Watching the NFL is becoming a luxury few can afford. A new breakdown reveals fans may need ten different subscriptions, potentially costing up to $250 in a single month. This new reality has fans questioning their loyalty to the league.

A recent X post by NFL Writer Dov Kleiman highlights just how difficult it can be for an NFL fan to keep up with every game in a season. Naturally, this did not sit well with the fans.

"Insane: In order for NFL fans to watch every football game next season you will need TEN different streaming subscriptions," reads Kleiman's post. "Netflix, Prime Video, NFL Network, Peacock/NBC, FOX, CBS, ESPN+, Paramount+, YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket. It is nearly impossible to be a football fan 🤦‍♂️"

The NFL's 11-year, $110 billion media rights deal, signed in 2021, deliberately fragments game coverage across CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and YouTube.

No single platform carries everything. Amazon broadcasts Thursday Night Football. Netflix and Amazon share the Christmas games.

CBS and Fox provide coverage for Sunday afternoon games. Peacock holds exclusive Saturday night games. The league's own NFL Network handles international matchups, and that's before factoring in NFL Sunday Ticket.

The financial math explains the outrage. Returning subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket face a cost of $378, while YouTube TV charges about $83 for its base plan.

A dedicated fan needs to spend between $700 and $900 to watch one season, which includes Peacock at around $10 and Paramount+ at a similar price.

Amazon Prime comes out to around $139 annual cost, Netflix at about $7 per month, and ESPN+ at around $120 yearly.

For fans, the experience has quietly turned into a grind, which could even sometimes come to having to pay about $250 on a particular month to enjoy the NFL.

Watching a single game now means juggling multiple apps, payment systems, and security steps.

With the NFL eyeing a 50% jump in media rights fees, the situation may only get tougher from here. As a result, many fans have voiced their opinions on the matter.

Fans Are Done Pretending This Is Acceptable

The frustration did not stay contained for long. It spilled onto social media, where fans reacted with a mix of shock and exhaustion.

"Imagine paying $250/month or more for this f******, can't everything be at one place and have a uniform price," one user commented.

Some users even pointed to how this could lead to declining viewership in the future.

"This is when viewership goes down," the take read.

The NFL model divides games into seven different platforms, which create financial challenges for people who want to watch Sunday games. Fans stop watching football when they cannot access the sport.

"Yeah—that's not in the budget," another fan said bluntly.

Meanwhile, some fans admitted that their frustration was now eating into their love for the sport.

"I'm getting to a point where I just don't care and move on from the NFL," one fan admitted.

While most fans couldn't believe these prices, one question addressed a very interesting subject.

"There's people who actually pay for all this? lmao," a user commented. 

The joke landed because the math was going up to unprecedented highs. The NFL generates annual revenue of about $10 billion through its media rights business. Hence, it feels like perhaps the league wins no matter what.

Whether fans will continue paying or viewership will decline next year remains to be seen.

Written by

Abhay Bharti

Edited by

Aadesh Dhote