The growing popularity of streaming services has made accessing sports programming both more challenging and costlier for fans. Recently, the NFL disclosed that Netflix would be the exclusive broadcaster of the league’s Christmas games for the next three years. This means fans will need yet another subscription to catch all the action. In addition to the traditional broadcast channels like ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and NFL Network, there are now four streaming platforms — Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, NBC’s Peacock, and Netflix — that exclusively stream certain NFL games, including prime-time and playoff matches.
This trend extends beyond football. Many college football games are only available on Peacock, and Major League Baseball fans often struggle with blackout rules exacerbated by streaming restrictions. ESPN+, in particular, gates access to several sports, including hockey, soccer, mixed martial arts, and boxing, often adding a pay-per-view charge on top of the subscription fee. Boxing broadcasts are further fragmented across various services.
The imposition of these additional fees essentially acts as a pay-per-view charge for NFL enthusiasts without access to these streaming services, a comparison that NBC Sports President Rick Cordella prefers to avoid. Notably, some streaming platforms like Peacock ($5.99 a month with ads), Netflix ($6.99 a month with ads or $15.49 for an ad-free experience), and ESPN+ ($10.99 a month with ads) do not offer games as frequently as Amazon’s Prime Video, which streams Thursday Night Football weekly.
This segmentation of sports broadcasts into numerous unique streaming services inevitably burdens fans with escalating costs for multiple subscriptions. NBC’s decision to host a pay-per-view playoff game on Peacock and the NFL’s choice to place Christmas games on Netflix indicate that both networks and leagues are eager to pursue lucrative exclusive streaming deals.
Ultimately, the real impact of these changes falls on the fans, who must now allocate more time and money to track their favorite sports across various platforms. This increase in complexity and expense signals a disheartening trend for sports enthusiasts, with no indication of reversal any time soon.
