There is no magic free trial anyone can take for a full season. But there are five legitimate paths that slash the price dramatically — and one that makes it genuinely free if you qualify. Here is every real option, ranked by how much you save.
Most people searching for a free NFL Sunday Ticket trial are working with outdated information. The landscape shifted significantly when YouTube took over the package. These are the accurate answers for the current season.
1 Is there a real free trial for NFL Sunday Ticket? Not a meaningful one. No full-season free trial exists. There is no “watch a Sunday free” option currently offered. The only path to genuinely free is a qualifying Verizon plan activation — which carries its own cost in the form of a new phone purchase or plan upgrade. ▼
2 What is the cheapest price for NFL Sunday Ticket right now? Verified college students pay $119 for the full season via SheerID — the lowest price available to any individual subscriber. Military members, veterans, first responders, teachers, and the medical community pay $198 via ID.me. ▼
3 Do I need YouTube TV to watch NFL Sunday Ticket? No. Sunday Ticket is available as a standalone purchase through YouTube Primetime Channels — no YouTube TV subscription required. But having YouTube TV lowers the new-subscriber price from $240 to $192. ▼
4 Can I cancel NFL Sunday Ticket if I don’t like it? Partial answer. Season passes cannot be cancelled or refunded — all sales are final. The month-to-month payment option allows you to cancel future billing, but YouTube will not refund what you’ve already paid. There is no “try it first” option. ▼
5 Does NFL Sunday Ticket include every NFL game? No — and this surprises a lot of first-time buyers. Sunday Ticket covers only out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on CBS and Fox. It does not include local games, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, or any streaming-exclusive games. ▼
6 What devices can I watch NFL Sunday Ticket on? Essentially every screen you already own: smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio), Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast/Google TV, iPhone, iPad, Android phones, Mac and PC web browsers, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox. ▼
7 I’m a returning subscriber — am I really stuck paying $480? Not necessarily. Check every discount category first. Military, teacher, first-responder, and medical discounts apply to both new AND returning subscribers at $198. And some returning subscribers who cancel early receive “win-back” offers by email — sometimes as low as the new-subscriber rate. ▼
For the current NFL season, Verizon is the only provider offering NFL Sunday Ticket at zero cost. Whether it’s worth the required action depends on what you were planning to spend on wireless or home internet anyway.
Verizon is offering NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube at no charge to customers who purchase an eligible 5G smartphone and activate a new line — or upgrade an existing line — on an Unlimited Ultimate or Unlimited Plus plan. The offer is available through September 2. If you were already considering upgrading to one of these premium Verizon plans or adding a new line to your account, the Sunday Ticket inclusion makes the upgrade effectively free on top of what you’d spend anyway. The honest math check to do first: Unlimited Ultimate and Plus are premium tiers. If you’re currently on a lower-cost plan and comfortable with it, the plan upgrade cost over the year could exceed the Sunday Ticket discount you’re receiving. Run both numbers before committing.
Customers who switch their home internet connection to one of Verizon’s qualifying fiber or 5G home internet tiers — or who are new Fios subscribers activating a premium plan — receive Sunday Ticket free for the season. Frontier Fiber tiers of 1G and above also qualify through Verizon’s Frontier partnership. This path doesn’t require a new phone purchase — just switching or signing up for premium home internet service. For households already considering a home internet upgrade or switching from cable internet to fiber, this is a genuine free add-on that requires no additional action beyond the internet switch. The promotion does not automatically renew — it covers only the current NFL season.
Existing Verizon Home Internet and Simplicity plan customers who don’t qualify for the free promotion can purchase NFL Sunday Ticket standalone for $234 — a $246 savings off the $480 returning-subscriber rate. Bundled with NFL RedZone, the price is $276. This requires no plan change or new phone — just being an existing qualifying Verizon subscriber. Check your Verizon account page or the Verizon NFL Sunday Ticket landing page to confirm whether your specific plan qualifies.
These discounts don’t require switching carriers or buying a new phone. They require verification of an existing status — student, military, veteran, teacher, first responder, or healthcare worker. Millions of Americans qualify and don’t know it.
