How to Watch NFL Games Free Online in 2025

Labor Day has come and gone, which means NFL football is nearly here.

The 2025 NFL season opens Thursday night in Philadelphia, with the Super Bowl–winning Eagles kicking off their title defense against the Dallas Cowboys in primetime on NBC and Peacock. The following night, the Chiefs and Chargers meet in São Paulo for a matchup that — in an NFL first — will stream live and free on YouTube. Then comes the first full slate of Sunday afternoon games before Week 1 wraps up with Monday Night Football in Chicago between the Vikings and Bears.

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With kickoff approaching, now is the moment for fans to map out how to watch or stream games across the 18-week regular season. Let’s huddle and walk through your 2025 NFL viewing choices and my pick for the best streaming approach for the season.

TV channels and streaming services needed for NFL football

The broadcast lineup for the new season mostly mirrors last year: Sunday afternoon matchups air on CBS and Fox, Sunday night belongs to NBC, Monday Night Football is on ABC and ESPN, Thursday Night Football is on Prime Video, Netflix carries two Christmas Day games, and a small number of European fixtures will be shown exclusively on NFL Network. And don’t forget the Week 1 Friday-night game in Brazil you can watch free on YouTube.

Beyond that YouTube game, the big change for viewers this year is two newly launched direct-to-consumer streaming services from ESPN and Fox. They give fans extra ways to watch more contests without cable or satellite — and without necessarily subscribing to a live TV streaming bundle like YouTube TV or Fubo.

Networks airing games this season NFL Status:

• CBS: Sunday afternoon games
• Fox: Sunday afternoon games
• NBC: Sunday Night Football
• ESPN: Monday Night Football
• ABC: Two Monday Night Football games

Most NFL action happens on Sundays, with single games each week on Monday and Thursday nights. On Sundays, kickoff windows are about 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) and 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT), with most AFC matchups on CBS and most NFC contests on Fox. NBC handles the Sunday night spotlight, while Monday Night Football will split between ESPN and/or ABC. There are four Monday-night doubleheaders this year, two of which include a game exclusive to ABC; the remainder of the MNF schedule is on ESPN each week.

You can access the five channels above through a live TV streaming package. You can also reach those same channels via four direct-to-consumer streaming services:

• Paramount Plus: CBS games
• Fox One: Fox games
• Peacock: NBC games
• ESPN DTC: ESPN and ABC games

Additionally, three other streaming services are necessary if you want every NFL game:

• Prime Video: Thursday Night Football, the Black Friday game and a Wild Card playoff game
• Netflix: Two Christmas Day games
• NFL Plus: Seven NFL Network games

Aside from the Brazil opener and the three Thanksgiving games, Thursday Night Football is mostly on Amazon Prime Video. Amazon’s Week 13 matchup will fall on Black Friday.

For the second consecutive year, Netflix will present two games on Christmas Day. This season’s holiday doubleheader pairs the Cowboys vs. Commanders first, then the Lions vs. Eagles.

Along with the Brazil contest, the NFL continues pushing its international footprint, staging games this year in Berlin, Dublin and Madrid, plus the usual trio of London games. These six international matchups — together with a Week 17 Saturday-afternoon game — will be exclusive to NFL Network.

What are my streaming options for NFL games in 2025?

Four of the five live TV streaming platforms (all except Sling TV) carry the core networks — ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC — that you need to watch the NFL each week. Three of those four (all but DirecTV Stream) include NFL Network in their base plans.

Remember that not every streamer carries every local affiliate, so for CBS and Fox games check whether a given service carries your local stations before subscribing.

With ESPN DTC and Fox One newly available, fans now have an alternative to paying for a live TV bundle or cable. With the four DTC services — ESPN DTC, Fox One, Paramount Plus and Peacock — you can stream games on ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC. That approach typically costs less than Fubo, Hulu with Live TV or YouTube TV, but it does mean switching between apps to follow CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons instead of flipping channels.

Here’s the math:

Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV are each $83 per month. (Fubo is $85 per month.) Over the four-month stretch from September through December, that totals $332.

Compare that to the four streaming services:

• ESPN DTC: $30 per month
• Fox One: $20 per month
• Paramount Plus: $8 per month
• Peacock: $11 per month

That adds up to $69 per month, or $276 for the season. And it can get cheaper: ESPN and Fox announced a bundle for their new services at a combined $40 per month starting Oct. 2. If you subtract $10 per month for the final three months, the total comes to $246.

Whether you go with a live TV service or the four-streamer route, you’ll still need Prime Video for Thursday Night Football. For complete coverage, factor in Netflix for the two Christmas games and a method to watch NFL Network for its seven exclusives.

If you already subscribe to Amazon Prime and Netflix, there are two ways to access NFL Network: it’s included in the base plans of Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV. Or, if you prefer an à la carte streaming setup, NFL Plus offers access to NFL Network for $7 per month. NFL Plus lets you stream the seven exclusive NFL Network games to mobile devices, computers, consoles or TVs. NFL Plus also streams local and national games on ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and Prime Video — though those feeds are limited to phones and tablets.

