as part of a record seven international games. The league's commissioner has expressed ambitions to increase the number of international games to 16 within five years, potentially creating attractive packages for major streaming platforms like Amazon or Netflix.

Additionally, this is the first season where every NFL game will be available via streaming, ending the era of linear TV exclusivity. While this shift offers viewers more flexibility, it also raises questions about the financial implications for fans, who may need to subscribe to multiple services to access all games. The NFL will have an opportunity to renegotiate its media deals in the coming years, which could further reshape how fans watch football worldwide.

The NFL's streaming and global push

Welcome back to The Exchange. We're a little more than five hours away from the return of NFL football. And while Americans are already cheering, the league is hoping to also grow its international fan base. Julia Boyston joins me now with that story. Hi, Julia. Hey, Morgan. This is a landmark season for the NFL as its big push into streaming is also its gateway to global expansion. Tomorrow, there's a Chiefs and Chargers game in Brazil, and it will stream exclusively and for free on YouTube. So this is a notable first. The first time a game is streamed globally and is not behind a paywall. This is one of a record seven international games this year, up from five games in each of the last three years. And this underscores Commissioner Roger Goodell's work to embrace streaming and also to make the league truly global. The commissioner told us that he wants to build up to as many as 16 international games within the next five years. That is a package that could be an appealing deal for a streamer. And for the streamers that are the NFL's partners, this season is another first. It's the end of linear exclusivity. With the launch of ESPN's new flagship streaming app and Fox One, this is the first season where every NFL game will be available through streaming. You won't need to pay for a TV bundle. Currently, the NFL's international games are distributed overseas through a patchwork of broadcast partners like Sky plus DAZN, which offers the NFL game pass globally. But a new package of games, those 16 games that the commissioner talked about, might be a good fit for the likes of Amazon or Netflix for their massive and instant reach. And it's worth noting the NFL will have a window to renegotiate all of its deals starting in the 2029 season, which Morgan feels like will be here before we know it. Ah, yes, you're probably right on that. I want to go back to this idea of the end of linear exclusivity. How profitable is it for companies, including, by the way, our parent company Comcast, to be doing this through streaming versus just linear? Well, I think what's so interesting here is there's this this existential question about whether sports will continue to be the glue that holds the TV bundle together when now you can access sports and all these other ways. The reality is, is you'd have to subscribe to so many different streaming services if you're a sports fan to watch all the sports or to even watch all the NFL games that it's not necessarily a financial advantage to switch from from a linear TV package to streaming. So I think the question here is, if you think about having to subscribe to all of these platforms in order to be able to watch the NFL, whether that's Morgan appeal to the core nevers, people who never paid for a TV bundle, or whether you'll have people who pay for TV and a traditional TV bundle start to log into those apps like the new ESPN flagship app, which they have access to because they're already paying for ESPN. So I think we're entering this new gray zone of rebundling, a rebundling of the streaming, different streaming platforms, but also the fact that there there are still significant expenses associated with getting enough of them to really watch sports. Yeah. So maybe actually expanding market share with cable 2.0, we'll call it.

What happens in Ukraine once the war with Russia is over? France tells President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that 26 nations are now ready to offer security guarantees, including the possible deployment of foreign troops as part of a post-war peace arrangement.

Paris

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine's European allies agree security guarantees

CEOs from some of the nation's biggest tech companies sat down for a dinner with President Trump on Thursday. Among those present were Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

Washington

Trump hosts Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and other tech CEOs

U.S. President Donald Trump had a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders Thursday about Russia's war in Ukraine. CBS News White House reporter Olivia Rinaldi has more.

Trump speaks with Zelenskyy, pushes Europe to stop buying Russian oil

"With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani," the fashion house said in a statement on Thursday.

Milan

'King' of Italian fashion Giorgio Armani dies at 91

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University and can no longer cut off research funding to the prestigious Ivy League school.

Cambridge

Trump admin unlawfully cut Harvard's funding, U.S. judge rules

Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a statement after meeting leaders on the sidelines of the military event in Beijing. He spoke about Russian security interests, and the Ukraine war.

