Last updated: August 13, 2026. NFL broadcast rights and schedules can change, including flex scheduling that shifts games between networks late in the season.

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NFL games in 2026 are split across at least nine services, and no single subscription gets you everything. That's the problem. Most viewing guides list where every game airs — useful if you're planning a single weekend, less useful if you're deciding what to subscribe to for the season. The question a cord-cutter actually has is narrower: given the team you follow and the games you care about, what's the minimum you need, and what does it cost per month? This post answers that — no complete schedule, no exhaustive package list, just the decision paths and real monthly totals.

Where Each Type of Game Lives

Sunday Afternoon (1 PM and 4 PM ET)

CBS and FOX split the schedule by conference — AFC home games usually air on CBS, NFC home games on FOX, with cross-flexing moving select games to the other network late in the season. These are local-market broadcasts: you get the game your local affiliate carries, which depends on where you live. CBS games stream on Paramount+ ($7.99/month). FOX games stream on FOX One ($19.99/month), a new standalone service that launches August 21, 2026 and will carry every FOX NFL broadcast in one subscription. It is not yet available to subscribe as of this writing.

Sunday Night Football

NBC, simulcast on Peacock ($10.99/month with ads). Peacock also holds an exclusive Week 17 game on January 2, 2027, at 8 PM ET — that one does not air on NBC at all, so an antenna won't get it.

Monday Night Football

ESPN and ABC simulcast. The ABC broadcast is free over the air with an antenna. Streaming the ESPN feed requires a live-TV bundle that includes ESPN; ESPN+ does not carry the weekly Monday game.

Thursday Night Football

Amazon Prime Video ($8.99/month standalone, or included with a Prime membership at $14.99/month). TNF runs Weeks 2 through 17, with three exceptions: Week 1's 49ers-Rams game is on Netflix, there's no TNF on Thanksgiving, and Week 18 shifts to Saturday. Prime Video also carries the Black Friday game (Broncos-Steelers, November 27), a Christmas Eve game (Texans-Eagles), and a New Year's Eve game.

The Netflix Specials

Five games under Netflix's expanded NFL deal, now in its first year of a four-season extension through 2030: Week 1's 49ers-Rams game from Melbourne, Australia (Thursday, September 10, 8:35 PM ET), a Thanksgiving Eve game (Packers-Rams, November 25), a Christmas Day doubleheader (Packers-Bears and Bills-Broncos), and a Week 18 Saturday finale at 1 PM ET. Netflix starts at $8.99/month.

NFL Network and Preseason

NFL Network carries select regular-season games, the full preseason slate (shared with CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video), and some international series games. NFL Network is available through live-TV bundles like YouTube TV and Fubo, or via NFL+ on mobile.

The Cost Math

This is where most guides get vague. It won't be. Here are the four realistic paths, with real monthly totals. Prices reflect current published rates as of August 2026.

Quick Reference: What Each Service Costs

• Paramount+ — $7.99/month (CBS games)
• FOX One — $19.99/month (FOX games)
• Peacock — $10.99/month with ads, $16.99/month ad-free (Sunday Night Football, Week 17 exclusive)
• Prime Video — $8.99/month standalone, or $14.99/month with Prime (Thursday Night Football, holiday games)
• Netflix — $8.99/month and up (five-game NFL package)
• NFL+ — $6.99/month (local and primetime, mobile only)
• YouTube TV — $82.99/month (live-TV bundle with CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, NFL Network)
• NFL Sunday Ticket — $240/season new, $378/season returning (out-of-market Sunday games, via YouTube)

If You Only Watch Your Local Team's Games

A digital antenna gets you every game that airs on your local CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates — most Sunday afternoon games in your market, plus Sunday Night Football on NBC and Monday Night Football on ABC. Total: $0/month. If you also want to stream on mobile, NFL+ ($6.99/month) mirrors local and primetime games to a phone or tablet. Neither option covers out-of-market games.

