If you’re an avid NFL watcher who likes to catch up on all Sunday afternoon games, you may have looked into the NFL Sunday Ticket as a way to do so. Currently, NFL Sunday Ticket is the only way to access all out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons that aren’t available on your local broadcast networks, giving you more opportunities to track your favorite teams.
While NFL Sunday Ticket used to exist solely through DIRECTV, it’s now offered exclusively through YouTube TV. Learn how it works, how much it costs, and whether NFL Sunday Ticket is worth buying.
NFL Sunday Ticket: Overview
Pros
- Weekly access to every out-of-market Sunday football games
- Multiview feature to watch multiple games at once
- Catch up on parts you missed with key plays feature
- Live chat and polling features to connect with other fans
Cons
- Cost
- No ability to cancel after season sign-up
- No blackout, Thursday night, Sunday night, or Monday night games
Highlights
Price: $349-$449/year
User Profiles: Up to five household members
Number of Screens: Unlimited streams from one location
Highest Playback Resolution: 1080p
Free Trial: No
What Is NFL Sunday Ticket?
NFL Sunday Ticket is an annual subscription service that provides access to Sunday afternoon NFL games that aren’t available on local broadcast channels. For example, if you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan who lives in California, you might not be able to get many Cowboys games on your local networks. With NFL Sunday Ticket, you can access any games that play on Sunday afternoons and aren’t featured on your local TV networks, allowing you to follow your favorite team regardless of where you’re located.
DIRECTV used to be the longstanding provider of NFL Sunday Ticket. Since the start of the 2023-24 NFL season, YouTube TV has owned the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. YouTube TV customers can now add NFL Sunday Ticket to their live TV plans, and non-customers can subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket separately through YouTube TV. If you subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket on its own, you can get all Sunday afternoon games that aren’t available locally. When you add it to YouTube TV, you’ll also benefit from live games broadcasted locally from channels available in your area through YouTube TV.
Notably, the NFL was recently hit with an NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit awarding subscribers with nearly $5 million in damages. A jury ruled that the subscription service violated antitrust laws by making NFL Sunday Ticket only available at a premium price on a satellite TV service, thereby restricting competition.
How or if the lawsuit might affect YouTube TV’s exclusive deal with NFL Sunday Ticket is yet to be determined, but according to the Observer, it “could eventually unwind YouTube’s 2023 seven-year, $14 billion deal to be the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket, severely hampering the platform’s ability to become the default consumer media experience of the future.”
NFL Sunday Ticket offers sharing with up to five household members, so you can each watch your favorite games separately. You’ll also get unlimited streams from your account from within your household.
Is NFL Sunday Ticket Worth It?
If you’re a casual NFL watcher who likes to catch up on a few games here and there, you might be better off sticking to the games you can get from your local channels rather than signing up for NFL Sunday Ticket.
However, if you like to spend your Sundays with the NFL tracking all Sunday afternoon games, NFL Sunday Ticket may be well worth its cost. This is especially true for football fans who live away from their favorite teams, as NFL Sunday Ticket lets you watch out-of-market games from any team.
Another point to consider if you’re unsure whether to splurge is the ability to split your cost for NFL Sunday Ticket into four payments throughout the season, which can make it a little easier on your budget than paying for it all at once.
How Much Does NFL Sunday Ticket Cost?
| Plan | Cost | Installment Option | YouTube TV Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $449/year | $112.25/month for 4 months | No |
| YouTube TV Customers | $349/year | $87.25/month for 4 months | Yes |
| Student Plan | $199/year | Not available | No |
You can subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket as a current YouTube TV customer or sign up for the package on its own without subscribing to YouTube TV. On its own, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $449/year, with an installment option available for $112.25/month for four months. YouTube TV customers get a discount, making NFL Sunday Ticket $349/year, with the option to pay $87.25/month for four months.
NFL Sunday Ticket also offers a student plan for $199/year, and there’s no YouTube TV subscription required. You’ll need to verify your student status with Sheer ID when you sign up to take advantage of the exclusive savings.
Unfortunately, there’s no free trial for NFL Sunday Ticket, but if you haven’t yet had YouTube TV and want to try it out before signing up for NFL programming, you can get a 7-day free trial.
Pros and Cons of NFL Sunday Ticket
Consider the following pros and cons to help you decide whether NFL Sunday Ticket is worth your money.
