NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV: Cost, Coverage, and Whether You Need It

NFL Sunday Ticket moved from DirecTV to Google in 2023 under a seven-year deal. It now lives on YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels. For US fans, the practical question is whether the $349-$479 annual price is justified by what’s included — and how it compares to the much cheaper NFL+.

What Sunday Ticket actually carries

NFL Sunday Ticket carries the out-of-market Sunday afternoon games — the AFC games on CBS and the NFC games on FOX that your local CBS/FOX affiliates are not showing because they are showing your local team or the league’s preferred matchup for your region.

It does not carry:

• The games your local CBS or FOX affiliate is broadcasting (those are free with an antenna or any cable package — Sunday Ticket adds nothing on top)
• Sunday Night Football (NBC)
• Monday Night Football (ESPN/ABC)
• Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime)
• Christmas Day games (Netflix)
• Playoff games beyond the standard wild-card weekend
• The Super Bowl

If you live in a market where your team plays every Sunday on one of your local affiliates, Sunday Ticket gives you the other 13 or 14 games happening simultaneously. If you want to watch only your home team and you can already see them locally for free with an antenna, Sunday Ticket is not for you.

Sunday Ticket pricing (2025-26 season)

Google has discounted Sunday Ticket aggressively in pre-season promotions in past years. Watch for the early-bird window from late spring through training camp; prices typically rise to the figures above by the start of the regular season.

NFL Sunday Ticket vs NFL+

NFL+ ($6.99/mo) covers different content — primarily mobile-only local and primetime games, plus full-game replays after they air. NFL+ Premium ($14.99/mo) adds coaches film. Neither tier of NFL+ includes the Sunday afternoon out-of-market games.

So:

• You want to follow your home team and you live in your team’s market → antenna for local games, optionally NFL+ for replays. No Sunday Ticket needed.
• You want every Sunday afternoon game from every team → Sunday Ticket.
• You want every Monday/Thursday/Sunday-night game → separate subscriptions per broadcaster.

NFL RedZone

NFL RedZone is Scott Hanson’s whip-around channel showing every red-zone trip and scoring play across every Sunday afternoon game in a single continuous broadcast — no commercials during games. It is sold:

1. As an add-on to Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV (+$40/season)
2. As an add-on to a YouTube TV Sports Plus package (~$11/mo)
3. Through other live TV services that carry NFL RedZone (Sling Blue + Sports Extra, Fubo, ESPN+ via the Sports add-on on YouTube)
4. As part of NFL+ Premium in some recent seasons (confirm the current bundle)

RedZone is excellent for casual viewers who want to follow the entire Sunday afternoon slate without committing to a single game. Some fans subscribe to RedZone alone and skip Sunday Ticket entirely.

How to subscribe

For most US fans the practical path is: subscribe to YouTube TV (you get all your local channels including CBS/FOX/NBC, plus ESPN for MNF), then add Sunday Ticket at the discounted $349 rate, optionally with RedZone. That single subscription package gets you most of the NFL season legally for roughly $432 in subscriptions plus YouTube TV’s monthly fee.

For coverage of Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime), Christmas Day games (Netflix), and any Peacock-exclusive playoff windows, you still need those separate subscriptions.

Cross-reference: our NFL broadcaster map covers every weekly window. UK readers — UK NFL coverage is via Sky Sports; see our UK NFL guide.