Did you know that watching every NFL game of the 2025 season live would set you back around $1,500? But don’t panic just yet, because as crazy as that sounds the good news is you don’t really need to pay that much as long as you’re practical about it and know how to stretch your dollars.
There are lots of ways you can save money, watch games for free, or even use a VPN provider to bypass blackouts. Want to know the playbook to get the most bang for your buck? Here’s what to do:
A digital antenna is serious value-for-money if you want to catch NFL games. For a one-time cost of $20 to $50 you’ll get to watch local NFL games on CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC for free – including in-market Sunday afternoon games, Sunday Night Football, some playoff games, and the Superbowl on FOX. No monthly fees, no subscriptions – all you need to do is plug in the digital antenna and you’re good to go.
Are you okay watching games on your tablet or phone? If you are, the NFL+ is a great deal and at just $6.99/month or $49.99/year it will stream live local and primetime games – including Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, the playoffs, and NFL Network content. As long as you don’t mind smaller screens, and aren’t chasing every out-of-market game, it’s definitely a great option.
Streaming platforms tend to offer free trials or promotions that you can leverage to watch games for free. Check out YouTube TV’s 7-day free trial that offers CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, and ESPN; Amazon’s 30-day free trial that has many of the Thursday Night Football games, or Peacock and Paramount+ that are known for periodically offering free trials or promotional discounts too.
Of course, this is a one-time deal so you should wait for key weeks (e.g. the playoffs) to take advantage of it. Just remember to cancel before you’re charged by the auto-renewal.
If you team up with your friends or family members and split the cost of subscriptions you could save a ton of money. For example you could split the cost of YouTube TV and the NFL Sunday Ticket between 3 people and end up paying as little as $25 to $30 per month for access to almost every game.
The same applies to other streaming services such as Peacock, Netflix, and Amazon.
With a VPN you can bypass local blackouts by simply connecting to a server outside the blackout zone. Some streaming platforms do block VPNs however, so you need a good provider that has multiple server options.
There’s no better way to catch out-of-market Sunday games than the NFL Sunday Ticket – but it isn’t cheap. It will set you back $349 to $479/year – so if you don’t feel the need to watch every team, you can skip it and stick to local broadcasts via a digital antenna or cheaper streaming services like Paramount+ or Peacock.
If you’re a student living far from your local team’s market you could pick it up for a discount rate of $199 – which could be an option if necessary.
See how much money you can potentially save? As long as you’re careful and don’t intend to chase every game, you’ll be able to easily enjoy the action of the upcoming season without breaking the bank..
The key is to focus on the games you want most and plan ahead. Find out what channels and streaming services you’ll need to catch the games, and calculate what it will cost you. Mix free or low-cost options like a digital antenna, strategic free trials, split subscriptions, or the mobile NFL+ service and you will find that you’re able to catch most games.
If you do want to catch every game, including the out-of-market Sunday games then find a few buddies who feel the same and split the cost of the NFL Sunday Ticket. Coupled with other cost-saving measures, it’ll make the bill far more manageable.
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