Pro: Weekly access to every out-of-market Sunday afternoon football game
Do you live in a different state than your favorite team or have a hard time getting the games you like to watch in your area? If so, NFL Sunday Ticket could make a difference in your Sunday NFL routine. The package includes access to all out-of-market Sunday afternoon football games, meaning that if you follow the Eagles but live in Florida, you’ll still be able to watch all Eagles games on Sunday.
While some streaming networks let you watch local games, you still can’t get out-of-market games unless you have NFL Sunday Ticket.
Pro: Multiview feature to watch multiple games at once
If you can’t decide which Sunday afternoon games to watch on NFL Sunday Ticket, that’s okay–you don’t have to. With NFL Sunday Ticket, you can watch up to four games on one screen at a time.
Plus, you can stream from an unlimited number of devices from your home at one time, so you can watch four games on TV and four games on your phone at the same time, for example. This way, you don’t have to miss a single play from any of the games you want to follow.
Pro: Catch up on parts you missed with Key Plays feature
YouTube TV subscribers could already use a feature known as key plays to review highlights from live sports games. More recently, YouTube TV has copied this feature to NFL Sunday Ticket, allowing subscribers to review key plays of any games they’d like with a few clicks.
For instance, if you’re streaming four games simultaneously using multiview and miss a play on one game as you focus on another, you can use the key plays feature to replay important highlights.
Pro: Live chat and polling features to connect with other fans
NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers who like to interact with other football fans on Sundays can do so while they follow their favorite teams with live chat and polling features. These features are similar to what you’ll find in YouTube livestreams, allowing viewers to chat with one another, give their thoughts about the game, and answer live polling questions.
If you’d rather watch games on your own without the distraction of interactive features, you can toggle off live chat and polls in your NFL Sunday Ticket settings.
Con: Cost
If you’ve searched “How much does NFL Sunday Ticket cost?” and are surprised by its price tag, you’re not alone. A chief complaint from NFL enthusiasts is the cost of each season of NFL Sunday Ticket, which runs $449.
The good news is that there’s a discount available if you also have YouTube TV, making it $100 cheaper, or $349. You can also split payments if you’d rather pay over four months, and college students can sign up for just $199/year.
Still, it’s a hefty price for a few months of football, especially if you don’t care to watch all Sunday games.
Con: No ability to cancel after season sign up
While you can cancel your NFL Sunday Ticket subscription so that it doesn’t renew for the following season, there’s currently no way to cancel for the current season. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll maintain access to the full season and can’t receive a refund for any portion you may not use if you decide it’s not for you.
Con: No blackout, Thursday night, Sunday night or Monday night games
While NFL Sunday Ticket lets you view all Sunday afternoon games, it won’t give you other NFL games, like those on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights. NFL Sunday Ticket also doesn’t host blackout games, which the NFL doesn’t air in home markets when local teams don’t sell enough of their tickets within a couple of days of the game.
How To Get NFL Sunday Ticket
Sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV. If you already have a YouTube TV account, you can use it to add NFL Sunday Ticket to your plan. If not, simply sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket on the YouTube TV website by clicking the “Get It Now” button. You can choose whether to pay for the subscription at one time or have it billed over four months.
How To Cancel NFL Sunday Ticket
Visit the YouTube TV website and sign into your account to manage your NFL Sunday Ticket subscription. In Settings, click “Memberships” followed by “Manage,” and find your NFL Sunday Ticket account. Then, click the link to cancel your subscription.
Once canceled, your subscription won’t renew the following season, but you’ll still have access to the current season. NFL Sunday Ticket doesn’t provide refunds if you cancel part of the way through a season.
Touchdown or Fumble? Deciding on NFL Sunday Ticket
If you clear Sunday afternoons for NFL games and don’t care much about catching Monday night and Thursday night football games, then NFL Sunday Ticket could be a good option for you. With that said, you might only feel like you’re truly getting your money’s worth from the season subscription if you want to watch multiple games at a time instead of just one or two games each Sunday.
With a starting price of $349/year for YouTube TV subscribers, NFL Sunday Ticket isn’t cheap. And if you don’t have YouTube TV and don’t want to sign up for it, you’ll pay $100 more per season for the service. However, the ability to split payments into four monthly installments can make it a little easier on your budget.
For avid NFL watchers who follow multiple teams, NFL Sunday Ticket might be a dream come true. But if you’re a more casual watcher, consider signing up for cable or a streaming service with live TV, like YouTube TV or Hulu, that provides access to live games available in your home market.
