NFL Season Kickoff: Fans Face Rising Costs for Accessing Games

NEW YORK, NY — The 2025 NFL season is set to begin next Thursday with the much-anticipated showdown between the Eagles and Cowboys on NBC. As fans gear up for 18 weeks of regular-season action, they will need to prepare for significant expenses ahead of them.

With games airing across nine channels and streaming platforms, die-hard football enthusiasts may find themselves paying over $750 annually just to watch every game. The NFL’s own statistics reveal that local broadcasts on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC will cover at least 218 out of 272 games. However, viewers without cable or streaming subscriptions will miss many out-of-market matchups.

To catch all games, fans need to subscribe to multiple services. For new subscribers, joining YouTube TV costs $83 a month, and there is an additional annual fee of $276 for Sunday Ticket. Returning users face an annual subscription fee of $378 just for the Sunday Ticket alone.

This year, Thursday Night Football will exclusively air on Amazon Prime Video, with a subscription beginning at $14.99 per month. This tier also allows viewers to watch the Christmas Day games on Netflix, which requires a minimum of $8 per month.

ESPN and other networks will host Monday Night Football games. Fans can access these games via cable, YouTube TV, or an ESPN subscription for $30 a month. Several international games will also be featured, with six league games scheduled in cities like London and Dublin, all available on NFL Network or through NFL+.

Looking ahead, a single week 17 game on NBC’s streaming service remains to be announced, and it will only be accessible to subscribers. This rising trend of increased broadcasting costs has been evident over the past decade, with the NFL selling its broadcasting rights across various platforms.

The league’s current media deals are valued at over $110 billion across 11 seasons. Some key agreements include ESPN’s yearly payment of $2.7 billion for 25 games and Netflix’s $150 million deal for Christmas games. As the NFL continues to explore other media partnerships, fans are left to manage their viewing options carefully.

“Watching NFL games has never been more complicated, but the excitement of the game keeps fans coming back,” said an analyst from The Athletic. The combination of traditional networks and newer platforms points to a shifting landscape in how the NFL will be consumed by audiences in the coming years.