What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Options for watching NFL Games in 2025 (1 Viewer)

⚡

⚡DEADHEAD⚡

Footballguy
If you have suggestions to enhance the NFL viewing experience, please share. I'll add suggestions to the main post if it adds value. Please refrain from suggesting piracy-related options. We know they exist, but that's not what we're after here.

I'm a former multi-decade DirecTV Sunday Ticket guy who has been piecing together watching options since YouTube bought the viewing rights and took a very hard line on purchasing (i.e., absolutely not negotiable like DTV had been). I've looked into purchasing this year, and options are not that attractive even at a smallish discount for being a new subscriber. Further, current subscribers are paying non-discounted rates, with maybe an exception here and there. Just seems to me Google keeps pushing the costs up and the number of games they air is fewer and fewer. To be fair, college students and veterans can take advantage of a good deal.

So, I've been taking a look at what my options are using other platforms. Note I do NOT have an over-air antenna (I might buy one; recommendations?), so I will not be covering what's available on local air. I do have Peacock, Paramount, Amazon Prime, and ESPN (through Disney+). Yes, these 4 come a decent monthly cost probably around $80 or so.

Amazon Prime gets you every Thursday night game.
Peacock gets you every Sunday night game.
Paramount gets you Sunday day games covered by CBS, mostly AFC matchups.
ESPN gets you every Monday night game through Disney+.
Netflix gets you 3 Christmas day games.

Fox gets you Sunday day games covered by Fox, mostly NFC matchups. And this is part of the problem. I am not aware of a way to get Fox games without signing up for a TV service like Hulu+, YouTube or DirecTV. And I'm just not interested in doing that at the cost. So this is a gap for me.

Also, I think you can buy the RedZone channel directly through NFL+. ETA: ESPN purchased NFL programming including Redzone. Not sure if this changes this year's offering?

I am sure there are other issues. Might be possible I can't get local games through the platforms due to blackout policies? I don't know. So maybe I do need an over-air antenna. It's just a bit complicated in my set up (do I need access to my roof?).

Hope this is valuable. Please share thoughts.
 
Last edited:
I looked into streaming channels individually for football season to see if it was cheaper than YouTubeTV + Redzone and it was but just by a couple of dollars. To save like three bucks you lose so many other channels plus you have to deal with the hassle of not having everything in the same app, poorer stream quality, etc. Just better to bite the bullet and get YTTV and redzone for $93ish/month. They may have a new member promo that cuts the cost for a few months. I'll stay with YoutubeTV through march for college hoops and then cancel it until football season. In the summer I just stream peacock and paramount to watch golf. Paramount was free for three months and peacock was like $8/month.
 
Last edited:
I have to really think hard about this one this year. By my count, the Chiefs will have 12 games in a national TV window this year.

YouTube TV covers: 11
Netflix: 1

I already have Amazon Prime, so I get all of those. Plus whatever alternate games I get on my YouTube TV from other teams.

I have to decide if The Sunday Ticket is worth 5 games that I care about.
 
ChiefD said:
I have to really think hard about this one this year. By my count, the Chiefs will have 12 games in a national TV window this year.

YouTube TV covers: 11
Netflix: 1

I already have Amazon Prime, so I get all of those. Plus whatever alternate games I get on my YouTube TV from other teams.

I have to decide if The Sunday Ticket is worth 5 games that I care about.
Click to expand...
That is an interesting split. I'd try to get by on Redzone for the other 5...you'll still get to see crunch time. Unless you know any students.
 
legal fix: get a VPN and then signup for dazn.com. use the app, better experience and it will allow you to buy nfl game pass international. once signed up, sign in thru the vpn using great britain as the locale. log into the app and buy nfl game pass for around £99 for the ultimate package, which equates to about $135. i expect an increase, but still a bargain.
 
Desert_Power said:
ChiefD said:
I have to really think hard about this one this year. By my count, the Chiefs will have 12 games in a national TV window this year.

YouTube TV covers: 11
Netflix: 1

I already have Amazon Prime, so I get all of those. Plus whatever alternate games I get on my YouTube TV from other teams.

