The NFL is the simplest American sport to follow if you have cable, and the most fragmented if you don’t. Five different broadcast partners have rights packages: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video. Plus Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV for out-of-market games. Plus NFL+ for RedZone and league-owned digital. The full picture takes a chart.
Cable’s still the path of least resistance for NFL Sundays. CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN are all on any standard cable or streaming-cable package — YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, Sling. Pick one. The headache starts when you want games outside your local market or the niche windows like Thursday Night Football.
The Sunday window
CBS gets the AFC games. FOX gets the NFC. The doubleheader Sunday (where one network gets two windows) rotates between CBS and FOX week to week. Your local CBS affiliate carries the AFC game closest to your market; FOX carries the NFC equivalent. Out-of-market games (the Patriots if you’re in California, the Cowboys if you’re in Boston) are blacked out on the local affiliates.
Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV is the route for out-of-market games. $349 a season standalone, $299 for YouTube TV subscribers. The Red Zone-style multi-game window is a key feature — you can watch up to four games at once on a single screen. Sunday Ticket includes mobile streaming on the YouTube TV app, which works on iPad, iPhone, and Android.
Sunday Night Football is on NBC and Peacock. Marquee primetime fixture, the same one that’s been the headline NBC slot since 2006. Peacock carries it for streamers; NBC for over-the-air viewers. Subscription required for Peacock — $7.99 a month for the ad tier.
The other windows
Monday Night Football — ESPN, simulcast on ABC for select weeks. ESPN+ does not carry MNF; the cable subscription or streaming-cable package is required. Manning-cast (the Peyton and Eli alternate broadcast) is on ESPN2 and ESPN+ for the games that get the Manning treatment.
Thursday Night Football — Amazon Prime Video, exclusive. Included with Prime membership ($14.99 a month or $139 a year). The local market broadcast goes out free over the air on the home team’s local affiliate, but the national stream is Amazon-only.
Sunday Morning London/Germany games — NFL Network for some, Peacock for others, Amazon for one or two. The international slate gets shifted across services year to year.
NFL+ — League-owned, $14.99 a month for the premium tier. Mobile-only live games (no TV streaming), RedZone for Sundays, replays, and game audio. The audio feature is sleeper-good for road trips. NFL+ Premium adds replays and full-game on-demand. The NFL+ basic at $6.99 doesn’t include RedZone.
Super Bowl — Rotates between CBS, FOX, and NBC. The streaming partner each year is the network’s streaming arm — Paramount+, Tubi, or Peacock respectively.
What the Sunday Ticket move means
NFL Sunday Ticket lived on DirecTV satellite for 28 years. Verizon held the mobile-streaming rights for a stretch. The whole thing moved to YouTube TV starting 2023-24 — Google paid roughly $2 billion a year for the package. The shift cut Sunday Ticket’s price from DirecTV’s old $400 to YouTube TV’s $299-349, and bundled in features (multi-view, mobile, RedZone option) that DirecTV never built.
Long-form on the move: NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV →
Cost summary
For just the Sunday slate over the air: free if you have a TV antenna and live in the market for the games you want.
For Sunday Ticket out-of-market: $299 (YouTube TV subscriber) or $349 (standalone), plus YouTube TV base $82.99/month if you don’t already have it.
For RedZone on mobile: $14.99/month NFL+ Premium.
For Thursday Night Football: $14.99/month Amazon Prime.
For Sunday Night and Monday Night: included with the cable bundle or streaming-cable package.
Combined: roughly $50-60 a month if you bundle everything. That’s high. The cable era used to deliver every Sunday game for $40-50 a month total. The unbundling of the NFL is a more expensive product for hardcore fans.
Frequently asked questions
Where is NFL Sunday Ticket? YouTube TV. $299 for YouTube TV subscribers, $349 standalone. There’s no other legal route to out-of-market NFL games.
Is NFL+ the same as Sunday Ticket? No. NFL+ is mobile-only live games and RedZone for Sundays. Sunday Ticket is the full out-of-market slate on TV/big screen. Different products.
Where is Monday Night Football? ESPN, on cable or any streaming-cable package (YouTube TV, Hulu Live, fuboTV, Sling Orange). ESPN+ does not carry MNF.
Can I watch Thursday Night Football without Amazon Prime? The local market gets the home-team broadcast over the air free. National streaming is Amazon Prime exclusive.
Where’s the Super Bowl? Rotates between CBS, FOX, and NBC. Streaming on the network’s matching app — Paramount+, Tubi, or Peacock.
Editorial coverage. We don’t host streams or link to pirated feeds.