Best for NFL streaming: YouTube TV

My top pick remains unchanged heading into 2025: YouTube TV.

At $83 per month (or $94 with RedZone), YouTube TV covers all the NFL bases. Many markets include local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, plus ESPN and NFL Network, so you can watch Sundays and Monday nights. It’s the most affordable live TV streamer that bundles every channel needed for the NFL, and it supports multiview so you can watch up to four games at once.

Fubo and Hulu with Live TV also offer the full set of channels — including NFL Network — in their base packages. Hulu with Live TV is $83 per month (RedZone is an extra $10) but lacks multiview. Fubo includes multiview and is $85 per month (RedZone adds $10).

A la carte NFL streaming quartet option

If you’d rather skip YouTube TV or another live-TV bundle, you can watch Sunday afternoon games on CBS and Fox, Sunday night on NBC, and Monday nights on ESPN/ABC using Paramount Plus, Fox One, Peacock and ESPN DTC for $69 per month — $14 cheaper than YouTube TV.

Skinny bundles for NFL fans

Fubo and Sling have rolled out slimmed-down bundles aimed at sports viewers, though neither covers everything for the NFL.

Sling’s new skinny tier is $20 per month and includes NBC plus ABC and Fox in select markets. It doesn’t include CBS or ESPN. If you choose the $20 Sling Select plan, you’d still need Paramount Plus ($8 per month) for CBS and ESPN DTC ($30 per month) for Monday Night Football, bringing the total to $58 monthly.

Fubo’s skinny bundle is $56 per month ($46 the first month) and includes ABC, CBS and Fox plus ESPN and NFL Network. The missing piece is NBC for Sunday Night Football, so you’d add Peacock ($11 per month) for a combined $67 monthly.

Both of those options run cheaper than YouTube TV at $83 per month and are comparable to the $69 cost for the four-streamer approach. I lean toward the Fubo + Peacock mix: though it’s $9 more per month, it’s convenient to watch CBS and Fox Sunday games on the same platform. Switching between CBS and Fox is faster on Fubo than hopping between Sling and Paramount Plus.

Thursday Night Football: Amazon Prime Video

Thursday games are exclusive to Prime Video, which gives fans another reason to get an Amazon Prime membership ($15 per month or $139 per year). If you only want Prime Video, it’s available separately for $9 per month.

The full Prime Video schedule is available on Amazon’s site.

What about NFL Sunday Ticket and RedZone?

YouTube and YouTube TV continue to be the exclusive home of NFL Sunday Ticket, the package that streams every out-of-market Sunday afternoon game. Without Sunday Ticket, you’ll generally only see your local team’s game plus a couple of 1 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET window games on CBS and Fox.

For 2025, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $276 for new subscribers and $480 for returning subscribers.

A cheaper way to catch out-of-market action is NFL RedZone, which jumps between Sunday games from 1 p.m. ET until 8 p.m. ET. RedZone is available as an add-on for $10–$15 per month across the major live-TV streamers and is a favorite for fantasy football managers who want to follow multiple players on Sundays. One caveat: RedZone will no longer be commercial-free this season; the channel — previously known for seven hours of uninterrupted football — will now include ad breaks.

À la carte NFL streamers can access NFL Network via an NFL Plus Premium subscription. NFL Plus Premium costs $15 per month (or $100 per year) and, like NFL Network, lets users stream RedZone to TVs and computers in addition to phones and tablets.

The VPN option for out-of-market viewing

You can also use a VPN to stream games outside your local broadcast area. A VPN encrypts your connection, helps avoid ISP throttling and can be handy on public Wi-Fi while traveling — it also lets you virtually change your device’s location to access geographically restricted streams like out-of-market NFL matchups. Many VPNs (our Editors’ Choice is ExpressVPN) make this straightforward. Using a VPN for streaming is legal where VPNs are legal (including the U.S. and Canada) and is often used for privacy and security.

Be aware that some streaming services prohibit VPN use for region-specific content. If you plan to use a VPN, check the platform’s terms of service to stay compliant.

If you opt for a VPN, follow the provider’s setup instructions and ensure you connect securely and lawfully. Some platforms will block access if they detect a VPN, so confirm whether your subscription allows VPN use.

Where can I stream NFL games free?

With an over-the-air antenna and good reception, you can watch local CBS and Fox games on Sunday afternoons, NBC for Sunday Night Football, and most Monday Night Football games on ABC. It’s not strictly free — a decent antenna starts around $30 — but it doesn’t require a monthly fee.

If your TV package already includes NFL Network, you’ll get live Sunday action (in-market and out-of-market) through that channel. Again, that’s not free, but it might be part of a plan you already pay for. NFL Network’s Sunday coverage isn’t the same rapid-fire format as RedZone, but NFL Network is included in the base lineups of most live-TV streamers (all but DirecTV Stream). By contrast, RedZone requires a sports add-on for an extra $10–$15 per month.