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What’s the Difference Between Watching Football on NFL RedZone and NFL Sunday Ticket?

The NFL has more ways than ever to stream games to your devices. Two such ways to watch the NFL action are NFL RedZone and NFL Sunday Ticket. Both have become mainstays for NFL fans on Sundays — but which one is right for your specific viewing preferences? Luckily, we’ve broken down both services and offered our thoughts on which one might be best for your situation.

How Can Watch Games on NFL RedZone

NFL RedZone takes football fans on a wild, seven-hour, commercial-free ride every Sunday in the league’s iconic whip-around show. Host Scott Hanson takes you to where the action is and puts the focus on touchdowns, highlighting every single score that happens on any given Sunday. Hanson and his crew will also keep you up-to-date on the latest news from across the league, so even if you’re not watching a specific game, you’ll always know what’s happening, from periodic injury to fantasy updates, plus a look at highlights and other fun segues once the action slows down.

DTV STREAM DTV Internet Fubo Hulu Philo Sling TV YouTube
Free Trial Get $100 Back Free Trial Free 3-Day Trial Free Trial Get 50% OFF Sign Up
$86.99 $69.99 $94.99 $82.99 $28 $40 $40 $72.99
NFL RedZone + $15 - + $11 + $10 - - + $11 + $11

RedZone is available on most live TV streaming services, NFL+, and even as a bundle with NFL Sunday Ticket via YouTube TV, so you don’t have to choose only one option. However, if you find yourself getting easily distracted or want to focus on one game at a time, RedZone might not be for you. Since RedZone tends to focus on games near the endzone or with higher stakes, if your favorite team isn’t getting ready to score, you may not get to see them all that often.

Note that RedZone only airs on Sunday afternoon games but so does NFL Sunday Ticket, so you’ll have to make other arrangements to watch the Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night games.

How Can Watch Games on NFL Sunday Ticket

NFL Sunday Ticket is the league’s premium out-of-market broadcasting service. You can watch every minute of every out-of-market game on your TV or on your mobile devices. Sunday Ticket is now operated by YouTube and YouTube TV, but you don’t need a YouTube TV subscription to sign up for Sunday Ticket. However, if you subscribe to YouTube TV’s streaming service for a base plan of $72.99 per month, you can save $100 on the price of NFL Sunday Ticket. You can also sign up for a two-year plan with DIRECTV STREAM and get a $400 gift card for doing so.

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Sunday Ticket only offers out-of-market games airing on Sunday afternoons. If your favorite team is playing in your market, you will not be able to watch them through Sunday Ticket, but you can use a live TV streaming service, which means that signing up for YouTube TV, DIRECTV STREAM, or Fubo is a great option to pair with Sunday Ticket.

Unfortunately, you cannot use Sunday Ticket to watch preseason games, games that take place outside of the Sunday 1 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. ET windows, or postseason games. While Sunday Ticket is certainly the most expensive option, if you absolutely must watch every minute of your favorite team, or simply prefer focusing on one game at a time, it’s the right choice for you. Remember: you don’t have to choose between RedZone and Sunday Ticket anymore — you can add RedZone to your Sunday Ticket plan and get the best of both worlds.

Customers are able to sign up for Sunday Ticket — either with or without NFL Redzone — as an add-on to their YouTube TV subscription, or a la carte via YouTube’s Prime Time Channels platform.

NFL Sunday Ticket

NFL Sunday Ticket is a subscription video streaming service that allows football fans to watch every live out-of-market NFL game on Sunday afternoons on YouTube or YouTube TV.


Jeff Kotuby is a contributing writer to The Streamable who specializes in sports, music, and all things Japanese media. He cut the cord in 2017 and has spent the last six years of his career writing for technology, entertainment, and healthcare websites. He's a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles and Anaheim Ducks fan, but also enjoys watching animated shows from the '90s.

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