This is the most searched question in football streaming — and the answer catches a lot of people off guard after they’ve already signed up. Whether you’re new to streaming or switching from cable, this guide covers what Sunday Ticket actually costs, what it shows, and whether it’s worth it for your exact situation.
These are the real questions driving people to search this topic. Answered directly, without the runaround.
- 1 Is NFL Sunday Ticket included with my YouTube TV subscription? No — it is not included in any YouTube TV plan price, at any tier. Whether you’re on the Sports Plan at $64.99 per month or the full YouTube TV plan at $82.99 per month, Sunday Ticket is not part of the deal. It’s a separate seasonal purchase you make on top of your YouTube TV subscription — or without YouTube TV at all, through YouTube’s Primetime Channels. Many people sign up expecting it to be bundled. It isn’t.
- 2 What games does Sunday Ticket actually show? Out-of-market Sunday afternoon regular season games only — the 1 PM and 4 PM ET windows on CBS and FOX. If your team is playing in your local market that Sunday, their game is blacked out from Sunday Ticket. You’d watch it through your local CBS or FOX channel instead. Sunday Ticket does not include Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime Video), Sunday Night Football (NBC), Monday Night Football (ESPN/ABC), any playoff games, the Super Bowl, preseason games, or exclusive games on Netflix or Peacock.
- 3 How much does Sunday Ticket cost when added to YouTube TV? New subscribers pay $240 for the season; returning subscribers pay $378. Earlier in the year, new subscriber promotional pricing dropped as low as $192 — those deals typically expire before the season begins. Payments can be split into 12 monthly installments, but all installments are required regardless of whether you cancel YouTube TV. Losing your YouTube TV subscription during the season also ends your access to Sunday Ticket.
- 4 Can I get Sunday Ticket without a YouTube TV subscription? Yes — through YouTube Primetime Channels, no YouTube TV plan is required. New subscribers pay $240 for the season as a standalone; returning subscribers pay $480. You watch through the regular YouTube app on any TV, phone, tablet, or computer. The trade-off: no local channels, no ESPN, no NFL Network. If you get local channels another way — antenna, cable, or another streaming service — this route can work well and saves you the monthly YouTube TV fee.
- 5 Are there discounts for military, seniors, students, or Verizon customers? Yes, and they’re significant — check these before buying at full price. Military, veterans, first responders, medical workers, and teachers pay $198 for the season through ID.me verification. College students pay around $119–$199 depending on timing, verified through SheerID — student pricing is standalone (no YouTube TV required) and purchased via web browser. Verizon customers with qualifying Simplicity mobile or home internet plans may receive Sunday Ticket at no charge or at a steep discount — check your Verizon account before purchasing anywhere else.
- 6 Can I cancel Sunday Ticket if I change my mind? No — this is one of the most important things to know before buying. Once the season begins, Sunday Ticket is non-refundable regardless of how you purchased it. If you chose a monthly payment plan, you’re still on the hook for every remaining installment even if you stop watching. You can disable auto-renewal so it doesn’t charge you next season, but you cannot get a refund on the current season. Read the terms carefully before you click purchase.
- 7 Does Sunday Ticket include NFL RedZone? No — RedZone is a separate add-on. You can bundle NFL RedZone with Sunday Ticket for an additional $42 at the time of purchase. If you have YouTube TV, you can also add it monthly through the Sports Plus package for $10.99 per month during the season. RedZone and Sunday Ticket serve different purposes: RedZone jumps between every game’s scoring plays all afternoon; Sunday Ticket lets you watch one specific game from start to finish. Fantasy football players often want both.
- 8 What’s the total annual cost for YouTube TV plus Sunday Ticket? Budget roughly $1,000–$1,200 for a complete football-watching setup. YouTube TV Sports Plan at $64.99 per month runs about $780 per year. Add Sunday Ticket at $240 (new subscriber) and you’re at $1,020 before extras. Returning subscribers paying $378 for Sunday Ticket land around $1,158. New subscriber promos on YouTube TV itself can lower the first year’s cost — a promotional rate of $54.99 per month for 12 months saves $120 off the Sports Plan’s regular price. Watch for those at tv.youtube.com.
