Get ready to save your money, here’s the price of being a fan in 2025
If there’s anything we’ve learned about being a fan of NFL teams, it’s that watching all the games is expensive. If you like the NFL in general, the costs of everything will easily crack the $500 barrier. We did this last year, but a new schedule mixes up all the timing of the Prime Time games.
First, your TV package
It goes without saying, but you need a basic TV package. If you don’t have that, you might be in luck. To make this easy, you are looking for a provider with FOX, CBS, and ABC. Those networks will ask you to log in with your provider anyway, saving you headaches.
Of course, that is the question of what to do if you don’t have a provider. Like last year, I’d recommend YouTube since you can get a deal on Sunday Ticket (see below). Of all the streaming platforms, Fox Sports is the easiest and most non-hairpulling app of any of these listed.
CBS Sports is another story. For the longest time, they insisted on you buying their streaming service to watch a football game before it was cool for everyone to make you buy their streaming service to watch a football game. Even with a valid TV package, CBS would not let you watch online. CBS has pumped the brakes a bit on this, but if you get Paramount+, you can watch your local CBS station. That’s going to set you back $11.99 a month. I have no clue if it will be as simple in 2024 as it was in 2023, but since CBS has ruined many a Sunday for me in the past, I warn everyone to be aware.
The Apps
NFL+: Omit this if you couldn’t care less about preseason. I have to watch the preseason, so I’ll be getting it. If you want to watch the preseason just like I have want to, you will need to pony up $6.99/month. That gets you the three 49ers games. The networks haven’t been confirmed as of this writing, so if there is one on national TV, that’s one game you wouldn’t need the subscription for. Thankfully, you only need it for one month.
Amazon Prime Video: The 49ers’ first primetime game will be on Prime Video. Unlike previous seasons, this might be the only 49ers game on Prime Video. The good news here is that if it all goes well, and you haven’t given Amazon your money yet, you should be good to go with a free trial of Prime Video and then call it good. This is already a plus from last year. If you can’t get the trial because you really wanted to watch Fallout or something else (it’s not official, but it seems like trials are handed out in 12-month windows), you can either get the instant video package for $8.99 a month, or get the full fledged Amazon Prime service that gives you the two-day and same-day shipping for $14.99 a month. Those of you with Walmart+ (Walmart’s version of Amazon Prime) may need to subscribe to two fulfillment services for a month.
Again, you only need the trial here unless you already have an Amazon Prime subscription.
NBC/Peacock: NBC has really been trying to get everyone onto their streaming platform as of late. You can log in through your provider if you have NBC as part of your TV package (which should be in just about EVERY package). The issue is that the functionality remains pretty buggy compared to last year. If you want a better experience, I found using a Peacock subscription (Which I got for WWE programming, as well as getting to watch Law and Order: Organized Crime) worked. Obviously, the fact that I had to pay more for something that should work with a TV provider shouldn’t surprise anyone. If you are a new subscriber, you can get Premium for $2.99 for the first six months, so sign up in August. If this isn’t available, Peacock should cost you $5.99. If you want to watch other stuff like Law and Order without commercials, Premium Plus will set you back $11.99.
There is a 7-day trial, but like Prime, that will depend on when you get it versus your last trial. I also found that the trial option does not show up consistently. You can probably get it via Roku or Apple TV, but your mileage here would vary.
Regardless, you must pay for at least one month if you utilize the trial. Given what I explained above, expect to pay for two different months; The 49ers have the Atlanta Falcons in October and the Chicago Bears in December.
ESPN+: So those of you thinking of adding ESPN+ to your Disney subscription so you can watch football along with Snow White are going to be disappointed. ESPN+ cannot be relied on to see the NFL broadcasts. This does change week over week, but don’t rely on it. Select games are available on ESPN+, but not all of them.
That said, most TV packages should have basic ESPN, and you’ll be set. ABC should have the game if there is no ESPN, since the games are simulcasted on ESPN and ABC.
NFL Sunday Ticket: This is where things are going to hurt. Sunday Ticket has gone up in cost this year. Those of you who have subscribed and not taken advantage of the YouTube package will now get fleeced to the tune of $480. You can get the price at $379 if you subscribe to YouTube TV ($72.99 per month—and no, it’s not saving money to add YouTube TV to get Sunday Ticket). You can either pay that upfront or divide it into payments. There are ways around Sunday Ticket, the legal ones being going to a sports bar that has the package (or just the 49ers games) or living in an area that gives you the local broadcast.
How this works for the 49ers
If you put it all together, and if my math is correct (and I know I’ll get someone in the comments to tell me I can’t add), the cost for all of this will set you back $500.97, not counting the cost of your television package for Fox/CBS/ABC. This total cost also assumes you don’t live anywhere in Northern California that would get you local access (if so, you have a perk to living in the expensive Bay Area—you don’t need Sunday Ticket). I also did this assuming you only bought one month at a time of the other pay services, and the services let you off the hook when that time period ends and you cancel in a timely manner. In my experience, cancelling subscriptions never goes smoothly.
The aggravating thing is that the 49ers’ prime time games on the same network are over a month apart, so you’ll need to buy multiple months of Peacock, ESPN, etc.
We’re in May, and the preseason kicks off on August 18. You have roughly three months to save your money.