When the NFL launched last season with a Week 1 game exclusively on YouTube, it underscored the league’s willingness to go where the viewers are.
That game was free to watch (assuming you had internet access), and it’s perhaps a sign of the times that YouTube isn’t on the schedule this year for an exclusive game. Instead, Netflix has expanded its footprint from a (very successful) Christmas Day doubleheader to include Thanksgiving Eve, Week 18 and, this week, the NFL’s first-ever game in Australia.
That means if you want to watch the Australia game, you need a Netflix subscription (unless you live in one of the two markets competing in the game — Los Angeles and San Francisco — where the game will be available locally on over-the-air TV).
OK, so add that $8.99 to your bill for NFL consumption. What will the total cost be this season to watch the pros?
The answer depends largely on your appetite. Do you want to watch every possible game on the schedule? That’s a bit too aggressive for most fans (but shout-out to you Sunday Ticket die-hards!)
For most fans, it ends up being some combination of “my local team’s games” (appreciating that many teams have displaced fans who are trying to access games outside of the home market) plus the “nationally televised” games — like the weekly games in primetime, games held internationally and games on holidays.
So, while trying to determine the cost to watch the NFL this season, that’s the mode I’m working toward.
Here are the eight networks you need access to fulfill that goal:
Broadcast: CBS, Fox, NBC
“Cable”: ESPN, NFL Network
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Peacock
Let’s break it down:
• CBS and Fox have Sunday afternoon games all 18 weeks, plus select playoff games
• NBC airs “Sunday Night Football” across 18 weeks, plus select playoff games
• ESPN airs “Monday Night Football” across 17 weeks, plus select playoff games (including the Super Bowl)
• NFL Network airs five international games (Weeks 4-7 and 9) + Week 17
• Amazon Prime Video airs “Thursday Night Football” across 16 weeks (Weeks 2-17), plus 1 wild-card playoff game
• Netflix airs 5 games: Week 1 (Sept. 10), Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Day (two games), Week 18 (Jan. 9)
• Peacock exclusively airs one game in Week 17 (Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET)
(Reminder: For games on streamers like Prime Video, Netflix and Peacock, fans based in the local market for participating teams will get free, “over-the-air” access to the games.)
A couple of pricing calculation caveats:
• I only counted the months that you need to watch the NFL. If you have cable or a multi-channel streaming platform like YouTube TV or Fubo, you might subscribe year-round anyway. Same with Netflix. If you have Amazon Prime mostly for the shipping benefit (as many fans do), you get Amazon Prime Video added in. All of these networks you’re paying for have tons of live sports from other leagues, adding value to what you’re paying. That said, I am calculating as if you are only signing up to watch NFL games.
• I am starting our subscriptions Wednesday (the first regular-season game of the season), and I am ending our subscriptions on Feb. 15, 2027, the day after the Super Bowl. (If a platform only has a handful of games, I will only pay for the months when a game is airing. Unsubscribing and resubscribing is a pain, but that’s the world we live in.)
• I am rounding up listed monthly rates by one penny to a simple dollar figure, both for easy math and because prices ending in “.99” are a gimmick.
Path 1: “All-in-one” platform + streamers
Let’s pick up a monthly subscription to basic cable and/or a multi-channel streaming service (i.e., YouTube TV, Hulu+Live or Fubo)
From our list of required networks above, this will get you Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN and NFL Network.
Your precise monthly bill for this kind of multi-channel platform may vary (particularly if you bundle your TV service with things like internet access).
For simplicity, we will go with YouTube TV (what I personally have) and its “Sports” plan rate, which includes the channels listed above and none of the channels that don’t show the NFL. (We don’t want to pay for those.) That plan is $65 per month. We will subscribe from September through February (six months), totaling $390.
You will still need standalone subscriptions to:
Amazon Prime Video: $45
$9/month x 5 months (September through January)
(Did you know that you can watch every “Thursday Night Football” game on Twitch — owned by Amazon — for free? We’ll ignore that convenient workaround, but know it’s there. Also, cancel your subscription once Prime Video airs its wild-card playoff game.)
