NFL RedZone is not included in any YouTube TV plan by default. You have to add it separately — and there are two different ways to do it, at two very different price points. This guide covers exactly how RedZone works, what the Sports Plus add-on actually includes, which YouTube TV plan makes the most sense for football fans, and when the cheapest option genuinely isn’t the right one.
Before anything else — these are the questions that get asked most often about NFL RedZone and YouTube TV, answered directly and without the runaround.
- 1 Does YouTube TV include NFL RedZone automatically? No — not on any plan. NFL RedZone is never included in YouTube TV’s base subscription, the Sports Plan, or any other genre tier. To access it, you must add the NFL RedZone with Sports Plus package, which costs $10.99 per month on top of whichever plan you’re already paying for. The add-on is compatible with all YouTube TV plans, including the newer Sports Plan launched in February 2026. There is no free trial currently offered for the Sports Plus add-on.
- 2 What is the cheapest way to get NFL RedZone through YouTube TV? The Sports Plan at $64.99/month (or $44.99/month for new subscribers for the first six months through a promotion ending September 30, 2026) paired with the Sports Plus add-on at $10.99/month gives you the lowest total: $75.98/month at regular pricing, or as low as $55.98/month during the new-subscriber promotion period. The Sports Plan includes NFL Network, ESPN, all four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), FS1, NBA TV, MLB Network, and roughly 34 channels total — more than enough for most football fans. Adding Sports Plus to the Base Plan instead costs $93.98/month total, which is $18 more per month for channels most sports-only viewers don’t need.
- 3 Can I add and cancel Sports Plus seasonally to save money? Yes — and this is one of the smartest moves a football-focused subscriber can make. The Sports Plus add-on is month-to-month with no contract and no cancellation penalty. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle. A straightforward approach: add Sports Plus in September when the NFL regular season begins, run it through Week 18 in January, then cancel before the next billing cycle. That’s roughly five months at $10.99 — about $55 total for an entire regular season of RedZone. If the playoffs matter to you, NFL RedZone does not air playoff games, so canceling after Week 18 loses nothing.
- 4 Is NFL RedZone still commercial-free on YouTube TV? No — and this is a meaningful recent change. For most of its history since launching in 2009, NFL RedZone’s biggest selling point was zero commercials. That ended in 2025. Host Scott Hanson confirmed the change on the Pat McAfee Show, quietly dropping “commercial free” from his traditional opening tagline. RedZone now includes some commercial breaks. It is still significantly less interrupted than watching a full game — the format’s entire purpose of jumping to scoring plays means you’re still watching far more action per hour than any conventional broadcast — but the “no commercials ever” era is over. Factor that into the value calculation if it was a primary reason for subscribing.
- 5 What is the difference between NFL RedZone and NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV? They do entirely different things and you can have one, both, or neither. NFL RedZone is a single channel that airs every Sunday afternoon during the regular season, jumping between all games in real time to show scoring plays, big moments, and touchdowns. You never watch one full game — you watch the best moments from all of them simultaneously. NFL Sunday Ticket is a separate package that gives you live, full-game access to out-of-market games — games not available on your local CBS and FOX affiliates. If your team isn’t local and you want to watch their complete games, that’s Sunday Ticket. If you want to track fantasy football across multiple games simultaneously, that’s RedZone. Many hardcore fans stack both.
- 6 Does ESPN now own NFL RedZone — and does that change anything for YouTube TV subscribers? ESPN completed its acquisition of NFL Network and NFL RedZone on April 1, 2026, as part of a landmark deal in which the NFL received a 10% equity stake in ESPN. For current YouTube TV subscribers, nothing changes immediately. Scott Hanson confirmed he returned for the 2026 season. The Sports Plus add-on price of $10.99/month remained the same. Whether the ESPN ownership changes RedZone’s distribution or pricing in future seasons is worth monitoring, but as of the current NFL season, the product and the way you access it through YouTube TV are unchanged.
- 7 Can I watch NFL RedZone on YouTube TV away from home — on my phone, tablet, or at a friend’s house? Yes — YouTube TV supports streaming on up to 3 simultaneous streams when you’re away from your home network, and on up to 6 streams when everyone is on the home network. NFL RedZone through the Sports Plus add-on is accessible on all supported devices: smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio, Roku, Fire TV), streaming sticks, Apple TV, Chromecast, smartphones, and tablets. No regional blackouts apply to RedZone — it airs the same programming nationwide regardless of your location. You can also record the full 7-hour RedZone block to your unlimited cloud DVR and watch later. DVR recordings remain available in your library even if you cancel the Sports Plus add-on, at least until you delete them.
