On Thursday, NFL media revealed that the league will expand its own direct-to-consumer subscription service, NFL+.
Now in the second year of the service, at its premium price, NFL+ will include live streams of NFL Network and the very popular NFL RedZone — which cuts to any game when a team is on the verge of scoring a touchdown. It’s a shocking addition that comes on the heels of NFL Sunday Ticket becoming an exorbitantly expensive part of YouTube TV.
I don’t understand the logic of the league seemingly undercutting one of its main broadcast partners, but I can’t say I mind as a passionate football fan looking for quality feeds to watch games!
Available on all TV, PC, phone, and tablet devices in the United States, let’s explain what you get with NFL+, NFL+ Premium, and NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Oh, by the way: Anyone who buys now gets a 20 percent discount on the annual price for both versions of the service.
(Spoiler alert, but this already looks like a fantastic deal.)
Here's what you get on NFL+
For $6.99 a month (or $49.99 a year):
- NFL Network
- Live out-of-market preseason games
- Live game audio
- NFL Films content
Here's what you get on the new NFL+ Premium
Here’s what you get for $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year with NFL+ Premium:
- All of the same NFL+ content
- NFL RedZone
- Full and condensed game replays, all ad-free
- All-22 Coaches Film
- Some live local games and every primetime regular season game
Here's what you get with YouTube TV
Here’s what you get with YouTube TV for $249 a season (!) and $389 (!!!) if you bundled with RedZone:
- Some but not all out-of-market regular-season afternoon NFL games
- Every primetime regular-season NFL game
What does all this mean?
I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money, but it seems pretty obvious to me that the new NFL+ — especially now that TVs are included — has seen a pretty significant upgrade here.
It won’t give you the same options as YouTube TV and Sunday Ticket, but I, for one, think it’s definitely enough to make a lot of people consider opting for the significantly cheaper service that still has a lot of value and quality.
If you’re in the NFL’s shoes, what a strange time to announce this service upgrade.
