Watching the NFL will cost more, require more streaming services than ever this season
Earlier this year, six in 10 sports fans said they have skipped watching a game at least a few times in the past year because it was "too expensive," according to a new Fox News poll. In addition, 72% of fans said major sporting events should be required to air on free broadcast television instead of behind streaming paywalls.
The 2026-27 NFL schedule is not going to make those fans any happier.
While the full season schedule will not be released until Thursday, reports about some of the league’s streaming plans are already available. Most notably, Netflix is expanding its slate this season to include at least 49ers-Rams in Australia in Week 1 on Thursday, Sept. 10, along with games on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Eve.
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Netflix previously only carried NFL games on Christmas. That means fans who subscribe to Netflix only for the NFL will now have to pay for at least three months this season instead of just one.
Peacock will also air an exclusive prime time broadcast Saturday, Jan. 2. For context, all NBC games already stream on Peacock, but this one will air only on Peacock, which recently raised its price to $10.99 per month.
Of course, fans will still need Amazon Prime for the entire regular season and the first weekend of the playoffs for "Thursday Night Football" and one wild card match up.
What's more, the one streamer that offered games for free might not be involved at all this season. According to Puck, YouTube may sit out entirely after balking at splitting a five-game package with Netflix.
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It remains unclear how the NFL will distribute the rest of that package. It is also not clear whether ESPN+ will carry an exclusive game again this season, as it did last year. If so, that adds yet another subscription, even if only for a month.
The expanded schedule also raises concerns about the quality of play. The league plans to add two Wednesday games this season, one during opening week and another the night before Thanksgiving. There is already a game on Black Friday. That leaves Tuesday as the only day without a game, at least for now. At this rate, even that could change.
Perhaps the NFL will look to work Apple TV into the equation to celebrate Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. (We are kidding. Sort of.)
Spreading games across more days creates shorter turnarounds, uneven rest and a higher risk of injuries. Players have less time to recover, preparation suffers and the overall quality of play declines. It also increases the number of match ups featuring struggling teams and inconsistent quarterback play. Simply put, there are not enough quality teams to justify expanding national windows this aggressively.
Consider Thanksgiving week. Ten teams will have already played by Sunday, yet the league still needs to fill afternoon, prime time and Monday night slots. Fans saw the result last year on Christmas Eve, when all three games were either meaningless or close to it, featuring just one playoff team.
At some point, the NFL will have to decide whether squeezing every possible dollar out of media rights is worth diminishing the on-field product.
Granted, that moment is not coming in 2026, when the league will be as expensive and as difficult to watch as ever.