- 8 Does NFL RedZone air playoffs and Super Bowl games? No — NFL RedZone is a regular season product only. It airs every Sunday afternoon from Week 1 through Week 18 of the regular season, then goes dark for the postseason. The channel itself shows a “See you next season” graphic once the regular season ends in January. For playoff games and the Super Bowl, you need the standard broadcast networks — which are included in every YouTube TV plan (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) — and in some years, streaming-platform exclusives. If playoff coverage is your priority, RedZone adds nothing, and canceling Sports Plus in January is the correct move.
Adding Sports Plus takes about two minutes from any browser or the YouTube TV app. Here’s the exact path, with the detail that trips people up at each step.
Sports Plus is an add-on — it cannot be purchased standalone. You need an active YouTube TV plan first: the Sports Plan ($64.99/mo), Base Plan ($82.99/mo), or any other genre plan. If you’re not yet a subscriber, sign up at tv.youtube.com first. New subscribers to the Sports Plan currently pay $44.99/month for the first six months (promotion ends September 30, 2026), making this the best time to start if you’re not already a member.
On any device: open YouTube TV, click or tap your profile photo in the top right, then select Settings, then Membership. On a computer, you can also go directly to tv.youtube.com/settings/membership in your browser. This is where all current plan details and available add-ons live for your specific account.
Scroll through the add-ons panel until you see NFL RedZone with Sports Plus at $10.99/month. You’ll see all 17+ channels listed that come with the package. If you don’t see the add-on listed, check that your account is in good standing (no billing issues) and that you’re viewing the page from the correct account — YouTube TV shows different add-on availability depending on your ZIP code and account history.
Select the package, confirm the monthly charge, and follow the on-screen prompts. The charge is billed immediately and then on your regular billing date going forward. Access to RedZone and all Sports Plus channels is typically immediate — you don’t need to restart the app or wait for the next billing cycle.
After adding Sports Plus, NFL RedZone appears in your YouTube TV channel guide. The easiest way to find it: use the search bar and type “NFL RedZone.” You can also scroll through Sports Plus channels in the guide. RedZone airs live every Sunday from 1:00 PM ET through approximately 8:00 PM ET during the regular season. Outside those hours, the channel shows replays, countdowns, and other NFL content. Set a DVR recording for the entire 7-hour block each Sunday if you want backup in case you miss part of it live.
Go back to Settings → Membership and select Remove next to NFL RedZone with Sports Plus. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle — you retain access through the last day you’ve paid for. Your cloud DVR recordings from Sports Plus channels remain in your library even after cancellation, until you delete them. There is no penalty, no early cancellation fee, and no minimum commitment period.
YouTube TV launched genre-specific plans in February 2026, breaking from its single-plan history. For football fans, the Sports Plan is almost always the right base — here’s how each option stacks up with RedZone added.
The Sports Plan launched February 18, 2026, and immediately became the most logical base for football-focused subscribers. You get all four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) for local games, plus ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, NFL Network, NFL RedZone capability via Sports Plus, NBA TV, MLB Network, NHL Network, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, SEC Network, Golf Channel, and roughly 34 channels total. Unlimited cloud DVR, up to 6 household accounts, and 3 simultaneous streams outside the home are all included — identical feature set to the Base Plan. Adding Sports Plus at $10.99 brings the total to $75.98/month at regular pricing — $18 per month cheaper than the Base Plan + Sports Plus combination. New subscribers get the Sports Plan at $44.99/month for the first six months (promotion ending September 30, 2026), bringing the RedZone total to just $55.98/month initially.
The original YouTube TV plan — over 100 channels including everything in the Sports Plan plus entertainment, news, lifestyle, and family content (HGTV, Food Network, CNN, MSNBC, Bravo, Comedy Central, Hallmark, and many more). If your household watches a wide mix of content beyond sports, the Base Plan still makes sense. At $93.98/month with Sports Plus added, it’s $18/month more than the Sports Plan path to the same RedZone access. New subscribers can get the Base Plan at $67.99/month for the first three months (promotion ending September 30, 2026). If you’re already on the Base Plan, simply add Sports Plus in Settings — there’s no reason to switch plans just to save on the base if you use the extra channels.
There is a second way to access NFL RedZone through YouTube — bundling it with NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube Primetime Channels. Without a YouTube TV subscription, a full season of Sunday Ticket with RedZone costs $522 (four payments of $130.50). This is significantly more expensive than the Sports Plus add-on route and is only worth considering if you specifically need Sunday Ticket’s out-of-market game access and don’t want a YouTube TV subscription. If you already have YouTube TV, adding Sports Plus at $10.99/month is always the cheaper RedZone path — there is no reason to pay for Sunday Ticket specifically just for RedZone access.
