At What Point Is It Too Expensive To Watch The NFL?

The NFL is close to finalizing a deal with Netflix to carry its upcoming Christmas Day slate. That's fine. Netflix costs anywhere between $6.99 and $22.99 a month.

However, Netflix is yet another bill that fans have to pay to watch the NFL closely this season.

Let's review:

Viewers still need basic cable to watch games on CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, ABC and NFL Network. Did we miss any? 

Cable options include YouTube TV, DirectTV, Dish, Xfinity, AT&T, Spectrum, etc. etc. On average, cable costs around $80 a month. 

That's step 1.

But if you fancy yourself as anything more than a casual fan, you also need Amazon Prime. Amazon exclusively broadcasts Thursday Night Football. The NFL continues to hand Amazon better games each season, increasing the incentive for users to subscribe. 

Prime added a special Black Friday window last year, which will continue. The NFL also agreed to make Amazon the home for one Wild Card game a season.

A subscription to Prime Video costs $8.99, yet most subscribers – knowingly and unknowingly – pay for the full Prime package (which includes shopping discounts).

Hey, at least Amazon Prime rarely crashes mid-stream…

CLEVELAND - Thursday Night Football trucks are seen with Amazon Prime signage prior to a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 22, 2022. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

The NFL's new rights deal with Disney includes exclusive airings of the international series on ESPN+ ($10.99 per month), in addition to games on ESPN and ABC.

Similarly, NBC secured exclusive windows for its Peacock streaming service ($5.99 per month). NBC already announced that Peacock would carry the Week 1 matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers from São Paulo, Brazil.

Peacock is also expected to, again, own the rights to a few Saturday games late in the season.

Got all that?

To watch the NFL this season, you need cable (ESPN, ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC, NFL Network), Amazon Prime, Netflix, ESPN+, and Peacock. That'll cost you $112.96 a month from September to January, for a total of $451.84. 

And that's if you sign up for the lowest packages each service offers. 

But, wait, it's not that simple. 

(Photo by Olly Curtis/Future via Getty Images)

Fans still won't have access to whichever games they want at $112.96 a month. That price only gets you about five games a week (sometimes a few more with the occasional Saturday or Sunday morning window).

To choose the games you want, you must purchase NFL Sunday Ticket. Now sold via YouTube – good riddance, DirectTV – Sunday Ticket costs $449 (!!!) a season.

Watching football used to be a lazy man's sport. It still is. It's just no longer cheap. 

So, who do we blame? 

Roger Goodell? Greedy owners? Whiny players who want more dough? The broadcast networks?  

Sure. Though they are no more at fault than you are.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Quarterback Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills straight arms Joe Thomas of the Houston Texans in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium on October 3, 2021. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

The reason the NFL can wake up one morning and decide to add Netflix into the equation is because the league knows that you will pay for it – which, in return, means Netflix will pay the NFL for it.

The NFL would not divvy up its telecasts to 10 different channels/services if Americans were not football-obsessed enough to find and pay for 10 different channels/services.

And don't say you are not part of the problem. You are. We have the numbers. 

The NFL set various record ratings on television last year and saw better-than-expected returns on Amazon and Peacock. In fact, an Antenna study found that around 3 million users signed up for Peacock just for one NFL playoff game. 

You can bemoan the fragmentation of the NFL broadcast pie all you want. But until you stop watching and paying for every new idea the NFL has, the league will continue to find new partners. 

Wait, Bobby, you mean the NFL can expand its media rights even more? 

Yes.

And, word around the industry is, AppleTV+ is interested. 

So, budget accordingly.