Watching the NFL Will Be More Difficult & Expensive Than Ever This Year
For decades, the NFL was broadcast almost exclusively on local stations, allowing anyone with an antenna to watch their local games. In recent years, though, that's changed dramatically.
The NFL has moved a significant number of games away from broadcast television. This began with ESPN beginning to air select games on cable back in the 80s. In recent years, though, the NFL has moved toward airing some games exclusively on certain streaming networks, requiring fans to subscribe to those services in order to watch the games.
Between all of the streaming services that have partnered with the NFL this season, it's going to be more difficult and expensive than ever for fans to simply watch NFL football from their homes.
Here are all the streaming services you would need this year to watch every NFL game.
Netflix – $8.99 per month
This season, Netflix is expanding its NFL offerings as the streaming giant will broadcast at least the season-opening showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams in Australia in Week 1 on Thursday, Sept. 10, along with games on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Eve.
It's worth noting that the league's official schedule will not be released until Thursday, so it's possible that Netflix will carry additional games, as well.
Previously, Netflix only carried NFL games on Christmas Day, which meant that NFL fans only had to subscribe to the streaming service for one month to get access to all of the games. This year, however, fans will have to subscribe to at least three months of the service in order to watch all of the games.
Netflix packages begin at $8.99 per month.
Peacock – $10.99 per month
In addition to Netflix, Peacock will also be airing an exclusive primetime broadcast of an NFL game this season.
While it's worth noting that all NBC games already stream on Peacock, one particular game will air exclusively on Peacock on Saturday, Jan. 2. Anybody who wants to watch that game will be forced to sign up for the streaming service.
Peacock recently raised its subscription price to $10.99 per month.
Amazon Prime Video – $8.99 per month
In addition to Netflix and Peacock, NFL fans will need a subscription to Amazon's Prime Video. This subscription, however, would be for more than just a handful of games.
Amazon Prime Video will stream "Thursday Night Football" every week for the entire regular season as well as one special Black Friday game and a Wild Card Round game during the first weekend of the NFL playoffs.
This means that anyone wanting access to those games would have to subscribe to Amazon Prime Video for at least $8.99 a month for five months to cover the entire NFL season.
It's worth noting that anyone with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $14.99 per month, already has access to Amazon Prime Video with their subscription.
ESPN – $29.99 per month
In addition to all of the other streaming services, NFL fans will also need some way to access ESPN for the weekly Monday Night Football broadcasts, as well as some select late-season Saturday double-header games.
While ESPN is typically available with most cable subscriptions – or streaming options like YouTube TV – the cheapest option for getting access to just ESPN is purchasing the ESPN Unlimited plan directly, which costs $29.99 per month.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Sports section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 1:20 AM.