Enrolled college and university students pay $119 for the complete NFL Sunday Ticket season — the lowest price available to any individual subscriber, and a $361 savings versus the $480 returning-subscriber rate. Verification happens through SheerID, which checks enrollment in real time. You provide your full name, email, date of birth, and school name — many students are verified instantly with no documents required. A .edu email address is not required; a regular Gmail works. The student plan is available only as a YouTube Primetime Channel — purchased on youtube.com rather than through the YouTube TV interface. Once purchased, you can watch on both the YouTube and YouTube TV apps. One stream at a time on this plan; no Google Family Group sharing. RedZone can be added for $10 more — the cheapest RedZone bundling available anywhere.
Active military members, veterans, first responders (police, firefighters, EMTs), the medical community (nurses, doctors, healthcare workers), and teachers all qualify for NFL Sunday Ticket at $198 through ID.me verification — a $282 savings off the standard $480 returning-subscriber price. This discount applies to both new and returning subscribers, which is the detail most returning subscribers miss. If you subscribed last season and paid full price, you can still claim this rate for the current season by verifying through ID.me before December 31. Existing subscribers who previously claimed this discount auto-renew at $198 without needing to reverify. The discount is available through YouTube Primetime Channels only — verify at id.me, then follow the link to YouTube to complete the purchase.
- Step 1: Go to id.me and create a free account or log into your existing one
- Step 2: Select your qualifying group — Military/Veteran, First Responder, Medical Community, or Teacher — and complete the identity verification process (usually takes 5–10 minutes)
- Step 3: Once verified, ID.me will redirect you to YouTube’s discounted purchase link where the $198 rate is applied automatically
- Step 4: Sign in with your Google account and complete the purchase — a credit card is required even for discounted plans
- You do not need to verify through ID.me every year if you subscribed at this price previously — existing subscribers auto-renew at $198
- This discount cannot be combined with promo codes or other coupon offers
First-time subscribers get meaningfully better pricing than returning customers — and there are two paths depending on whether you already have YouTube TV.
If you have an active YouTube TV subscription ($82.99/month) and have never purchased Sunday Ticket before, you can add it as an add-on for $192 for the full season — or in monthly payments of $16 over the course of 12 months. YouTube TV also offers new customers a promotional rate of $67.99/month for the first three months (a $45 savings off the regular price), which can be combined with the Sunday Ticket add-on if you’re a brand-new YouTube TV subscriber. The combined new-YouTube-TV-plus-Sunday-Ticket deal is the most bundled value available for first-time subscribers who want both live TV and football coverage.
You don’t need YouTube TV to buy Sunday Ticket. New subscribers purchasing through YouTube Primetime Channels as a standalone season pass pay $240, or 8 monthly payments of $30. This path is available at youtube.com — not through the YouTube TV app. Once purchased, you can watch on both the YouTube and YouTube TV apps regardless. If you don’t need or want a full live TV service, the $240 standalone path avoids the $82.99/month YouTube TV subscription cost entirely — a smart choice for cord-cutters who already have another TV solution.
The new-subscriber pricing is tied to your Google account — not to your physical address or cable history. If you have ever purchased Sunday Ticket through YouTube under any Google account, you are considered a returning subscriber. Some people create a new Google account to access new-subscriber pricing; this is against YouTube’s terms of service. If you have a family member with a Google account that has never purchased Sunday Ticket, they would qualify as a new subscriber under their own account.
Returning subscribers face the steepest pricing, but the $480 rate is rarely unavoidable. These are the moves to make before accepting the default renewal.
- Do you qualify for ID.me? Military, veteran, first responder, medical, or teacher status gives you $198 — available to returning subscribers, not just new ones. This single check can save you $282.
- Are you a Verizon Home Internet customer? Qualifying Verizon subscribers can buy at $234 standalone — $246 cheaper than the default $480.
- Have you received a win-back email? Some returning subscribers who cancel their subscription 4–6 weeks before the season receive promotional emails with discounted re-subscribe offers — sometimes as low as the new-subscriber rate. Cancel in July, wait, check your email.
- Is a household member a student, first responder, or teacher? Their verified discount can be used on their Google account, and you can share the viewing experience on your household devices.
The single biggest money-draining habit is letting Sunday Ticket auto-renew at $480 without checking for discounts. YouTube bills at the start of the season — by the time you see the charge on your statement, the payment has been collected and refunds are not available. Set a calendar reminder every July to check: (1) ID.me eligibility, (2) Verizon discount, (3) whether a new promotional offer has appeared on your account. These three checks take under 15 minutes total and can save $200–$300 per year, every year.
All confirmed prices for the current season in one place. The range from lowest to highest is $361 — meaning the discount you claim or miss determines nearly half the full price.