Before spending any money, it’s worth getting completely clear on what Sunday Ticket covers and what it doesn’t. The gap between what people expect and what they receive has frustrated plenty of buyers over the years.
NFL Sunday Ticket is the only legal way to stream out-of-market Sunday afternoon regular season NFL games in the United States. “Out-of-market” means games not airing on your local CBS or FOX affiliate. If you live in Phoenix and want to watch the Buffalo Bills play Sunday afternoon and that game isn’t on your local channels, Sunday Ticket shows it to you. Every Sunday afternoon CBS and FOX regular season game not available in your area is accessible through Sunday Ticket — the full 1 PM and 4 PM ET windows all season long. A new fully custom multiview feature, launched in April 2026, now lets you combine up to four live streams on one screen — Sunday Ticket games alongside any other channel in your subscription, including NFL RedZone if you’ve added it.
- Your local team’s game when it airs in your market — it’s blacked out from Sunday Ticket; watch it through your local CBS or FOX channel
- Thursday Night Football — that belongs to Amazon Prime Video all season
- Sunday Night Football on NBC — a separate national broadcast
- Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC — not part of Sunday Ticket
- Playoff games or the Super Bowl — Sunday Ticket is regular season only
- Preseason games — not included
- Exclusive games on Netflix or Peacock — those require separate subscriptions
- NFL RedZone — a separate add-on purchase ($42 bundled with Sunday Ticket, or $10.99 per month via Sports Plus on YouTube TV)
The most common complaint from new Sunday Ticket subscribers: “I can’t see my team’s game.” Here’s what happens. If you live within a team’s broadcast market and they’re playing Sunday afternoon, that game is classified as “in-market.” NFL rules require it to air on your local CBS or FOX affiliate instead of through Sunday Ticket. You’ll see a blackout notice on Sunday Ticket for that game. The fix is simple: tune to your local CBS or FOX channel. YouTube TV’s Sports Plan and full YouTube TV plan both include local broadcast channels. If you bought Sunday Ticket as a standalone without YouTube TV, you’ll need a TV antenna, another streaming service with locals, or cable to watch your own team’s home-market games.
YouTube TV currently offers two main plans. Here’s how each one covers NFL games before you add anything extra.
This is where most people cutting the cord for football should start. The Sports Plan carries all four major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC — so you get your local Sunday afternoon games, Sunday Night Football on NBC, and both playoff games that air on those networks. ESPN and ESPN2 are included, covering Monday Night Football and ESPN’s playoff games. NFL Network is included for midweek programming. FS1 is in the lineup too, relevant for some playoff and college football coverage.
ESPN Unlimited integration launched with this season, bringing ESPN’s streaming-exclusive games and content directly inside YouTube TV — a meaningful addition for anyone who wants the full ESPN library alongside live games. At $64.99 per month, the Sports Plan costs $18 less than the full YouTube TV plan while including every channel most football fans actually need. The main trade-off is about 70 entertainment, news, and lifestyle channels. NFL Sunday Ticket is available as a paid add-on.
The main YouTube TV plan is the full-service option — over 100 channels spanning sports, entertainment, news, lifestyle, and kids programming. For NFL coverage, it includes everything in the Sports Plan. The reason to choose it over the Sports Plan is the rest of the household: if people in your home regularly watch HGTV, Bravo, CNN, or other cable channels not in the Sports Plan, the main plan may be the right call. NFL Sunday Ticket is still an extra cost on top of this plan — it’s not bundled regardless of what you pay per month.
Sunday Ticket pricing is layered by subscriber status, purchase route, and qualifying discounts. Here is every price clearly organized — so you know exactly where you stand before buying.
If you have never subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube before, this is your starting price. Early-season promotional pricing dropped the bundled cost to $192 for qualifying new subscribers — those deals typically expire before the season starts. The standard new subscriber bundled price is $240. An active YouTube TV subscription is required to maintain access. Monthly payment plans spread the cost across the season, but every installment must be paid — you cannot cancel mid-season for a refund. Adding NFL RedZone costs $42 more on top of Sunday Ticket at purchase.
