The National Football League loses few battles.
The NFL wins the television ratings, against all comers. The NFL wins labor negotiations; witness the agreement announced Sunday, which provides for a 17-game season quite unpopular to players. The NFL wins against governments, routinely getting publicly funded stadiums. The NFL wins the calendar, with the NFL Combine owning February and the NFL Draft owning April and training camps owning August.
The NFL really only meets its match once a year. In March.
The NFL stages its free agency signings in March, and the movement of veteran players is largely lost in March Madness.