I have to decide if The Sunday Ticket is worth 5 games that I care about.
Click to expand...
That is an interesting split. I'd try to get by on Redzone for the other 5...you'll still get to see crunch time. Unless you know any students.
Click to expand...
sign up at the community college, get the student discount, drop all the classes... profit
 
I will once again go through the rigmarole of pretending to cancel my DirecTV service and have them give me a better deal on my package, which will of course include RZC. I don't need the full Ticket. I just go with RZC and watch my fantasy football scores on my phone all day. For the "one offs" I'll go to a bar or a friend's place who happen to have whatever streaming service is needed.
 
ChiefD said:
I have to really think hard about this one this year. By my count, the Chiefs will have 12 games in a national TV window this year.

YouTube TV covers: 11
Netflix: 1

I already have Amazon Prime, so I get all of those. Plus whatever alternate games I get on my YouTube TV from other teams.

I have to decide if The Sunday Ticket is worth 5 games that I care about.
Click to expand...
Sports bar/buddies house/ road trip for 5 weeks?
 
ChiefD said:
DA RAIDERS said:
Anyone have a super box? My friend sent me one. No clue if it works. Haven’t even opened the box yet. 😂
Click to expand...
My neighbor was telling me about this yesterday.

If you wouldn't mind plugging it in and testing it out I would really appreciate that!
Click to expand...
Just booted it up. There are a ton of sports channels Like 100’s

There are a bunch of nfl channels that hVe no content atm.

2007 channels. :eek:
 
Last edited:
Edited to add the ESPN purchase of NFL network programming. I fear this won't be good from a cost basis, though I already have ESPN+ as part of a Disney bundle. Maybe I'll get Redzone as a free add on? Wishful thinking, I bet.
 
I use Fubo, which gets me the local games and RedZone for an extra $5. I do the Sports Pack or whatever for another $10 which gets me NFLN, the NBA/MLB/NHL channels, Golf Channel, plus a lot of the other regional sports channels that cover football and basketball. I'm also able to get the MIN games (despite living in SoCal) due to the zip code I used when I signed up. Total is around $90/month I think.

But.... I also put my Fubo subscription on "pause" for 6 months annually, so I'm only paying that $90-ish per month for half of the year. Mid-February to mid-August, it's on pause with the click of a button, but still saves all of my preferences, DVR material/settings, etc. I don't really need it outside of football season, so that's a good way for me to save a few hundred $$. During that paused period, we "survive" on a combination of Prime/Paramount and Peacock (which allows me to watch PGA golf on the weekends), plus some combination of Hulu, Apple, HBOMax, and Netflix (but we cancel/pause one or two of them at a time so we're not paying for them all at once). If I had to guess, during that 6-month period without Fubo, we're probably spending $50-60/month on the other services.

Side note... The last couple of years, I've subscribed to Sling for a month just to catch March Madness (TNT/TBS/TrueTV) for about $50. The CBS games I catch on Paramount. If I time it right, I can watch most, if not all, of the tournament within that first 30-day window.

I also have a lifetime subscription to Sirius Radio which was gifted to me about 20 years ago, which allows me to listen to a ton of sports for free (NFL, PGA, NCAA hoops, MLB, etc.). I listen to it a lot while driving, at work, etc.
 
⚡DEADHEAD⚡ said:
Edited to add the ESPN purchase of NFL network programming. I fear this won't be good from a cost basis, though I already have ESPN+ as part of a Disney bundle. Maybe I'll get Redzone as a free add on? Wishful thinking, I bet.
Click to expand...
As far as I know I’ll be getting RZ through the NFL app for 14.99 a month again
 
So long as the local team is on the local channel (be it CBS, NBC or Fox), or ESPN (which I have through YouTube TV (for now)), I'll watch them play.
I think that if they are on Prime (which I've got in any case) or Netflix, the local affiliate will broadcast the game. If that's the case, I'll watch them play.

I will not, under any circumstances, purchase any additional streaming services for the sole purpose of watching the NFL (or any other sport for that matter). I'm just not that interested. I'll root for the hometown laundry, but games involving other teams? No thanks. Between rule changes and the NFL's desire to wring every last nickel out of our pockets, I'm done with it. (I've said it before and I'll say it again: the most dangerous place in the world is not between a mother bear and her cubs, it's between the NFL and a dollar on the floor.)
 