← Scroll right to see all columns →
| Plan / Path | Price | Who Qualifies | Verification | RedZone Add-On | Refundable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student (Primetime) | $119/season | Enrolled college students | SheerID | +$10 | No |
| Heroes — ID.me | $198/season | Military, Veterans, Teachers, First Responders, Medical | ID.me | +$42 | No |
| New — YouTube TV add-on | $192/season | First-time buyers with YouTube TV | Google account | Included in some promos | No |
| New — Primetime Channels | $240/season | First-time buyers, no YouTube TV needed | Google account | +$42 | No |
| Verizon Existing Subscriber | $234/season | Qualifying Verizon Home Internet / Simplicity customers | Verizon account | Bundle $276 | No |
| Verizon Free — new line | $0 | New Verizon line on Unlimited Ultimate/Plus + eligible phone | Verizon plan activation | Included | N/A |
| Verizon Free — home internet | $0 | New Fios, 5G Home Ultimate, or Frontier Fiber customers | ISP activation | Included | N/A |
| Returning — YouTube TV | $378/season | Previous subscribers with active YouTube TV | Google account | +$42 | No |
| Returning — Primetime | $480/season | Previous subscribers, no qualifying discount | Google account | +$42 | No |
Prices are for the current NFL season. All Sunday Ticket purchases are non-refundable season passes. Month-to-month payment options are available on most plans; cancellation stops future charges but does not refund past payments. Verify current pricing before purchasing.
Understanding exactly what’s in the package prevents the most common first-season disappointment: buying it and then discovering the games you wanted aren’t in it.
- Every out-of-market Sunday afternoon game on CBS and Fox — if a game isn’t airing on your local CBS or Fox station, Sunday Ticket shows it
- Full game replays on-demand — watch condensed games and full replays after they air
- Multiview — watch up to 4 live games simultaneously on one screen on supported smart TVs
- Fantasy View — track your fantasy team stats while watching live games in a split-screen interface
- Key Plays feature — jump to the most important moments of any game without watching the whole thing
- NFL RedZone available as an add-on — commercial-free, jumps to every team’s scoring drive across all games simultaneously
- Your local team’s games — if you live in the market where your team plays, those games are on local TV. Sunday Ticket doesn’t show them. It’s specifically for out-of-market access.
- Sunday Night Football — NBC/Peacock broadcast, not part of the package
- Monday Night Football — ESPN/ABC exclusive, not included
- Thursday Night Football — Amazon Prime Video exclusive, separate subscription required
- International games — games played overseas (London, Munich, Melbourne) are in unique windows; some are excluded from Sunday Ticket
- Netflix exclusive games — holiday games and special matchups on Netflix require a Netflix subscription separately
- Preseason games — preseason coverage requires a YouTube TV or other live TV subscription; Sunday Ticket is regular-season only
Sunday Ticket is worth it for exactly one type of viewer: someone who lives in a different market than their favorite team and wants to watch that team’s games live every Sunday. If you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan living in Boston — Sunday Ticket is built for you. If you’re a Patriots fan living in Boston — Sunday Ticket gives you zero additional Patriots coverage. Your local CBS and Fox already carry those games. If you want to casually watch whatever game looks interesting each Sunday, an antenna plus your existing cable or streaming service covers far more of your actual viewing than the $240+ season pass would justify.
A few specific traps catch thousands of buyers every season. Knowing them takes about three minutes and can save you $200 to $480.
Hundreds of websites publish “NFL Sunday Ticket promo codes” — most are fake, expired, or affiliated marketing links designed to earn commission when you click them. Legitimate Sunday Ticket discounts are applied automatically through verified platforms: SheerID for students, ID.me for heroes, or through your Verizon or ISP account page. No website can give you a text code you type at checkout to lower the price. The one exception is a DraftKings partnership deal that issues a code by email — but only after completing a qualifying sports bet through DraftKings’ platform, which is not a path we recommend for most viewers.
Choosing the month-to-month payment option (instead of a season pass) is sometimes mistaken for a “trial” because you pay month by month and can cancel. But YouTube is clear: canceling month-to-month stops future charges but does not refund what you’ve already paid. If you sign up in early September, watch two weekends of games, and cancel in late September — you’ve paid for September and that payment is gone. Month-to-month reduces financial risk over a season by stopping future payments, but it’s not a money-back guarantee.
