When the NFL Network celebrates its 10th anniversary next week, uphill battles and predictions of doom will be distant memories for those who kept the National Football League’s channel from going under during its early cliffhanger years.

Available in a modest 11.5 million homes when it started in 2003, the NFL Network now reaches more than 72 million homes with its most valuable product: 13 regular-season Thursday night games.

“There was certainly serious and smart debate about whether we should do it,” said Steve Bornstein, the network’s president, recalling the skepticism among team owners who had never started a network before. “We were very clear that this wasn’t for the faint of heart. The great thing is that ownership never lost patience and gave us the time to make it happen.”

The network began with original programming, including studio shows, before it started carrying eight games in 2006. In 2012, it added five more games. But that number could change, especially if owners grow restless about the comparatively low ratings the games are drawing on the league’s channel and are tempted by the enormous sums of money that N.F.L.-hungry cable networks like Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network would pay for, say, eight games.