No YouTube TV subscription? You can buy Sunday Ticket directly through YouTube as a Primetime Channel. Same out-of-market Sunday afternoon games, same custom multiview, same $240 new-subscriber price — but no local channels, no ESPN, no NFL Network. This works well for people who get local channels through a TV antenna and just want the out-of-market Sunday games without paying for a live TV service. Buy through a web browser, not through the iOS or Android app — purchasing through the app adds a significant surcharge due to Apple and Google app store fees.
If you subscribed to Sunday Ticket through YouTube in any prior season, you’re a returning subscriber and pay the higher rate. The $378 bundled price is still well below the $480 standalone rate, which is one reason to stay on YouTube TV if you’ve been a subscriber. One tip some returning subscribers have found useful: canceling Sunday Ticket auto-renewal before the season sometimes triggers a new-subscriber offer at checkout — worth checking before paying the full returning price.
The Heroes plan is the deepest legitimate discount available on Sunday Ticket. Active military, veterans, first responders, medical workers, and teachers all qualify. Verification runs through ID.me — a free, one-time process. Once verified, returning Heroes subscribers renew at the $198 rate automatically; if you received a renewal email showing $480, that was an error — the $198 rate applies and no action is needed on your part. This is standalone pricing through YouTube Primetime Channels, but once purchased you can watch on either the YouTube app or through YouTube TV.
Student pricing is typically the lowest Sunday Ticket price that exists. At $119 for the season, it’s a fraction of the returning subscriber price. Verification requires current enrollment status through SheerID. Note: student plans are standalone Primetime Channels purchases only — they cannot be added to a YouTube TV subscription, and they are limited to one simultaneous stream. Purchase must be made through a mobile web browser. The exact price can vary season to season, so confirm at checkout rather than assuming last year’s rate still applies.
Verizon has consistently offered some of the most aggressive Sunday Ticket promotions available to any subscriber group. Customers with qualifying Verizon Simplicity mobile plans or certain Verizon Home Internet plans have been offered Sunday Ticket at no charge. Customers who don’t qualify for the free offer may still receive a 50% discount. Check your Verizon account or call Verizon support before buying Sunday Ticket anywhere else — if your plan qualifies and you pay full price, that’s a costly oversight. Offers vary by plan type and timing.
Current YouTube Premium subscribers who have never purchased Sunday Ticket before may qualify for a promotional rate significantly below the standard new subscriber price. This is a time-limited offer — check your YouTube account or the Sunday Ticket purchase page to see if it’s still active for your account. Promotional pricing at this level is not guaranteed to persist throughout the season’s sale window.
This shows exactly what each plan covers for NFL before you add anything extra, and what Sunday Ticket adds on top.
| Feature | Sports Plan 🏈 | YouTube TV 📺 | Sunday Ticket Add-On 🏟️ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly / Seasonal Cost | $64.99/mo ($54.99 intro) | $82.99/mo ($67.99 promo) | $192–$480/season (one-time) |
| Local CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Not applicable |
| ESPN / Monday Night Football | ✓ ESPN + ESPN2 | ✓ ESPN + ESPN2 | Not in Sunday Ticket |
| ESPN Unlimited Streaming | ✓ Included (new this season) | ✓ Included (new this season) | Not in Sunday Ticket |
| NFL Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Not in Sunday Ticket |
| Sunday Night Football (NBC) | ✓ via NBC | ✓ via NBC | Not in Sunday Ticket |
| Out-of-Market Sunday Afternoon Games | ❌ Not in plan | ❌ Not in plan | ✓ This is what Sunday Ticket provides |
| Home Team When Blacked Out on Sunday Ticket | ✓ Watch on local CBS/FOX | ✓ Watch on local CBS/FOX | ❌ Sunday Ticket blacks out local games |
| Thursday Night Football | ❌ Requires Amazon Prime | ❌ Requires Amazon Prime | ❌ Requires Amazon Prime |
| NFL RedZone | $10.99/mo (Sports Plus) | $10.99/mo (Sports Plus) | +$42 bundle at purchase |
| Playoffs & Super Bowl | ✓ via network channels | ✓ via network channels | ❌ Regular season only |
| Custom Multiview (up to 4 screens) | ✓ Fully customizable (April 2026) | ✓ Fully customizable (April 2026) | ✓ Mix Sunday Ticket + any channel |
| Unlimited Cloud DVR | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Live & replay within app only |
| Contract / Cancellation | No contract — cancel anytime | No contract — cancel anytime | Non-refundable full season |
| Best For | NFL fans cutting the cord | Full households with mixed viewing | Fans whose team plays in another market |
Prices verified for the current NFL season. Promotional rates are time-limited. Local channel availability varies by ZIP code — confirm at tv.youtube.com before signing up. Thursday Night Football requires a separate Amazon Prime Video subscription.
