Does it surprise you that the N.F.L. has proceeded with its off-season?

There were a handful of people who were calling on the N.F.L. to shut down in sympathy with the other leagues. There were teams that were nervous about the perception of newly minted millionaires at a time when people were hurting and unemployment was rising. Now, two teams told me how surprised they were at the positive reaction to N.F.L. free agency [when star players trade teams for big paydays] and the fact that they believe the fans have come to grips with that.

In this economy, with no new sports happening, the draft is going to be a ratings spectacle because there is little else to watch. And I think they believe it will be good for the country to have fresh content on TV. There are 32 new millionaires — it’s like a sports lottery. It’s a happy sports story when there’s a short supply of them.

The N.F.L.’s off-season programming, seems fortuitously positioned for this moment, right?

Over the years, it’s been deliberate and they have been strategic. The draft has been perhaps the most obvious: They started moving it around the country. It would have been in Las Vegas this year. With each move, it’s gotten more sponsors and more television coverage.

In a normal year, the draft speculation starts the minute the Super Bowl is over. It’s a cottage industry that fills hours and hours of TV time when there are no games. How good does that get, if you are in the business of providing content, you don’t have to put on a game and it will still fill hours of talk radio and TV?

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Carole

Thank you

To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the rest of the break from the news. Sanam Yar helped compile this briefing. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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