Now that we are nearly halfway through August, football fans can almost taste fall in the air. College football’s annual Week 0 festivities are coming up fast, and the NFL preseason has already begun. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to sort out your viewing arrangements for the upcoming season!

When it comes to how you can stream football to your heart’s content, there are more options this season than ever before, as viewers will be able to stream live football games on two new streaming services: ESPN and Fox One, both of which are due to launch on Aug. 21. So, which is the best way to watch live football this year — with a collection of direct-to-consumer (DTC) services like those, or with a live TV streaming service that offers all of the football-carrying channels all in one place? Our experts break down the choices below.

What’s the best way to watch football in 2025?

What’s the best way to watch college football in 2025?

Which DTC streamers do you need to watch college football this year?

We’ll start with the college football side of the equation, since the 2025 college football season starts first. If you’d like to go the DTC route for your football enjoyment, the new ESPN and Fox One streaming services will be a must. The ESPN family of networks is the exclusive home of SEC games this year, and also offers contests from the ACC, American, Big 12, C-USA, MAC, Pac-12, and Sun Belt Conferences, as well as the College Football Playoffs. ESPN also owns the ACC Network and SEC Network, both of which will stream live on the ESPN streaming service.

Fox and its cable cohorts FS1 and [FS2][Fox Sports 2] carry Big 12, Big Ten, and Mountain West games, and between Fox One and ESPN, the two streamers account for a significant portion of college football telecasts; in fact, unless you are a fan of the Big Ten, you could essentially see nearly every major game from every other conference with just these to servies.

Access to the complete lineup of live sports on ESPN will cost $30 per month, and Fox One will come in at $20 per month. The two companies have announced a bundle, however, which will drop the price of the combined offering of both services to $40 per month.

For even more access to Power Five football this season, you’ll need a subscription to Peacock, which carries select Big Ten games, as well as all Notre Dame games. Peacock’s sports-carrying tiers start at $11 per month. You’ll also need a subscription to Paramount+ Premium to watch college football games from the Big Ten appearing on CBS in your area, Mountain West and Pac-12 contests, as well as the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy game between Army and Navy. This will add another $13 per month to your cost.

Finally, you’ll have to have an HBO Max subscription to round things out. This streamer will carry all of the Big 12 and College Football Playoff games airing on TNT Sports channels in the upcoming season on its ad-free plans, which start at $17 per month.

See a breakdown of streamers you’ll need to watch college football

What does it cost to have all of these streamers?

If you’re looking to stack streaming services to get access to as much college football as possible, you can subscribe to all the services listed above for $91 — or $81 if you prefer to opt for the ESPN and Fox One bundle instead of subscribing to the two services separately.

Which live TV streaming services come with college football channels?

If the combined price of the streaming package you’ll need to be a college football completist this season has you feeling a little leery, you also have options amongst the several live TV streaming services that carry channels with live games. Keep in mind that The CW will also have a selection of ACC and Pac-12 games that will be unavailable to stream via direct-to-consumer services.

Below is a list of all the channels you’ll need to stream college football live on cable this year:

Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV both come in at $83 per month, and each of those streamers carries all the needed networks in their base channel packages. The MySports Genre Pack from DIRECTV has most of those networks for $70 per month, though the availability of local broadcast channels will vary by your market.

Fubo doesn’t carry TNT Sports channels, and its base price soars to over $100 when including regional sports fees. Sling TV spreads its sports channels between its Orange and Blue base packages, and will still require the customer to add the Sports Extra add-on pack to get everything, for a combined price of $57 per month. Sling also carries local channels in a comparatively small number of markets, and doesn’t have CBS anywhere in the country.

Which method is better for watching college football?

In my opinion, the answer all depends on what kind of convenience you prefer and what teams you want to watch. If you’d rather have the flexibility to mix and match services and don’t need full-season access to games from every conference, I’d opt for a combination of several DTC streamers. Going this route will let you choose which services to sign up for and which to cancel on a month-to-month basis based on the schedule, and even keeping all the streamers I listed above only comes out to $81 per month.

