Rejoice, football fans, you no longer need a cable package to access NFL RedZone

NFL RedZone is going the direct-to-consumer route.(AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Football season is right around the corner and ahead of all the action, the NFL has made its two cable channels available via exclusive streaming for the first time, the league announced Thursday.

NFL Network is now available as part of the league’s NFL+ streaming service, which retails for $6.99 per month or $49.99 per year. But if fans also want NFL RedZone, they will need to get NFL+ Premium, which goes for $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

Not to worry, pay television subscribers with YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV, DirecTV, Xfinity, Charter and Dish Network aren’t losing anything. Those platforms will still offer NFL Network and NFL RedZone.

NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson teased this news Wednesday via X, the social media formerly known as Twitter.

“There’s a big announcement coming, and I’m talking a big announcement. I’m talking like, Justin Jefferson one-handed catch on first down, big. I’m talking like Patrick Mahomes game winning drive at a Super Bowl type big. And it’s going to make a lot of you very very happy,” he said.

NFL Redzone and NFL Network were accessed by 51.1 million homes before this shift, a number that has decreased by about 5 million since the beginning of last season, according to Nielsen estimates.

“The world is completely different with the rise of digital,” NFL Chief Media & Business Officer Brian Rolapp said, via Sports Business Journal. “We’ve been planning for years to figure out how we shift these assets so we can play both in pay-tv, but also where people are spending their time, which is digital.”

This move represents the NFL’s attempt to broaden consumer reach and increase profits. In that vein, the extra channels come with a price increase as NFL+ was previously $5 a month. It’s still a potential savings, however — compared a platform like YouTube TV, which charges $72.99 a month for a bundle of 85 channels including NFL RedZone.

NFL Network will offer eight exclusive regular-season games this season. In addition to those, NFL+ will show live out-of-market preseason games, live local and primetime regular season and postseason games for phone and tablet access only.

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