The NFL called an audible with RedZone, and streamers are furious

Football and TV commercials go together like eggs and bacon, but NFL RedZone is — usually, at least — a weekly oasis from the relentless car, beer, and insurance ads. But this past Sunday, the NFL had a little surprise for RedZone streamers. 

Instead of seven hours of uninterrupted coverage of NFL teams making their way into scoring position, RedZone viewers found themselves sitting through four “short” commercial breaks, with the ads presented side-by-side with the gridiron while the football audio was muted.  

NFL fans were unsurprisingly furious, with a few eagle-eyed viewers noting that RedZone host Scott Hanson had replaced his traditional “Welcome to seven hours of commercial-free football” greeting with simply “It’s seven hours of football.” Hmmm…

An NFL source told sports site Sportico that the commercial breaks during last Sunday’s RedZone coverage were merely a “test,” and that the league “does not currently have plans” to run more RedZone ads. 

Of course, “currently” is the key word, with the Sportico informant adding that “any permanent change would only be considered for the 2025 season, at the earliest.”

To be fair, the whole “seven hours of commercial-free football” thing is more of an informal RedZone slogan than an iron-clad guarantee, and the NFL RedZone site makes no mention of commercial-free coverage. 

NFL RedZone is a popular choice for cord-cutting football fans because it’s a relatively inexpensive way to follow Sunday afternoon matchups. This season, you can stream NFL RedZone for just $15 per month, or $100 for a year, with an NFL+ Premium subscription. (Yes, the monthly option is cheaper given the four-month regular season.) You can also add NFL RedZone to Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, or another live streaming TV provider if you sign up for the right sports add-on.

Any of those options is way cheaper than NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, which costs a whopping $479 for the full 2024 season, or $379 per month for YouTube TV subscribers. (You can get a steep discount on NFL Sunday Ticket now as the season is winding down.)

But as far as commercial-free RedZone goes, well… enjoy it while it lasts.