You’ll pay a little more to go with a live TV streamer like Hulu + Live TV or YouTube TV, but these services keep all the channels you need in one place, cutting down on how many services you have to keep track of at a single time. If that’s the kind of convenience you want, I’d suggest sticking with one of these to watch college football in 2025. Another benefit of the live streamers is that you also get a bunch of non-sports channels to sample between games. Hulu + Live TV also throws in the Disney Bundle, including Disney+ and Hulu at no extra cost.

What’s the best way to watch NFL football in 2025?

Which DTC streamers do you need to watch NFL football this year?

On the NFL side, viewers will also see expanded access outside the cable bundle in 2025. ESPN and Fox One will still be necessary components of your streaming package if you opt not to do a live TV streamer; Fox One will carry live NFL games appearing on the Fox broadcast channel in your market on Sunday afternoons, and ESPN will offer all “Monday Night Football” games of the season.

Paramount+ will continue to carry all games airing on your local CBS station through the 2025 season, and you can watch those games on its Essential plan starting at $8 per month.

Prime Video will stream all “Thursday Night Football” games of the season once again in 2025, and viewers can sign up for that service starting at $9 per month. Prime Video will also carry a game on Black Friday and Christmas Day this year. Peacock is needed to stream “Sunday Night Football,” and all of those games will stream for $11 per month this year. Netflix is a need for 2025 NFL fans, as it will carry two games on Christmas Day again this year.

There’s one more to add to the equation: NFL+, which costs $7 per month. It’s the only DTC service that will offer the NFL’s seven international games this year, though you will have to watch them on your mobile device. NFL+ also carries all live local games, as well as primetime games with the same viewing restrictions.

The real monster in this lineup in terms of price will be NFL Sunday Ticket, which carries all out-of-market games appearing on CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons. It costs $276 for the season for new customers.

See a breakdown of the streamers you’ll need to watch the NFL in 2025

What does it cost to have all of these streamers?

To stack all of these streaming services together without the monthly price of NFL Sunday Ticket weighing you down will cost $93 per month — though that price drops to $83 if you take advantage of the ESPN and Fox One bundle, and if you’re subscribing to both services anyway, there’s no reason not to.

If you do want the NFL Sunday Ticket so you get full access to everything, the price (including the bundled versions of ESPN and Fox One) jumps to $117.50 monthly.

Which live TV streaming services offer channels needed to watch NFL games in 2025?

Along with the ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC broadcast channels, you’ll need regular access to ESPN and NFL Network to watch the NFL season on linear channels this year. Games on Prime Video and Netflix will be shown on over-the-air broadcast channels in the markets of the two teams playing, but otherwise will only be available on their respective streamers nationally.

See which live TV streamers offer those channels in the table below:

Once again, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV are going to be the best choices for viewers who want to go the live TV streaming route. They each carry all the channels needed to watch in base plans for $83 per month and come with the benefits of all of the additional entertainment options, including the full Disney Bundle for Hulu subscribers.

DIRECTV’s MySports pack once again comes in at a lower price at $70, but not all markets will get CBS and other broadcast channels with this plan.

Sling TV doesn’t carry CBS anywhere, so it’s not an ideal choice. Viewers can get creative and add it to Paramount+ to save, but that plan is only viable if they get ABC, Fox, and NBC with their Sling plan, which is not a guarantee in all regions.

Fubo does carry all of the channels needed to watch NFL games this year, but its higher price, thanks to regional sports fees, makes it less desirable.

Which method is best for watching NFL games in 2025?

Once again, this question is mostly a wash from a price perspective, so it really comes down to which type of convenience you prize. If you want to hop around between streamers to catch only the games you really want, stacking DTC services is the way to go this year.

If you want the convenience of having all games available through a single app, DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, or YouTube TV is the ticket for you. Hopefully, we’ve been able to provide some clarity as to where football will be shown on TV and streaming this year, and which source is best for your particular viewing needs!