If you genuinely only want NFL RedZone and have no interest in a live TV streaming service, NFL+ Premium at $14.99/month is the cheapest standalone path. It includes NFL RedZone, full NFL game replays, NFL Network live, and all preseason games. There are no broadcast network games, no ESPN, and no access to your local teams’ live games beyond what NFL Network airs. For anyone who just wants RedZone without paying for a full streaming service, NFL+ Premium is $3 more per month than Sports Plus alone but comes without any base plan cost. The tradeoff is clear: you lose all the other YouTube TV content. If you’re a single-purpose RedZone viewer and don’t need a live TV service, NFL+ is worth considering as a pure cost play.
Every current option for watching NFL RedZone in the U.S., including services beyond YouTube TV — so you can confirm YouTube TV is the right call or find a cheaper path that fits your setup.
| Service | RedZone Cost | Total w/ Base | Contract? | Broadcast Networks? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube TV Sports Plan + Sports Plus | $10.99/mo add-on | $75.98/mo | None · cancel anytime | Yes — ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC | Best overall value for football fans |
| YouTube TV Base Plan + Sports Plus | $10.99/mo add-on | $93.98/mo | None · cancel anytime | Yes — ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC | Mixed households wanting 100+ channels |
| Sling Blue/Orange + Sports Extra | Included in Sports Extra | ~$56.99/mo | None · cancel anytime | Partial — varies by plan | Budget cord-cutters; cheapest live TV + RedZone |
| Fubo Pro + Sports Plus | $10.99/mo add-on | ~$84.98/mo | None · cancel anytime | Yes — all 4 networks | Fubo subscribers who want RedZone added |
| NFL+ Premium | Included in plan | $14.99/mo standalone | None · cancel anytime | No live broadcast games | RedZone-only viewers; no live TV needed |
| YouTube + NFL Sunday Ticket (w/ RedZone) | Bundled — season only | $522/season | Full season — non-cancelable | No (requires separate YouTube TV) | Only if you specifically need Sunday Ticket too |
| DirecTV Sports Pack | Included in Sports Pack | Varies by plan | Contract may apply | Yes | Existing DirecTV subscribers |
Prices current as of September 2026. Promotional rates not reflected in “Total w/ Base” above. Always confirm current pricing directly with each provider before subscribing — rates change frequently.
NFL RedZone is one of the most misunderstood products in sports television. A lot of people think they know what it does — but the specifics of when it airs, what it covers, and what it doesn’t show trip up first-time subscribers regularly.
NFL RedZone is a live television channel that airs every Sunday afternoon during the NFL regular season, hosted by Scott Hanson. It launched September 13, 2009 — Hanson has hosted every single episode since day one. The concept: instead of watching one game from kickoff to final whistle, you watch every game simultaneously through a single broadcast that jumps in real time to whichever field is inside the red zone (the 20-yard line and in, where scoring plays happen). Every touchdown, every big drive, every game-deciding moment across all games happening on CBS and FOX — shown live, with Hanson narrating and switching seamlessly between stadiums. The broadcast runs approximately 7 hours, typically from 1:00 PM ET through around 8:00 PM ET. Note: RedZone now includes commercial breaks, ending the commercial-free era that defined it from 2009 through 2024.
- Thursday Night Football — exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, never on RedZone
- Monday Night Football — ESPN exclusive; RedZone does not air Monday games
- NFL Playoff games — RedZone goes dark after Week 18; postseason is not included
- The Super Bowl — broadcast network exclusive, not on RedZone
- Full game broadcasts — RedZone never shows a complete game from start to finish; it shows moments from multiple games
- Out-of-market full games — that’s Sunday Ticket’s function, not RedZone’s
- Preseason games — not included in RedZone coverage
Sports Plus is not a RedZone-only add-on — it bundles RedZone with 16+ other specialty sports channels. None of these channels are available individually; you get all of them or none. Channels confirmed in the package include: NFL RedZone, Tennis Channel, Fox Soccer Plus, BeIN Sports, BeIN Sports Xtra, MAVTV (motorsports), FanDuel TV, Fight Network, Billiard TV, PokerGO, Willow (cricket), Impact Wrestling, and several more niche sports properties. If you happen to watch cricket, tennis, or soccer regularly, Sports Plus becomes even more of a value. If you only want RedZone, you’re still paying for channels you’ll never use — but at $10.99/month, the per-channel math is better than most cable packages.
