The NFL runs on tight deadlines. Every kickoff and Super Bowl demands that millions of fans get flawless live video, stats, and fantasy features, whether they’re on iPhones, Xboxes, or connected TVs.

In this episode of React Universe On Air, Mike Grabowski talks with Michael Blanchard (Director of Engineering at the NFL), about how React Native became the backbone of this high-pressure, multi-platform ecosystem.

Michael shares his journey from web engineer to leading NFL’s engineering teams across nfl.com, three mobile apps, a cross-platform video player, and a suite of connected TV apps. Together with Mike, he explores the NFL’s migration strategy, the transition from Haul/Webpack to Metro and Expo, and the cultural shifts that helped merge web and native engineers into one collaborative team.

You’ll learn:

➡️ Why the NFL went full Greenfield (twice)

➡️ How NFL+ shaped their second rewrite

➡️ Lessons from moving from Haul/Webpack to Metro

➡️ How Expo SDKs gradually replaced community libraries

➡️ How GitHub Actions + EAS Build reshaped their CI/CD pipeline

➡️ Strategies for handling 20–30 PRs daily in a monorepo

➡️ How React Native powers mobile, web, and multiple connected TVs

➡️ What cultural shifts enabled true cross-platform collaboration

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Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to the React Universe

01:35 Meet Michael Blanchard from NFL

03:03 NFL's digital presence and platforms

04:24 React Native in NFL's mobile apps

08:32 How React spread across all platforms

11:47 Collaboration between web and native teams

18:11 Technical decisions regarding different platforms

23:48 V2 of NFL's flagship app

25:14 Choosing migration strategy

30:10 Maintaining more product versions

34:33 Adopting Expo

42:10 Modernizing CI/CD

46:48 Team structure and workflow at NFL

53:29 Final thoughts