The value case looks completely different depending on where you live and what team you follow. Here’s the honest answer for the situations that actually drive most buying decisions.
This is exactly who Sunday Ticket was built for. If you’ve relocated away from your home team’s market — a Bills fan in Phoenix, a Packers fan in Florida, a Cowboys fan in Oregon — Sunday Ticket is how you watch every Sunday afternoon game your team plays that isn’t on a national broadcast. Combined with YouTube TV’s Sports Plan for Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, and local coverage of your new city’s team, this setup covers nearly every game of your team’s season. For relocated fans who watch most games, Sunday Ticket pays for itself quickly. Divide the cost by the number of Sunday afternoon games your team plays and it often works out to less than a single visit to a sports bar.
Probably not, at least not primarily for following your own team. Your home team’s games air on local CBS or FOX in your market, and those channels are already included in both YouTube TV plans. What Sunday Ticket would add is access to other teams’ games — which matters if you have fantasy football lineups spread across multiple teams, or you closely follow a second team. If you only care about watching your local team, Sunday Ticket adds relatively little that your base YouTube TV plan doesn’t already cover. Think honestly about how often you’d actually use it before committing to a non-refundable purchase.
This is the second-strongest use case for Sunday Ticket. The custom multiview feature — launched in full in April 2026 — now lets you build any combination of up to four live streams on one screen, mixing Sunday Ticket games with your regular channels and RedZone all at once. For fantasy players who need to track multiple players across different games every Sunday, this creates one of the best fantasy football viewing setups available anywhere. Adding NFL RedZone ($42 bundled with Sunday Ticket, or $10.99 per month via Sports Plus) rounds out the experience — RedZone cuts to every scoring play across all games while Sunday Ticket lets you follow a specific matchup in full. If your fantasy money is serious, the math can genuinely favor this setup.
The honest answer is that no single service carries every NFL game. A complete setup this season requires several subscriptions. YouTube TV Sports Plan ($64.99 per month) covers your local Sunday afternoon games, Sunday Night Football on NBC, Monday Night Football on ESPN, NFL Network, and the major playoff games on broadcast networks. Sunday Ticket ($240 for new subscribers) covers out-of-market Sunday afternoon games. Amazon Prime Video (around $8.99 per month or $139 per year) carries Thursday Night Football all season. Netflix carries several exclusive games including Christmas Day matchups. Peacock has at least one exclusive Saturday night game. All-in, near-complete NFL coverage runs roughly $1,000–$1,200 per year. If budget is a concern, prioritize based on which windows your team actually plays in.
Start at the ID.me Heroes verification page before going anywhere near the standard checkout. Military members, veterans, first responders, medical workers, and teachers all qualify for the Heroes rate of $198 — about half what a returning civilian subscriber pays. If you’re a current college student, check SheerID for student pricing. If you’re a Verizon customer, check your account before buying anywhere else — qualifying Simplicity plan holders may receive Sunday Ticket at no charge. These discounts are not applied automatically; you have to seek them out through their specific verification routes.