Netflix: $36
$9/month x 4 months (September, November-January)
(Don’t forget to cancel in October, restart your subscription in November and then cancel after Week 18.)
Peacock: $13
$13/month x 1 month (January)
(Peacock offers a $9/month option, but it does not include sports. Don’t choose that one, and don’t forget to cancel your subscription when the game ends. Let’s be honest: That’s a lot to pay for one NFL game you may or may not want to watch. But we’re committed to the bit.)
Total: $484Path 2: “A la carte” — individual networks’ streaming options
You’re a true cord-cutter: No cable and no multi-channel streaming option. You’ll subscribe to each network’s individual services (and actually save a couple of bucks over Path 1. Although I don’t envy you trying to conveniently flip from one game to another across different services on Sunday afternoons.)
“Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime Video is among the offerings for NFL fans who subscribe to the streamer. (Kirby Lee / USA Today Sports)
Paramount+ (access to CBS): $54
$9/month x 6 months
Peacock (NBC): $78
$13/month x 6 months
ESPN Unlimited (ESPN + NFL Network) + the option to bundle Fox One (Fox): $240
$40/month x 6 months
(Fox One costs $20/month as a standalone service and ESPN Unlimited costs $32/month as a standalone service, but if you bundle them through ESPN Unlimited, it is $40 for both. That totals $240, saving you $72 over six months buying each on its own. We’ll go with that option.)
Amazon Prime Video: $45
$9/month x 5 months
Netflix: $36
$9/month x 4 months (September, November-January)
Total: $453Path 3: Over-the-air antenna + streaming
A cheap over-the-air antenna (around $20, one-time cost) will get you Sunday games on Fox, CBS and NBC. You will still need ESPN Unlimited for “Monday Night Football” and NFL Network games ($160); Netflix ($36); Amazon Prime Video ($45) and Peacock ($13). However, if you live in the markets of teams playing in games on those networks, your over-the-air antenna will get you the game. If you don’t live in a participating team’s market, you will need the individual subscriptions. I am plugging in the above a la carte costs.
Total: $274Optional add-ons:NFL RedZone
Personally, it’s my single-favorite sports media product ever created, and the main way I consume NFL for those “seven hours” on Sunday afternoons. I see it as a must-have, on top of one of the three paths listed above.
Cable, multi-channel streaming platforms like YouTube TV or Fubo and the stand-alone ESPN Unlimited service allow you to buy RedZone. For cable or the streaming platforms, you typically need to upgrade to a special additional sports tier that costs extra per month to get RedZone.
Cable will cost you between $5 and $15 per month depending on how many sports extras you already pay for. YouTube TV’s extra sports tier with RedZone costs $11 per month. If you don’t have cable or YouTube TV, ESPN Unlimited will charge an extra $10 per month to bundle RedZone with it as part of the “NFL+” package.
Let’s average all of those and call it $50 for RedZone for the season, plus or minus a couple bucks depending on your delivery platform.
NFL Sunday Ticket
This package is for the displaced fan and/or the sicko who wants to watch any and every Sunday afternoon game.
I categorize this as beyond “typical,” but if you are interested (and if you’re a displaced fan who wants to watch your team’s full games live every single week, this becomes essential). You can pay $240 for the season as a first-time Sunday Ticket subscriber (or, if you’re a loyal longtime Sunday Ticket subscriber, they feel comfortable jacking up the price to $378 IF you’re a YouTube TV subscriber; if you’re not, it’s $480.)
If you are a first-time Sunday Ticket subscriber and not already a YouTube TV subscriber, YouTube will also give you a discount on its monthly Sports plan, charging you $45/month rather than $65.
(Over six months, it saves you $120 on the “all-in-one” multi-channel package that gives you access to NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN and NFL Network.)
Your final numbers:
• Multi-channel + streamers: $484
• A la carte everything: $453
• Over-the-air antenna + streamers: $274
• RedZone: $50 (when bundled with other services)
• Sunday Ticket: $240-$480