If You Want Every Nationally Televised Game

The minimum combination is an antenna ($0) for CBS, FOX, NBC, and ABC; Peacock ($10.99/month) for Sunday Night Football streaming and the Week 17 Peacock exclusive; Prime Video ($8.99/month) for Thursday Night Football; and Netflix ($8.99/month) for the five exclusive specials. That's $28.97/month, and it covers everything except Sunday afternoon games outside your local market. Add ESPN via a live-TV bundle only if you insist on streaming ESPN's Monday Night Football feed rather than watching the free ABC simulcast on antenna.

If You Follow an Out-of-Market Team

NFL Sunday Ticket is the only real answer — it carries every Sunday afternoon game that isn't available in your local market. YouTube holds the exclusive rights. Sunday Ticket costs $240 for new subscribers ($378 for returning) for the full season, or roughly $48 to $76/month spread across the five-month regular season. Students can get it for $119. You can buy Sunday Ticket as a standalone YouTube Primetime Channel without a YouTube TV subscription, or bundle it with YouTube TV ($82.99/month) for the full cable-replacement experience. Sunday Ticket does not include primetime games, so you still need the antenna-plus-streaming combo above for TNF, SNF, and the Netflix specials.

If You Only Care About Primetime

An antenna covers Sunday Night Football (NBC) and Monday Night Football (ABC simulcast) for free. Add Prime Video ($8.99/month) for Thursday Night Football. That's $8.99/month for all three weekly primetime windows. Add Peacock ($10.99/month) if you want to stream SNF rather than watch over the air, and Netflix ($8.99/month) for the five specials. Cheapest primetime setup: $8.99/month.

The Live-TV Bundle Shortcut

If you don't want to juggle four apps plus an antenna, a live-TV streaming bundle pulls most of the national windows into one subscription. YouTube TV ($82.99/month) carries CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network, and can add Sunday Ticket as a bundle. Fubo starts at $64.99/month for its Sports + News plan and carries CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network — covering Sunday afternoon, Sunday night, Monday night, and most other game windows in one app. Neither bundle carries the Netflix exclusives, so you still need an $8.99/month Netflix subscription for those five games. For a broader comparison of every streaming service for live sports, see our best streaming service for sports in 2026 ranking.

What About NFL RedZone?

NFL RedZone ($10.99/month as an add-on on Fubo, YouTube TV, or NFL+ Premium) is a separate consideration — it's a whiparound channel that shows every scoring drive across the Sunday afternoon slate, not full games. It's a complement to your setup, not a replacement for any of the services above. If you want to watch a specific team's full game, RedZone won't get you there.

The Antenna Option Most People Forget

A digital antenna receives over-the-air broadcasts from your local CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates — for free, no subscription. That covers a significant share of NFL games: Sunday afternoon games in your local market, Sunday Night Football on NBC, Monday Night Football on ABC, and the Thanksgiving Day games on CBS and FOX. You won't get Thursday Night Football (Amazon), the Netflix specials, or any out-of-market Sunday game. But for fans who follow their home-market team and mostly watch on Sundays, an antenna alone covers more games than any single streaming subscription. A decent antenna costs $25 to $40 one-time and lasts for years.

What Changed This Year

Two things. Netflix expanded from two Christmas games to a five-game package under a new four-year deal that runs through 2030 — it now includes a Week 1 international game, Thanksgiving Eve, a Week 18 Saturday finale, and two Christmas Day games. And the season opens on Wednesday, September 9 (Patriots at Seahawks, NBC and Peacock) rather than the usual Thursday night — the rare Wednesday opener accommodates the 49ers-Rams game in Melbourne the following night.

How StreamingBeam Helps

If you're tallying subscriptions, the StreamingBeam Cost Calculator breaks down what you're paying across every service and flags overlaps — so you can see whether a live-TV bundle actually saves money versus stacking individual streamers. You can also search any team or game across the app to see which services carry it, so you're not guessing when flex scheduling shuffles a game to a network you didn't plan for. It's the easiest way to see the full picture before you commit to a lineup for the season.

The Bottom Line

NFL streaming in 2026 is fragmented, but the math is knowable. Figure out which games you actually watch — your local team, primetime, or everything — and the minimum subscription stack follows. The most expensive setup (Sunday Ticket plus every streamer) runs well over $100/month; the cheapest (an antenna plus Prime Video) is under $10. Find where to stream anything and total your subscriptions at streamingbeam.com.