Main NFL video games will value you $631 to look at this season. Are you paying up?

The Athletic has stay protection of Cowboys vs. Eagles from 2025 NFL season kickoff.

There is lots of discuss how difficult and costly it’s to look at sports activities today. Here’s a fast back-of-the-envelope calculation for NFL viewing from September by way of February for a menu that features all in-market video games plus the nationwide video games (however not NFL Sunday Ticket) — Dan Shanoff

Understanding particular person mileage could differ, let’s lay out a typical viewing funds to satisfy these objectives:

• Cable/satellite tv for pc/multi-channel streaming: $90/month common* (x 6 months) = $540

That will get you native, in-market video games and nationwide video games on CBS and Fox, plus all however one Sunday evening on NBC, all Monday nights on ESPN, worldwide video games on NFL Network, all of the playoff video games and the Super Bowl on NBC.

*You could be paying lower than $80, you could be paying greater than $100. Picked an affordable midpoint.

• Amazon Prime Video for Thursday evening video games: $15/month (x 5 months) = $75

(If you pay for Amazon Prime for an entire yr, you get Prime Video in-built, however you additionally pay extra and have seven months of no NFL video games to look at. I went à la carte.)

• Netflix on Christmas: $8 for December

• Peacock for its one unique Sunday evening sport in December: $8 for the month

• Splurge! RedZone: $11/month (as YouTube TV or cable add-on) x 5 months = $55

Total: $631 (with out Red Zone), $686 (with Red Zone)

This all begs a query or two, put to The Athletic’s media reporters, Richard Deitsch and Andrew Marchand, as a part of their 2025 NFL season media preview:

Given the NFL’s recognition, the price of supporting particular person fandom and the inherent drama that happens a number of instances every week for six months, is the NFL the most effective dollar-for-dollar leisure worth in media? Or is that bundled value an issue for the league?

Deitsch: If you’re a client who feels outraged by the rising value of watching sports activities — and I’m with you on this — your solely recourse is to not pay for these merchandise. However, that has by no means occurred in my lifetime, and notably with the NFL, which is as near a nationwide dependancy as exists in America. If you wish to have a look at this so far as worth, right here’s a method: If you acquire a café latte from Starbucks daily for a yr, it might value you round $2,000, relying on the place you reside and the scale of your espresso.

Marchand: It is exasperating. The NFL is just too robust to fail, however I might say that if it makes it tougher for individuals to look at, they’ll ultimately watch much less. The NFL has the posh of partnering with the highest, so YouTube is free, whereas Netflix and Prime Video are fashionable. I do suppose that value and managing shortage are issues the NFL needs to be cognizant of, even because it continues to dominate.

You’re the one paying the associated fee, so it’s your flip to weigh in. Take the ballot: Is the worth we pay to look at the NFL an excellent worth?

(Photo: Reed Hoffmann / Getty Images)