YouTube TV is consistently rated as one of the easier live TV streaming services to set up and navigate. Once you subscribe to Sunday Ticket, it appears inside the same app — you’re not bouncing between multiple apps during a game. The custom multiview feature takes a few button presses to set up on your remote, but it’s straightforward once you know where to find it. The trickiest part for most first-timers is the blackout rule: when your team’s game shows a “not available” message on Sunday Ticket, it’s because that game is airing on your local CBS or FOX channel right there in the same YouTube TV app. If you’re comfortable with a smartphone and know your Google account password, YouTube TV is manageable. YouTube TV support is reachable at 1-650-930-0611 if you run into trouble.
Sunday Ticket works on virtually every modern connected device: smart TVs running Android TV, Samsung Tizen, or LG WebOS; streaming devices including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast; gaming consoles including Xbox and PlayStation; and iPhones, Android phones, iPads, tablets, and any web browser. If you can watch YouTube or YouTube TV on a device today, you can watch Sunday Ticket on it. The custom multiview feature is available on TVs, tablets, and mobile. One exception: student subscribers are limited to one stream at a time.
You lose access to Sunday Ticket immediately when your YouTube TV subscription ends — even though you’ve already paid for the season. The bundled pricing requires maintaining an active YouTube TV subscription throughout the NFL season. Canceling YouTube TV does not trigger a refund on Sunday Ticket. This catches people off guard. If there’s any realistic chance you’d cancel YouTube TV during the football season, the standalone Primetime Channels purchase (no YouTube TV required) is a safer choice even at a higher price — your access won’t be affected by canceling a separate service.
Yes — full game replays are available through the Sunday Ticket interface after the live game concludes. If you want to watch without knowing the score, stay off your phone between when the game ends and when you sit down. The replay feature is genuinely useful: if you’re tied up on a Sunday afternoon, you can come back and watch the game from kickoff. Note that YouTube TV’s unlimited cloud DVR does not capture Sunday Ticket games — replays live within the Sunday Ticket section of the app, not in your DVR library.
No — Sunday Ticket has no free trial, and it’s non-refundable once the season begins. YouTube TV itself does offer a free trial for new subscribers (typically 21 days), which lets you evaluate the platform, channel quality, and streaming reliability before committing. But Sunday Ticket cannot be added to a free trial — you’d be charged for it separately at purchase. Before buying, look up which of your team’s Sunday afternoon games are out-of-market in your ZIP code — if most of your team’s games air locally anyway, the value case gets weaker.
They solve genuinely different problems. NFL RedZone (now on ESPN following a rights shift) is a commercial-free channel that cuts live to every game as teams enter the red zone — it’s the most efficient way to track scoring across the whole league without watching one game in full. Sunday Ticket lets you watch a specific out-of-market game from kickoff to final whistle. RedZone is best for fantasy football players who need scoring updates across many games. Sunday Ticket is best for fans who want to follow their team or one specific matchup all afternoon. Many subscribers get one but not the other; people who want both can bundle RedZone with Sunday Ticket for $42 extra at purchase.
Yes. If your cable service already includes ESPN, NFL Network, and local channels, you don’t need YouTube TV at all. You can purchase Sunday Ticket as a standalone YouTube Primetime Channel for $240 (new subscriber) without changing your existing TV service. You watch Sunday Ticket games through the YouTube app on your TV while everything else comes through cable as normal. Compare the standalone Sunday Ticket price against any Sunday Ticket option your cable provider offers before deciding — some cable companies offer their own access at different price points.
This page is for general informational purposes only. NFL Sunday Ticket pricing, plan availability, discount eligibility requirements, and promotional offers change each season — verify all current details directly at tv.youtube.com and youtube.com/primetime before purchasing. Sunday Ticket is non-refundable once the season begins. Local channel availability through YouTube TV varies by ZIP code. Thursday Night Football requires a separate Amazon Prime Video subscription. Netflix and Peacock exclusive games require separate subscriptions to those services. This page does not constitute a paid endorsement of any service mentioned.