NFL fans have been forced to accept a lot of changes in the way they view football games.
25 years ago, network television was all a fan needed to see football.
It got a little more complicated if a viewer wanted to see all of the football games, instead of those just in his or her geographic area.
With the advent of recreational fantasy football leagues, NFL quelled that demand with Directv’s Sunday Ticket package.
Those who did not have the Sunday Ticket still saw football games on their local network channels.
2022 and 2023 ushered in big changes, and it remains to be seen how well they will be received in the long run.
The latest change announced by NBC Sports is that a wildcard playoff game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock on January 13, 2024.
NFL announced that Peacock will be the home for the first-ever exclusive live streamed NFL Playoff game, presenting an NFL Wild Card Playoff in primetime on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 15, 2023
That brings the total to three separate streaming services an NFL fan will need to access to watch all of the games this season.
They are YouTube for the Sunday Ticket, Amazon Prime for Thursday Night Football, and Peacock for the playoff game.
(This is on top of needing ESPN and NFL Network on cable/satellite to see Monday Night Football and NFL international games.)
It Is Getting More Complicated To Watch Football
Maybe it is a sign of the teams, and perhaps most people pay for multiple streaming platforms anyway, but it still seems to add barriers for fans and families to watch football.
It is worth noting that if a fan’s local team is playing in an Amazon Prime Thursday night game or the Peacock playoff game, it will also be shown on a local television channel.
The NFL putting an opening-round playoff game Jan. 13 exclusively on Peacock reaffirms its commitment to streaming, after Amazon Prime began carrying the Thursday night package last season. (The playoff game will be carried by NBC in the local markets of the participating teams.) https://t.co/h0N4nOhlRh
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) May 16, 2023
That is a saving grace of this all-things streamed strategy the NFL is going with.
However, it does not take into account that people may not be fans of their local team.
Conclusion
If fans do not want to pay for all of these streaming platforms, they have a couple of alternatives.
One is to download their favorite team’s free app on their devices.
From that, they can listen to local radio coverage of the game.
Another is to go to a restaurant or bar that has streaming packages to watch the games.
Either way, it is not as easy as turning on the television anymore.
It is morphing into a pay-per-view model so fans should be prepared to plan accordingly.
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