Dedicated to American football, the network features game telecasts from the NFL, as well as NFL-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries.

[4] NFL Network was launched on November 4, 2003, only eight months after the owners of the league's 32 teams voted unanimously to approve its formation.

Originally located in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, California, the league invested $100 million to fund the network's operations.

In 2020, the network simulcast ESPN's coverage of that year's draft which was produced remotely from the basement of commissioner Roger Goodell’s home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On September 8, 2021, the network moved with the rest of NFL Media to a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) space on the campus of Hollywood Park, a development that also features SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

In addition, it carried two games between historically black colleges and universities during the 2007 season, including the Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In May 2019, NFL Network announced a four-year deal with Conference USA to air a weekly regular-season game on Saturday afternoons beginning in the 2019 season.

[29] In the 2022 season, NFL Network returned to carrying regular college football games through a weekly sub-license agreement with ESPN.

Those games were instead broadcast on the ESPN3 online service (ESPN owns a 20% interest in TSN, in a joint venture with majority parent Bell Media).

NFL Network expressed interest in picking up CFL games again beginning in the 2019 season after its previous deal with ESPN expired.

It is available nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network, and regionally on Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse and most Comcast and Cogeco Cable systems.

Whenever a team enters the red zone, the coverage will switch full-screen over to the live feed of that game's television broadcast, and attempt to cover a potential scoring result (touchdown or field goal).

Cable companies felt that a channel with such marginal interest, few live games, and filler programming, would be tough to sell outside of the football season.

[47] On December 21, however, after New Jersey legislators threatened legal action, Cablevision changed its mind and indeed showed not only the game between Rutgers and Kansas State, but also the entire free preview schedule.

[49] The free preview did not lead to long-term carriage deals, and the standoff continued between all three cable companies and the NFL Network.

Green Bay's Brett Favre was also having one of the best seasons of his career and would eventually lead the resurgent Packers to the NFC Championship Game.

Most fans could not see the game because of carriage restrictions, more noticeable because it involved nationally respected teams in a highly anticipated match-up.

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for the league to settle their differences in time for the New England Patriots-New York Giants game on December 29 that would be broadcast on Saturday Night Football.

Greg Aiello, an NFL spokesperson, stated that NBC and CBS would not have agreed to present the simulcast without clearing the game nationally, including the aforementioned markets.

WCVB also would still televise the game and stated that it was still working toward resolving issues with the NFL Network over additional coverage rights.

If that were the case, he said, those discussions would “take place privately with our TV partners.”[53] On November 10, 2006, Comcast announced it would add NFL Network on its digital tier in time for the debut of Thursday Night Football.

Four judges at the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, ruled the language "concerning additional programming package was ambiguous and that neither party has established that its interpretation of the relevant contracts is a matter of law.

However, on April 30, 2009, NFL Network announced that it would continue to be carried on Comcast in the interim while both sides tried to reach an agreemenet on a new contract.

On October 10, 2008, the FCC ruled as follows: In the Second Report and Order, the Commission emphasized that the statute “does not explicitly prohibit multichannel distributors from acquiring a financial interest or exclusive rights that are otherwise permissible,” and thus, that “multichannel distributors [may] negotiate for, but not insist upon such benefits in exchange for carriage on their systems.” The Commission stated, however, that “ultimatums, intimidation, conduct that amounts to exertion of pressure beyond good faith negotiations, or behavior that is tantamount to an unreasonable refusal to deal with a vendor who refuses to grant financial interests or exclusivity rights for carriage, should be considered examples of behavior that violates the prohibitions set forth in Section 616.” We find that the NFL has presented sufficient evidence to make a prima facie showing that Comcast indirectly and improperly demanded a financial interest in the NFL’s programming in exchange for carriage.

We continue to believe that the best way to achieve results is to privately seek a resolution and not attempt to negotiate through the press or elected officials.” TWC stated that it would be willing to make the network available on its sports tier, as a premium service, or make the game available to its subscribers on a per-game basis, at a retail price set by the NFL, with 100% of attendant revenue going to the league.

[73] Following Insight's January 2012 acquisition by Time Warner Cable, TWC chose to let the carriage agreement for NFL Network and NFL RedZone expire on August 1, 2012, which resulted in the two channels being removed from Insight's systems in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, due to the long-running carriage impasse between the National Football League and Time Warner Cable.

[79][80] As part of the new carriage agreement, Dish subsidiary Sling TV added both networks to its lineup on August 11, 2016, in time for the start of the 2016 NFL preseason schedule.

[71] It was reported that NFL Network wanted a 125% rate increase in carriage fees and placement on Charter's expanded basic tiers.

[85] On August 20, 2010, the National Cable Television Cooperative reached an agreement, of which Suddenlink Communications is a member, to carry the NFL Network on the organization's participating providers.

Suddenlink expected that the network's rollout to all of its service areas would be completed by or before September 12, the first Sunday of the NFL's 2010 regular season.