Football is the hardest US sport to follow on a single subscription because the rights are split across more carriers than any other league. CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN/ABC, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV (Sunday Ticket), Netflix, and the NFL's own apps all have a piece. In 2026 a new wrinkle is added: the NFL bought 10 percent of ESPN in April, taking back NFL Network and NFL RedZone media assets in the trade. The league is now structurally invested in its biggest TV partner.
Here is the plain version of where the games actually are, and the two stacks I recommend most.
Where every NFL game lives in 2026
Sunday afternoon games — CBS and FOX. Most of your team's regular-season games. Free over the air with a $30 antenna in your home market.
Sunday Night Football — NBC and Peacock. Free over the air on NBC. Peacock at $10.99 a month also carries it for streamers.
Monday Night Football — ESPN and ABC. ABC simulcasts most MNF games. So you can get a lot of MNF over the air. The ones that air ESPN-only need ESPN access (via live TV service or the new ESPN direct-to-consumer service at $29.99 a month).
Thursday Night Football — Amazon Prime Video. Every TNF game (except the season opener and a couple of holiday games). $14.99 a month for Prime, or $139 a year.
NFL Sunday Ticket — YouTube TV. Every out-of-market Sunday afternoon game. $240 a year for new YouTube TV customers, $378 a year for returning. Requires a YouTube TV subscription on top.
NFL Network and NFL RedZone — NFL+ Premium. NFL+ basic is $6.99 a month and gives you mobile-only access. NFL+ Premium at $14.99 a month adds NFL RedZone (the all-games-at-once Sunday afternoon channel) plus condensed games. As of the April 2026 deal, NFL+ also runs under the ESPN umbrella, but pricing has not changed.
Christmas Day games — Netflix. Three games this year, included in any Netflix subscription.
Black Friday game — Amazon Prime Video. One game the day after Thanksgiving.
The lean stack — about $25 a month
A $30 antenna (one-time) plus Amazon Prime ($14.99 a month) plus Netflix ($7.99 ad tier).
What you get:
- Every Sunday afternoon game in your local market on CBS and FOX, over the air.
- Sunday Night Football on NBC, over the air.
- Most Monday Night Football games on ABC simulcast, over the air.
- Every Thursday Night Football game on Prime.
- The Christmas Day games on Netflix.
- The Black Friday game on Prime.
What you miss:
- Out-of-market Sunday afternoon games (those need Sunday Ticket).
- The handful of MNF games that are ESPN-only with no ABC simulcast.
- NFL RedZone (the every-game-Sunday channel).
For most fans who only care about their team plus the marquee games, the lean stack works.
The full stack — about $140 a month
YouTube TV Base ($82.99) plus Sunday Ticket ($240 a year = $20 a month) plus NFL+ Premium ($14.99) plus Prime ($14.99) plus Netflix ($7.99).
What you get: everything. Every game, every Sunday, every team, every channel.
The full stack costs roughly $1,680 a year. Some perspective: that's comparable to what a full cable plus internet bundle ran a household before cord-cutting started. The NFL has not actually gotten cheaper to follow — it just unbundled, so you see what each piece costs.
The NFL-ESPN equity deal in April 2026
This is the new structural wrinkle. The NFL took 10 percent of ESPN in exchange for NFL Network and NFL RedZone (the media assets, not the league office). Roughly $3 billion in implied cash also changed hands.
What it means for fans: nothing different in 2026. NFL RedZone still costs $14.99 a month through NFL+ Premium. ESPN still carries Monday Night Football. But going forward, the NFL has a direct equity interest in ESPN's success. Expect more NFL content to migrate to ESPN streaming surfaces in 2027 and beyond, and don't be surprised if NFL+ Premium gets bundled into ESPN's direct-to-consumer service at some point.
What about Sling, Hulu+Live, Fubo, DirecTV Stream?
All four carry the cable national networks — ESPN, NFL Network, NBC, FOX, CBS. None of them carry NFL Sunday Ticket (only YouTube TV does). Pricing is similar across them, $80 to $100 a month for the base tier. If you already use one of these services for other sports or general TV, you don't need YouTube TV unless you want Sunday Ticket.
Hulu+Live merged into Fubo at the end of October 2025 with Disney holding 70 percent of the combined company. The Hulu+Live brand still appears at signup, but the underlying carriage is Fubo's. No customer action required — old Hulu+Live customers were migrated automatically.
Bottom line
If you only follow one team and you live in their market, the lean stack ($25 a month plus a one-time antenna) gives you most of what you want.
If you follow multiple teams or have a fantasy league and want every game, the full stack ($140 a month) is the price of admission.
Most households are somewhere in the middle. Run our Tailor Fit quiz and we will recommend the right stack for your team, your fantasy participation, and your budget.
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Last verified: 2026-06-04 against live carrier and rights data. Streaming rights shift quarterly — we re-check every season.
Sources: NFL media-rights deal (announced March 2021); NFL-ESPN equity deal coverage from Deadline and Yahoo Sports (February 2026); Hulu+Live / Fubo merger close (October 29, 2025); SPORTS-RIGHTS-MASTER.md (verified 2026-06-04); LIVE-TV-FEATURE-MATRIX.md.