Watching NFL Games Becomes a Pricey Pastime

The NFL season has begun, and for diehard fans who want to watch as many games as possible, these are complicated—and expensive—times. Consider that four different streaming platforms have access to exclusive games this season: Amazon Prime, ESPN Plus, NBC's Peacock, and even Netflix. "All of which means that an NFL fan who wants access to every snap could wind up paying over $1,000 including monthly cable bills," write Andrew Beaton and Rosie Ettenheim at the Wall Street Journal.

Of course, fans can catch local teams for free on their network affiliates, but those who want out-of-market Sunday games—say, on YouTube TV's Sunday Ticket for $479—must be prepared to shell out. (USA Today has a guide to the various Sunday Ticket packages and deals.) MarketWatch also crunched the numbers for a full season of football watching, and its tally came out even higher than the Journal's:

• "The total cost for a football fan who doesn't have cable to stream all 343 NFL games this season is about $1,700," reads the story. "The total cost for cable customers to stream all NFL games this season is even higher, at about $2,500." And that's not including the cost of internet, it adds.

(More NFL stories.)