It’s time once again to answer all of your questions, so here’s the latest Traina Thoughts Mailbag.
Is there a breaking point for you for Sunday Ticket in terms of number of games available? As the NFL expands stand alone games, the inventory of Sun. at 1 games decreases. Couple that with price hikes and your yearly ‘I am done watching X bad team’, is there a tipping point?
— Bring23 (@BmRing23) July 2, 2025
This is a very good question. Earlier this week, I mentioned that the cost for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube for the 2025 season will be $480, plus taxes and fees.
I think once the cost goes over $500, it will make people seriously consider whether it’s worth it. Is there a big difference between $480 and $500? No. But for some reason, we get triggered by numbers that are multiples of 100 so I believe that once Sunday Ticket goes above the $500 mark, fans will start to question whether it’s worth the price.
The question makes a great point, because when you boil it down, Sunday Ticket subscribers are mainly paying to have access to all the 1 p.m. games. The best game of the week always airs nationally at 4:25 p.m. And the 1 p.m. window keeps getting downgraded thanks to the NFL spreading out games. Whether it’s the 9:30 a.m. international games, the Black Friday game or the Friday night game in Week 1, the Sunday slate—early and late—isn’t nearly as meaty as it used to be.
As the price for Sunday Ticket continues to increase, I think NFL fans will consider several factors when deciding whether to renew or purchase the plan. If you have a good team in your local market, you may not think you need Sunday Ticket.
Here in New York, the Jets and Giants always stink, so I can’t go through an entire season watching those teams while being shut out of watching competitive games. So the breaking point for me will be different than the breaking point for a fan who has a good team in their local market.
It seems like MLB and the NBA prioritized / are prioritizing broadcast over cable in rights negotiations. Do the numbers support the idea that non-bundle-subscribers access broadcast, e.g., with antennas? Do you see Disney or Fox moving more sports from cable to broadcast?
— Fiddle Elphier (@FiddleElphier) July 2, 2025
The numbers that support the move from cable to broadcast are the ones that show how many people cut the cord. I’m not sure the numbers when it comes to people using over-the-air antennas are a factor because homes with antennas has dropped from 32% in 2020 to 19% in 2025.
But that doesn’t compare to the rate at which people are getting rid of cable. Over the past two years, viewing on cable is down 7% while viewing on broadcast is down 2.7%.
This is why TNT lost the NBA. The league would rather be partners with Amazon than a cable service because Amazon’s subscription base will only increase while TNT/cable will only decrease.
As for Disney and Fox moving more sports from cable to broadcast, we’ve already seen Disney do this, specifically with Monday Night Football airing on ABC many times over the past couple of years. As for Fox, they should absolutely move MLB’s LCS from FS1 to regular Fox, but they probably can’t because then they will have nothing on FS1, which anybody watches.
It’s July 4th and your 2 sporting options to watch on tv are 1) a random wnba game or 2) 3 hours of wall to wall hot dog eating coverage. Which are you picking?
— Patrick Webb (@webb_02) July 2, 2025
WNBA game and it’s not even close. I’m not anti-WNBA. I don’t have any negative feelings toward the WNBA. I just don’t follow it. I'm anti-hot dog contest and I think the ridiculous event should be banned. It would be impossible for me to convey how much I wouldn’t want to watch one single second of people eating hot dogs.
Do you expect McAfee to be back on WWE TV soon? It looks like he may be hosting a HR Derby stream at the same time as Raw. https://t.co/u4aVVSri8w
— TJ (@TJRamsey44) July 2, 2025
I would expect McAfee to be back on WWE programming very soon.
The company has Saturday Night’s Main Event airing on NBC on July 12 and SummerSlam on Aug. 2. McAfee will not miss those events, so my guess is that he will be back on Monday Night Raw next week or the week after.
Who is the most underrated NFL broadcast team?
— T “Resh” Manuel (@reshmanuel) July 2, 2025
I thought about this question for a while and I’m not sure there’s an underrated booth. I think all the booths are rated fairly accurately. I think there are individual play-by-play callers (Andrew Catalon and Adam Amin) and analysts (Ross Tucker) who don’t get the credit they deserve, but in terms of the full booth, I don’t think there is one that is underrated.
Hello Jimmy. Greetings from Argentina!. If NBC gets the rights to broadcast MLB and pick up a Sunday Night Package what announcer and analyst would be the best fit? Anoche question? Where where you in your Twitter profile pic? Looks like you were Having a blast!
— Luis Antonio Chirinos (@luischirinos) July 2, 2025
I’m going to answer this question as if NBC can steal folks working at other networks. I’ve said many times that I think Don Orsillo, who calls Padres games, is the best play-by-play guy today. Dan Shulman, who calls Blue Jays games, is also excellent. If I were NBC, I’d go all out to hire one of those two.
That Twitter picture is 100 years old. I wasn’t taken anywhere exotic. Just a Long Island beach.
Are we expected to get any more PxPers for the NBA on NBC? I've only heard of Tirico & Eagle, and it feels like they will need more for when Tirico is on the Olympics and prepping for the Super Bowl, and then when they get more volume of games in the Playoffs.
— Matthew Owens (@MatthewOwensPxP) July 2, 2025
Yes, NBC, as well as Amazon, will need more than two play-by-play callers. As it stands now, NBC has Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle on board to call games, while Amazon is expected to have Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan.
NBC doesn’t necessarily have to hire someone from the outside, though. It could use some in-house people, such as Paul Burmeister, or someone who works on its NBA coverage at one of the NBC Sports cable properties.
Any update on the new CBS and FOX NFL announcing pairings?
— Dalton Mott (@dmott225) July 2, 2025
Not yet. I would expect the official announcements from CBS and Fox within the next couple of weeks. However, we already know what the biggest change will be going into the 2025 season: CBS’s new No. 2 booth will feature Ian Eagle and J.J. Watt.
Ok since you brought it up yesterday, what exactly did happen with the torpedo bats, anyone still using them
— IlliniEverSoTrue (@Illini1996) July 2, 2025
I’m sure players are still using them. I assume once everyone realized that the “torpedo bats” were legal, there was no need for the media to keep talking about them because there was no cheating scandal to cover.
What are your thoughts on the Yankees Seinfeld night? Do you think stadium giveaways or theme nights in general significantly boost attendance? Seems like this one has created a lot of buzz. How much or how early are you lining up to get the George S. Bobblehead? (Half joking)
— Leo (@Leo78080404) July 2, 2025
Given what people have to pay to go to a baseball game, there should be giveaways and theme nights for every game. But baseball even manages to screw its fans when giving away something for free. That George Costanza Bobblehead giveaway on Aug. 21? Only the first 18,000 fans to enter Yankee Stadium will get one. The Yankees are averaging 35,634 per game this year. The Yankees will be hosting the Red Sox on Aug. 21, so that game will have about 45,000 people in the building, meaning more than half of the fans in attendance will get bupkis.
You've talked a few times about going to the beach, but you don't seem like a beach guy. Can you explain?
— havertick (@havertick) July 2, 2025
I like the beach?
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Media Mailbag: NFL Sunday Ticket Pricing, Underrated NFL broadcasters, McAfee + WWE and More.