I have a digital antenna and I can get all the local stations, including fox, over the air. I know location plays a big part in how well the stations come in. I think I gave $30 to Amazon for it. Only downside is I can’t record games……maybe I should try hooking up a VCR
 
Timely thread as my subscription is set to renew on August 7.

I do have a question about out-of-town viewership, if anyone knows the answer. Let's say I live in the Buffalo market, but I'm temporarily in a different city for a month. And let's say the Bills are playing - it's on the Buffalo local CBS affiliate, but it's not on the CBS affiliate in the temporary city. When I try to watch Youtube TV, if I say I'm "traveling" and not in this new market permanently, will it let me watch the Bills game from my local CBS affiliate? Or am I limited to the CBS affiliate in the city where I'm currently situated at the time? I've tried using a VPN in the past and it doesn't seem to like it.

This is a newish one for me, but I'm looking at something like 6-7 CBS/Fox games where I might not be in the local market. Sunday Ticket is a pretty steep cost, especially if a handful of those games end up being essential national broadcasts anyway.

I tried reading the Youtube TV help section, but it didn't give much insight. Does anyone know?
 
Leroy Hoard said:
Manster said:
This thread re-stokes my irritation with ala carte streaming.
Click to expand...
It's not the type of ala carte most of us were asking for. I wanted my then current cable to offer me my own small selection of channels from their giant inventory, at what would add up to a somewhat lesser price. Not to have to order separate apps for games that used to be on my cable but now aren't.
Click to expand...


Exactly. The thing that sucks is that if you have a "favorite team", it's impossible to get all their games without buying all the services. Their Thursday games will be on one, someone else has the rights to Monday Night Football so you need that one too, then depending on where they play vs. where you live and how many morning vs afternoon games they're in, you have to buy 2 or 3 more services. And if they play in London this year that's another service to buy. Meanwhile everyone knows full well the fans just want to buy "The Raiders Channel" or "The Steelers Channel" for $250 and get all the games regardless of the broadcaster.
 
I'll be golfing most Sundays until November, at which point Sunday Ticket is usually offered for 1/2 price.
 
So I have ESPN+, Prime, Netflix and Peacock.

Im looking for best option for me for redzone, college football and hockey.

Used sling last year and it was ok. Had Hulu before and the picture quality wasn't great and the lag meant my friends in the UK were announcing TDs on my phone before I had seen them on redzone.

So which service is best for NCAA and Hockey I guess is my dilemma , as Redzone covers all my morning games needs and the bar covers the Seahawks games in the afternoon.
 
Steve Tasker said:
Timely thread as my subscription is set to renew on August 7.

I do have a question about out-of-town viewership, if anyone knows the answer. Let's say I live in the Buffalo market, but I'm temporarily in a different city for a month. And let's say the Bills are playing - it's on the Buffalo local CBS affiliate, but it's not on the CBS affiliate in the temporary city. When I try to watch Youtube TV, if I say I'm "traveling" and not in this new market permanently, will it let me watch the Bills game from my local CBS affiliate? Or am I limited to the CBS affiliate in the city where I'm currently situated at the time? I've tried using a VPN in the past and it doesn't seem to like it.

This is a newish one for me, but I'm looking at something like 6-7 CBS/Fox games where I might not be in the local market. Sunday Ticket is a pretty steep cost, especially if a handful of those games end up being essential national broadcasts anyway.

I tried reading the Youtube TV help section, but it didn't give much insight. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...
not sure if this helps, but i use yttv in italy. it took some massaging, but i was able to sign up using my VPN and listing my SILs zip code (long island) as my location so for some reason i could get jet games. i change the VPN location a lot, miami, ny, manassis, but it doesn’t affect my local channels which are tied to the sign up zip code. just set the bills as a favorite to record and i don’t think yttv will move your market based on physical location.
 
Steve Tasker said:
Timely thread as my subscription is set to renew on August 7.

