Niners Nation
Get ready to save your money, here’s the price of being a fan in 2025
If there’s anything we’ve learned about being a fan of NFL teams, it’s that watching all the games is expensive. If you like the NFL in general, the costs of everything will easily crack the $500 barrier. We did this last year, but a new schedule mixes up all the timing of the Prime Time games.
It goes without saying, but you need a basic TV package. If you don’t have that, you might be in luck. To make this easy, you are looking for a provider with FOX, CBS, and ABC. Those networks will ask you to log in with your provider anyway, saving you headaches.
Of course, that is the question of what to do if you don’t have a provider. Like last year, I’d recommend YouTube since you can get a deal on Sunday Ticket (see below). Of all the streaming platforms, Fox Sports is the easiest and most non-hairpulling app of any of these listed.
CBS Sports is another story. For the longest time, they insisted on you buying their streaming service to watch a football game before it was cool for everyone to make you buy their streaming service to watch a football game. Even with a valid TV package, CBS would not let you watch online. CBS has pumped the brakes a bit on this, but if you get Paramount+, you can watch your local CBS station. That’s going to set you back $11.99 a month. I have no clue if it will be as simple in 2024 as it was in 2023, but since CBS has ruined many a Sunday for me in the past, I warn everyone to be aware.
NFL+: Omit this if you couldn’t care less about preseason. I have to watch the preseason, so I’ll be getting it. If you want to watch the preseason just like I have want to, you will need to pony up $6.99/month. That gets you the three 49ers games. The networks haven’t been confirmed as of this writing, so if there is one on national TV, that’s one game you wouldn’t need the subscription for. Thankfully, you only need it for one month.
Amazon Prime Video: The 49ers’ first primetime game will be on Prime Video. Unlike previous seasons, this might be the only 49ers game on Prime Video. The good news here is that if it all goes well, and you haven’t given Amazon your money yet, you should be good to go with a free trial of Prime Video and then call it good. This is already a plus from last year. If you can’t get the trial because you really wanted to watch Fallout or something else (it’s not official, but it seems like trials are handed out in 12-month windows), you can either get the instant video package for $8.99 a month, or get the full...