Sunday Ticket subscriptions auto-renew at the start of each new season. If you subscribed last season through YouTube Primetime Channels and took no action, you’ll be charged at the returning-subscriber rate — $480 — before you’ve even had a chance to check for discounts. YouTube notifies you before the renewal, but those emails are easy to miss. Put a reminder in your calendar every July to check your Google account’s Purchases & Memberships settings, confirm the renewal amount, and verify whether you qualify for ID.me, Verizon, or any other discount before the charge processes.
A meaningful number of first-time buyers assume Sunday Ticket replaces their TV subscription for the fall. It doesn’t. Sunday Ticket is purely a Sunday afternoon out-of-market add-on. You still need a separate service for local channels (antenna or live TV subscription), Sunday Night Football (NBC/Peacock), Monday Night Football (ESPN), Thursday Night Football (Amazon Prime), and anything else. If you’re hoping to cancel cable and replace it with Sunday Ticket, you’ll find yourself missing most of what you expected to keep.
Go to id.me right now and verify your status if you haven’t already. The $198 price is available to both new and returning subscribers — the majority of people in these categories who pay full price simply haven’t claimed this discount. The verification process takes 5–10 minutes, the discount applies automatically, and it’s available through December 31. Existing subscribers who verified through ID.me previously auto-renew at $198 with no action needed. This is the most important single thing any eligible person can do — it saves $282 every season, automatically, forever, as long as you maintain eligibility.
The $119 student plan is available each season through SheerID verification on youtube.com. The student in the household uses their Google account to purchase — the household can then watch on shared devices. Students can add NFL RedZone for just $10 more ($129 total), which is the cheapest RedZone bundling of any plan. Note that the student plan offers one simultaneous stream and does not include Google Family Group sharing, so it’s tied to the student’s account for viewing.
If you were going to buy a new flagship phone and move to an Unlimited Ultimate or Plus plan regardless of the Sunday Ticket offer, the free Sunday Ticket inclusion is a genuine $240–$480 bonus. The key phrase is “regardless of the offer” — if you’re upgrading specifically to get Sunday Ticket free, calculate whether the difference in monthly plan cost over 12 months exceeds what you’d pay for Sunday Ticket directly. Unlimited Ultimate costs roughly $20–$25/month more than lower-tier Verizon plans. Over a year, that extra cost might approach what Sunday Ticket costs at the new-subscriber rate anyway.
The $240 standalone season pass through YouTube Primetime Channels is your path. You don’t need to pay for YouTube TV ($82.99/month) to access Sunday Ticket — the standalone purchase gives you the same games on the YouTube app on every device you own. If you later decide you want YouTube TV, you can add it; the Sunday Ticket purchase doesn’t lock you into or out of that decision. Pay by month-to-month if you’re uncertain about the full season commitment — you can stop future payments after any month, even if past payments aren’t refundable.
Don’t pay $480 until you’ve checked three things: (1) Do you qualify for ID.me? If you’re military, a veteran, a teacher, a first responder, or work in healthcare, you pay $198 — not $480. (2) Are you a Verizon Home Internet or Simplicity subscriber? You pay $234. (3) Did you receive or can you get a win-back offer by canceling and waiting? Cancel your renewal now, wait 2–3 weeks, check your email for a promotional re-subscribe offer. If none of these apply, the $378 returning rate applies for YouTube TV subscribers. Still confirm current pricing on your account page before purchasing.
This is the right question to ask before paying anything. Sunday Ticket only helps you if your favorite team plays in a different market than where you live. Pull up the NFL schedule for any upcoming Sunday, find your team’s game, and check whether your local CBS or Fox affiliate already carries it — if it does, Sunday Ticket adds nothing for that game. Sunday Ticket’s value is entirely about accessing out-of-market games. For fans who live in their team’s home market, the package offers zero additional coverage of that team’s games. In that case, an antenna for local games plus Peacock for Sunday Night Football covers more of your Sunday football viewing than Sunday Ticket would, for far less money.
This guide is for general informational purposes. NFL Sunday Ticket pricing, promotional offers, discount eligibility, and terms change each season and can change mid-season. The Verizon promotional offer described has specific eligibility requirements and an expiration date — verify current terms at verizon.com before making any plan changes. ID.me and SheerID verification requirements may differ from what is described here — verify directly with each verification service. All NFL Sunday Ticket season pass purchases are non-refundable per YouTube’s published terms. BudgetSeniors.com is an independent consumer guidance resource and is not affiliated with YouTube, Google, the NFL, or Verizon.