NFL+: Complete Guide to the Best Streaming Football Deal Around

I grew up watching the NFL and being a streaming expert, I can help football fans make sense of the huge number of options available for watching the league today. Here’s my advice about NFL+.

In a hurry? If you need to make a quick decision, here’s my best advice:

• NFL+: For local and primetime games, the base package costs $6.99/month or go with NFL+ Premium for $14.99/month to add condensed, ad-free game replays, NFL Pro, NFL RedZone, and Coaches Film.
• Fubo: Replaces your cable subscription with 150+, but it doesn’t provide all out-of-market NFL games. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
• DIRECTV STREAM: Full cable replacement service with all of the NFL channels. The Choice plan also provides the best selection of RSNs. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.

What is NFL+?

NFL+ (sometimes referred to as NFL Plus) is a streaming service that costs $6.99/month. It lets you live-stream every local and primetime NFL game for the regular season and playoffs (including the Super Bowl) on mobile devices.

It also provides live access to all out-of-market preseason games and lets you listen to all games live. You can also use it for ad-free access to NFL library programming like HBO’s Hard Knocks series.

And a subscription includes NFL Network, which you can watch on any device.

The downside is you cannot live stream games on your big-screen TV and you are limited to in-market and primetime games. To get access to all out-of-market games, you would need NFL Sunday Ticket.

NFL+ Premium

NFL+ Premium costs $14.99/month and includes everything you get with NFL+ with additional content like full condensed game replays, NFL RedZone, and Coaches Film.

Is NFL+ Worth It for You?

You’re reading this NFL+ review because you want to know if it’s worth it. The answer is it depends — but probably yes.

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If your focus is on your local team, you will be able to watch all of those games live. You’ll also get to live stream all the primetime games and every postseason game. The catch: you will be limited to watching on your phone or tablet.

On the other hand, if you don’t mind streaming the games after they air, then you can sign up for NFL+ Premium, which provides access to all games on-demand. This is also what you should get if you want to study the games.

How Much Does NFL+ Cost?

The NFL+ subscription service is $6.99/month or $49.99/year, which means you can get it for a year for less than a month of cable television. (If you purchase early, you can pay in 3 or 4 installments every 30 days.)

If you happen to subscribe to NFL+ midway through the season, that yearly subscription cost is prorated as well. Your NFL+ subscription will last until July 31, 2024, giving you plenty of time to relive the season after the fact.

The Pros and Cons of NFL+

NFL+ is mostly pros and very few cons.

The only downside of NFL+ is that you are limited to mobile devices (iPhone and Android) to live stream the regular season games.

But you will get to see all the games that likely mean the most to you. You will see all the games that feature your local team(s) as well as all the primetime games on Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, and Thursday Night Football.

And with NFL+ Premium, you can watch your favorite games in half the time, without all the start and stop typical of the NFL. This is especially good for hardcore fans and fantasy football junkies who want to watch a ton of games from around the league.

You can also live stream NFL preseason games that are out-of-market with NFL+. In-market preseason games can also be watched on replay at any time if you have a Premium subscription.

On another positive note, you also get access to live game audio. With this service, you could listen in real-time to the games you don’t care much about, and then watch your favorite team on the big screen later in the day (after you got all your Sunday chores done).

Coaches Film

Coaches Film come with NFL+ Premium subscriptions. With them, you can go back and watch games using the exclusive All-22 and Endzone angle footage; which is what the broadcasters, scouts, and even the pros themselves use to help gain extra insight into the game. This gives you a full view of all the action so you can break down the game just like a coach would.

Do you play Fantasy Football? Do you want to really learn the game inside and out? If so, this is your chance. When you hear someone say “I watched the tape, and…” this is how they are watching it.

This is supplemented by NFL Film Session, which is a show on NFL Network that shows documentaries using the NFL Films archive.

Condensed Games

NFL+ offers condensed games as well. You still get every snap, every play, every touchdown made in a game. You just don’t have to sit there through timeouts or have to wait for everyone to get back into place or for the play to start.

If you’ve got 45 minutes, you’ve got time to watch a full game. No more commercials and long delays between plays. Take your time back to America.

NFL RedZone

NFL+ Premium now includes NFL RedZone — the ultimate way to watch Sunday afternoon football.

Audio

You also get access to live audio of all games. The best part of this is that you can live stream both the local and the national coverage of each game. This is great to have because radio coverage of games can be spotty depending on where you live.