- Fantasy football managers — if you have players on six different teams, RedZone is the single most efficient way to track all of them simultaneously without flipping between apps or channels
- Fans who don’t have a single team to root for — general NFL fans who want to see every big play across the league will get maximum value
- People who hate commercial breaks — even with the recent addition of some ads, RedZone still delivers significantly more football per hour than any full-game broadcast
- Households with one team fan — if you only care about one team and your team’s games air on your local CBS or FOX affiliate, YouTube TV’s base plan already covers that without Sports Plus
- Playoff-only or Super Bowl viewers — RedZone doesn’t air any postseason content; the broadcast networks already covered by any YouTube TV plan are sufficient
Start with the Sports Plan, not the Base Plan, if your primary use is football. The Sports Plan at $64.99/month (currently $44.99/month for new subscribers for six months, promotion ending September 30, 2026) includes everything a football viewer needs: all four broadcast networks for local games, ESPN, NFL Network, FS1, and the full suite of major sports channels. Add Sports Plus at $10.99/month for RedZone. Your total during the promotional window: $55.98/month — more than a third cheaper than the Base Plan + Sports Plus combination at regular pricing. Go to tv.youtube.com to sign up, choose the Sports Plan, then immediately go to Settings → Membership to add Sports Plus. Both steps take under five minutes.
If your household uses the extra entertainment, news, and lifestyle channels in the Base Plan (HGTV, Food Network, CNN, Bravo, Comedy Central, etc.), the $18/month savings from switching to the Sports Plan probably isn’t worth giving those up. Stay on the Base Plan and simply add Sports Plus. If you’re being honest with yourself about how often you actually watch those non-sports channels, the Sports Plan switch plus Sports Plus at $75.98/month might save you $18/month against your current $93.98 total. Review your actual viewing in the past 30 days and make the call based on what you’ve genuinely watched, not what you might watch.
If you want both — RedZone for the Sunday whip-around experience and Sunday Ticket for full out-of-market games — the right setup is a YouTube TV subscription plus both add-ons. Start with the Sports Plan ($64.99/mo), add Sports Plus at $10.99/month for RedZone, then add NFL Sunday Ticket separately through your Membership settings. Sunday Ticket pricing for the current season varies — YouTube TV subscribers pay $378 for the season ($47.25/month for 8 non-cancelable months) for returning users, or $240 ($30/month) for new users. Check the current pricing at tv.youtube.com/learn/nflsundayticket before committing — promotional pricing around the season opener is typically the best deal you’ll see. This combination gives you the most complete NFL Sunday coverage available on any streaming platform.
If you genuinely only want NFL RedZone and have no interest in live TV otherwise, NFL+ Premium at $14.99/month is the cheapest standalone option — and it doesn’t require a YouTube TV subscription. You get RedZone, full game replays, NFL Network live, and preseason games. You lose access to live local games on CBS and FOX, live ESPN games, and everything else a streaming service provides. If you’re willing to go without any live streaming outside of RedZone, NFL+ Premium is $59.96 for the five-month regular season — cheaper than adding Sports Plus to any YouTube TV plan. The question is whether you want anything else — one live NFL game on a Tuesday night, one random playoff game on Fox — because for that, you need a TV service of some kind.
The seasonal subscribe-and-cancel approach is the cleanest budget strategy. If you’re already on YouTube TV for other reasons, simply add Sports Plus in September, use it through Week 18 in January (approximately five months), then cancel before the next billing cycle. That’s roughly $55 for the entire regular season of RedZone. If you’re not already a YouTube TV subscriber and only want a streaming service for football season, you have two options: sign up for the Sports Plan + Sports Plus in September and cancel both after Week 18 (five months at $75.98/month = ~$380 for the whole football season, with full live TV access throughout), or go NFL+ Premium only ($14.99 × 5 = ~$75 for RedZone-only access). The $380 option gives you full live TV for five months; the $75 option gives you only RedZone. Choose based on how much non-RedZone live TV you’d realistically use during that window.
Yes — Sling TV is currently the lowest-cost path to NFL RedZone with live broadcast network access. Sling Blue at $46/month includes FOX, NBC, NFL Network, and ESPN, plus the Sports Extra add-on (which includes RedZone) runs the total to approximately $56.99/month. That’s roughly $19/month less than the YouTube TV Sports Plan + Sports Plus combination. The trade-offs with Sling: you don’t get ABC (no ESPN2 overlap on Sling Blue), DVR storage limits are more restrictive, simultaneous streams are limited to one outside the home on the base plan, and the app experience is generally rated below YouTube TV’s. If budget is the single deciding factor and you can live with those limitations, Sling is the cord-cutter’s cheapest live TV + RedZone path.
Pricing and availability reflect information current as of September 2026. YouTube TV plan prices, add-on costs, promotional offers, and channel availability change frequently — always verify directly at tv.youtube.com before subscribing. Promotional rates are subject to eligibility restrictions and end dates. NFL RedZone airs during the NFL regular season only and does not cover playoff or postseason games. ESPN completed its acquisition of NFL Network and NFL RedZone in April 2026; future changes to pricing or distribution are possible. This content is entirely original and not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube, Google, the NFL, or any streaming service listed.