Streaming the 2025 NFL season will cost over $100 month, across six different platforms

Remember when streaming was supposed to be the cheap alternative to cable? That was cute. This season, for the first time ever, you’ll be able to stream every single NFL game without needing a traditional cable subscription.

Sounds like a win right? It would be, until you realize you’ll need six different services, and it’s going to run you more than $100 a month, over $670 total from September through the Super Bowl.

Here’s your new NFL fan starter pack:

• ESPN DTC (Monday Night Football + ABC): $29.99/mo
• Amazon Prime (Thursday Night Football): $14.99/mo
• Peacock (Sunday Night Football + exclusives): $11.99/mo
• Paramount+ (CBS games): $11.99/mo
• Fox One (Fox games): $19.99/mo
• Netflix (Christmas Day games): $22.99/mo

That’s $111.94 per month and that’s before you throw in NFL RedZone ($14.99/mo), or NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube ($480 one-time fee). If you want to be a fully tapped-in NFL fan in 2025, your bank account is definitely going to feel it.

We Went from a Cable Cord to a Financial Noose

We were promised freedom. We got franchised. The joke used to be: “Cut the cord.” Now the punchline is, “…and then tie it around your wallet.”

Cable used to cost around $100/month for a full sports package. Now you’re paying more and getting less convenience, all while hopping between six or seven apps on game day.

Want to watch Eagles-Bills on Sunday afternoon? Cool. Make sure your CBS and Fox logins are good. MNF? Better have ESPN DTC. Oh, it’s Christmas Day? Hope you’re subscribed to Netflix because now they’re in the football business too.

At this point, the NFL should just sell you a branded remote pre-loaded with all these apps. Or maybe give us a loyalty punch card that gets you 10 games and the 11th one on TNT for free? I don’t know. This entire thing has turned into a clusterfuck.

The Price of NFL Fan Loyalty

The NFL knows it owns the day. No other entertainment product can command this much attention. Even they have to see what’s coming, right?

If you’re taking everything to streaming platforms and charging $100+ month to consume the entire NFL product, that will likely cause younger generations to be not as invested as the fans you already have on your hook. NFL fandom is an inheritance. You grow up watching Sunday football with your dad, and the habit sticks.

If young fans have to beg their parents for 7 different logins to keep up or drop $100+ a month just to follow their local team, that tradition starts to break. It’s not just the NFL, either. If you’re an NBA or MLB fan, welcome to your own streaming nightmare.

• NBA: ESPN DTC, Amazon Prime, Peacock
• MLB: Max, Fox One, Apple TV+, ESPN DTC, and Roku if you’re desperate.

Look luck actually going to a game. Between tickets, parking, concessions, you’re out at least a few hundred bucks, if not thousands, before kickoff.

The Only Ones Happy Should Be Bars.

I will say, bars and restaurants should be happy about all of this. More people will get together and head out to watch NFL games instead of all individually paying for the same streaming services. You just have to make sure that your local watering hole is actually prepared with all of their apps so you can watch.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the amount of people illegally streaming NFL games skyrocket either. Either that, or the casual fan just gives up entirely.

The NFL is squeezing the sponge too hard.

They built an empire on accessibility. Sundays were simple. Now they’re exhausting. We’re not saying you shouldn’t make money but when your “fan experience” turns into a Pay-Per-Login maze, you better be ready for fans to start checking out.

Streaming was supposed to be cheaper. The NFL said, “Hold my beer,” then handed us six different monthly bills. Football’s still king but if this is the cost of being a die-hard, don’t be surprised when the next generation doesn’t bother at all.

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