Moscow

Putin wraps China visit with gas deal, calls for Ukraine peace talks

Hope is fading of finding survivors in the rubble of homes devastated by a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend that killed more than 1,400 people, as emergency services struggle to reach remote villages.

Kunar

Hope fades for finding survivors after Afghan quake kills over 1400

Portuguese authorities say at least 15 people died after a streetcar derailed and crashed in the capital of Lisbon. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Imtiaz Tyab has the latest.

Lisbon

Iconic streetcar in Portugal's Lisbon derails, 15 killed

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, along with Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, held a news conference on Wednesday with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sexual abuse. CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns has more details.

Epstein survivors add voices to calls for transparency

Israel's central intelligence agency, Shin Bet, said that it thwarted an assassination plot by Hamas against the country's right-wing minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Reuters reports.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel reportedly thwarted plot to assassinate right-wing minister

In California on Tuesday, a jury took less than an hour to clear Cardi B of assault allegations made in a $24 million civil lawsuit. A security guard claimed the rap star attacked her in 2018.

Los Angeles

Cardi B wins civil case against security guard

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the U.S. military struck a boat apparently carrying drugs from Venezuela. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata has the latest details.

Trump says U.S. struck drug-carrying boat from Venezuela

China's Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, along with other world leaders, for a huge military parade showing off new technology.

Beijing

Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un attend China's massive military parade

A Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives committee said it released more than 33,000 pages of files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as party leadership looked to end a push by a bipartisan pair of lawmakers to force a vote on the matter.

U.S. House committee releases thousands of Epstein files

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou last week called for parliament to hold an earlier-than-expected vote of confidence in him. Next week’s ballot could lead to the collapse of his centrist government and prompt a period of further instability in the European Union’s second biggest economy.

France’s PM faces crucial confidence vote amid political turmoil

Tens of thousands of reservists began to report for duty on Tuesday for a new Israeli offensive to seize Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to accelerate despite warnings from senior ranks.

Middle East Conflict

Israel calls up reservists as military chief clashes with ministers

The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released over 33,000 pages of documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

33,000 pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents released by House panel

Belgium joins the ranks of Australia, France, Canada and the UK, all who have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state at the UNGA next week in a bid to ramp up pressure on the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza.

Brussels

Belgium to recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly

A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 1,400 people, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society. Thousands more were  injured.

At least 1,400 killed in powerful Afghanistan earthquake

The death toll from Afghanistan's worst earthquake in years jumped to over 1,100 with thousands more injured, as difficult terrain hindered rescue efforts in isolated villages of the country's mountainous eastern region.

Taliban appeals for aid after quake kills over 1100 in Afghanistan

The leaders of Russia, China and India showcased a renewed commitment to co-operation on the second day of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Analysts says the friendliness is designed to project an unified alternative to the West.

Tianjin

Russia, China, India tout renewed co-operation

A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was disrupted by jamming that authorities suspect was the result of Russian interference in Bulgaria.

Plovdiv

Von der Leyen's plane affected by alleged Russian GPS jamming

The world's leading genocide scholars' association has passed a resolution saying that the legal criteria have been met to establish Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, its president said on Monday (September 1).

Jerusalem

Israel committing genocide in Gaza, scholars' association says

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a new global security and economic order at a regional summit on Monday (September 1), as India and Russia continued to express strong ties between their nations.

China's Xi, Russia's Putin share vision for new global order

A devastating 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, killing more than 800 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams reports.

Kabul

Powerful earthquake in Afghanistan kills hundreds, destroys villages

Iran-backed Houthis raided offices of the United Nations’ food, health and children's agencies in Yemen’s capital, detaining several UN employees, officials said. The rebels tightened security across Sanaa following the Israeli killing of their prime minister and several Cabinet members.

Sana'a

Houthis raid UN offices in Yemen, detain 11 employees

A large buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Southern Caribbean has officials in Caracas and experts in the United States asking: is the move aimed at combating drug cartels, as the Trump administration has suggested, or is it for something else entirely?

Breakdown