I do have a question about out-of-town viewership, if anyone knows the answer. Let's say I live in the Buffalo market, but I'm temporarily in a different city for a month. And let's say the Bills are playing - it's on the Buffalo local CBS affiliate, but it's not on the CBS affiliate in the temporary city. When I try to watch Youtube TV, if I say I'm "traveling" and not in this new market permanently, will it let me watch the Bills game from my local CBS affiliate? Or am I limited to the CBS affiliate in the city where I'm currently situated at the time? I've tried using a VPN in the past and it doesn't seem to like it.

This is a newish one for me, but I'm looking at something like 6-7 CBS/Fox games where I might not be in the local market. Sunday Ticket is a pretty steep cost, especially if a handful of those games end up being essential national broadcasts anyway.

I tried reading the Youtube TV help section, but it didn't give much insight. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...
The last time I did it I couldn't watch live but after the game ended the recording was available to me (make sure you set it up to record before traveling)

Idk if that has changed
 
belljr said:
Steve Tasker said:
Timely thread as my subscription is set to renew on August 7.

I do have a question about out-of-town viewership, if anyone knows the answer. Let's say I live in the Buffalo market, but I'm temporarily in a different city for a month. And let's say the Bills are playing - it's on the Buffalo local CBS affiliate, but it's not on the CBS affiliate in the temporary city. When I try to watch Youtube TV, if I say I'm "traveling" and not in this new market permanently, will it let me watch the Bills game from my local CBS affiliate? Or am I limited to the CBS affiliate in the city where I'm currently situated at the time? I've tried using a VPN in the past and it doesn't seem to like it.

This is a newish one for me, but I'm looking at something like 6-7 CBS/Fox games where I might not be in the local market. Sunday Ticket is a pretty steep cost, especially if a handful of those games end up being essential national broadcasts anyway.

I tried reading the Youtube TV help section, but it didn't give much insight. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...
The last time I did it I couldn't watch live but after the game ended the recording was available to me (make sure you set it up to record before traveling)

Idk if that has changed
Click to expand...
i set mine to record the jets and sadly, i got all the games.
 
Chemical X said:
legal fix: get a VPN and then signup for dazn.com. use the app, better experience and it will allow you to buy nfl game pass international. once signed up, sign in thru the vpn using great britain as the locale. log into the app and buy nfl game pass for around £99 for the ultimate package, which equates to about $135. i expect an increase, but still a bargain.
Click to expand...
Is that 99 x 4 months? I have to see what the offer is here (DE.) I pay 25 a month and get redzone plus 5 games/week (one in eachtime slot) plus all the UFC events
 
Navin Johnson said:
Chemical X said:
legal fix: get a VPN and then signup for dazn.com. use the app, better experience and it will allow you to buy nfl game pass international. once signed up, sign in thru the vpn using great britain as the locale. log into the app and buy nfl game pass for around £99 for the ultimate package, which equates to about $135. i expect an increase, but still a bargain.
Click to expand...
Is that 99 x 4 months? I have to see what the offer is here (DE.) I pay 25 a month and get redzone plus 5 games/week (one in eachtime slot) plus all the UFC events
Click to expand...

looks like €189 for game pass and €209 for ultimate game pass. €189 has red zone, €209 has multi game view.
 
What am I missing? $20 antenna for local. $14 a month for Red Zone. Peacock is cheap and who doesn't have PRime or Netflix these days??
Only game I'm missing is Monday Night and I'm ok with that.
 
NFL+ Premium $80 a year
Gives you Redzone streaming on your TV and live local and primetime games on Phone/Tablet.

I've gotten to the point where I just can't watch full games now and prefer Redzone. This is definitely the least expensive way to get into Redzone for the year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

titusbramble
  • Locked
FBG FFA Countdown - The Greatest Video Games Ever - project on hold
2 3
Replies
115
Views
4K
FBG Moderator
F
QuizGuy66
***2024 FBG College Football Playoff and Bowl Contest ESPN Group (Free - NOT FBG Affiliated - for Fun)***
Replies
0
Views
198
QuizGuy66
QuizGuy66
Willie Neslon
  • Poll Poll
If the Super Bowl was $100 PPV would you pay for it?
2
Replies
93
Views
5K
Gr00vus
Gr00vus

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top