No Spoilers

The worst part about watching a game that’s already aired is seeing that game update spoiler, but luckily for you, NFL+ has an anti-spoilers feature that you can use to prevent this from ever happening.

Suported Streaming Devices

NFL+ limits you to mobile devices on live games.

But overall, NFL+ runs on the regular NFL app, which offers great support for modern streaming devices and smart TVs. So you can watch condensed game replays on pretty much any device available.

You can live stream on Android TV-based smart TVs and other devices. The same goes for Samsung and LG smart TVs built since 2016.

If you don’t have a smart TV, you can create one with an external device. NFL+ supports Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku.

You can also watch on web browsers. This is a good fallback for users because you can, for example, connect a laptop running a browser to your TV via an HDMI cable.

Android and iOS smartphones and other mobile devices are also supported if you want to watch on the go. You can also cast from these using Chromecast to a TV with built-in or external devices.

NFL+ supports the gaming devices Xbox One and PS4.

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Multiple Streams

NFL+ allows you to live stream on up to 5 different devices at the same time. This lets you and your family all watch separately if you’d like.

Today marks an important day in the history of the National Football League with the launch of NFL+. The passionate and dedicated football fans are the lifeblood of the NFL, and being able to reach and interact with them across multiple platforms is incredibly important to us.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

NFL+ Alternatives

There is no perfect alternative for NFL+. But the closest is simply an HD antenna, which will generally allow you to watch all your local team’s games as well as Sunday Night Football and some Monday Night Football.

You can stream more games. Amazon Prime streams all the Thursday Night Football games. Here are my favorite streaming services to catch live football throughout the season:

• Fubo (formerly FuboTV): A great all-around service with a focus on sports offering over 150+ channels. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
• DIRECTV STREAM: Excellent complete cable replacement service with an unmatched selection of RSNs. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
• Sling TV: Although it doesn’t provide all the channels you need, this low-cost service can’t be beaten. Sign up for the Orange & Blue plan to get the good coverage of games.
• Hulu + Live TV: Combine 95+ live TV channels with Hulu’s outstanding on-demand library, ESPN+, and Disney+ for an outstanding entertainment plan. Try the Hulu Live free 3-day trial.

YouTube TV also offers a good plan very similar to Hulu’s.

NFL+ Free Trial

NFL+ previously offered a free 7 day trial, but this option is no longer available as of now.

Our Choice: Live Stream Games with NFL+

Bottom Line: NFL+ is awesome. Even if you are able to watch your favorite team every Sunday over the air, the sheer number of extra goodies that NFL+ throws in more than makes up for the $6.99/month price tag.

Try NFL+ Now!

I recommend getting the NFL+ Premium plan for the unlimited replays and Coaches Film.

FAQs

Can I watch the playoffs on NFL+?

NFL+ allows subscribers to stream NFL games (local and nationally broadcast) live on mobile devices. That means you can watch every playoff game up to and including the Super Bowl. It also allows you to watch the Pro Bowl. You can also watch game replays on all your devices with NFL+ Premium.

How do I cancel NFL+?

It’s a simple matter to cancel NFL+:

• Log in to your account
• Go to Manage Subscriptions
• Go to Manage and select “Cancel Subscription.”

What happened to NFL Game Pass?

For US-based subscribers, NFL Game Pass has been discontinued. It has been replaced with NFL+ (or NFL Plus). It gives you access to your local games and all primetime games on mobile devices. You can still get all the replay games like with the old NFL Game Pass by subscribing to NFL+ Premium.

NFL Game Pass still exists for people in most countries outside the US, Canada, and China. But the plan is very different — similar to but better than NFL Sunday Ticket in the US.

Get NFL Game Pass International!

Can I live stream NFL games with Yahoo Sports app?

From 2017 to 2021, NFL had a special deal with Verizon-Yahoo. You could live stream local and primetime NFL games for free on mobile devices using the Yahoo Sports app (and also the NFL app). But that all changed this season with the release of NFL+. Now it costs you $6.99/month. It’s still a good deal — especially if you opt for NFL+ Premium for $14.99/month.

How fast of an internet connection do I need for NFL+?

The internet speed requirements for NFL+ are mercifully low. In order to stream games at all, you’ll need a broadband internet connection of at least 750 kbps or higher. To enjoy NFL+ at its highest video quality, you’ll need an internet connection speed of at least 2.0 Mbps.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

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