Luke Pensworth
The NFL produces adrenaline-filled plays and thrilling outcomes every week… if you can stomach sitting through non-stop television ads and 1-yard up-the-middle runs (I’m looking at you Seahawks!) until you get to the exciting part, that is.
That’s why the NFL RedZone TV service is so popular. Our NFL RedZone review shows how this service keeps the action going, trading boring commercial breaks for touchdowns, touchdowns, and more touchdowns.
We’ve spent more hours than we care to admit watching the NFL in all of its formats. We are more than qualified to help you answer the question: Should you buy NFL RedZone or should you punt it? And just how much is NFL RedZone?
What Is NFL RedZone?
The NFL RedZone service borrows its name from the term “red zone,” which is the area 20 yard area from your opponent’s 20 to their end zone. While that helps clarify the idea behind NFL RedZone, what is it exactly?
NFL RedZone is a channel that NFL Network operates. When you order NFL RedZone, you won’t be watching a single game. Instead, the service will bounce from game to game, taking you to the action as an offense nears the end zone. The idea is to show viewers scoring plays as they happen.
Here are some common questions people have about NFL RedZone streaming.
How many games does the service track at once?
NFL RedZone will track as many games as are scheduled in the early afternoon or late afternoon time slots on Sundays. This could be as many as 10 games at a time. That being said, there are more games in the early time slot and usually only 3 or 4 in the latter time slot.
When is NFL RedZone on?
NFL RedZone is only available on Sundays, with games beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time. The show ends after the final late afternoon game ends, usually around 8 p.m.
Even though NFL games are also shown on Thursday nights, Sunday nights, and Monday nights, (and occasional Saturdays), those non-Sunday afternoon games are all national TV broadcasts, ie there is only one game at a time so seeing “all the scoring plays live” just means you watch that single game.
What if two or more games are nearing a score? What if it’s zero games?
NFL RedZone will use split-screen technology to show multiple games at once if needed. (You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the NFL RedZone OctoBox.)
If a score occurs unexpectedly, say a defensive interception return for a touchdown, NFL RedZone likely won’t catch the play live. In these cases, you’ll see the scoring plays on a tape delay.
Or if there is no immediate threat to score in any game, the studio hosts will recap earlier scoring plays or provide fantasy football stats and advice.
For those not familiar with football terms, the “red zone” refers to the area of the field between the goal line and the 20-yard line, which is where most scoring plays start.
NFL RedZone Price
Our NFL RedZone review shows this service carries a reasonable price versus similar services. The NFL RedZone price is roughly $9 to $15 per month, depending on your provider. For the four-month season, you should expect to spend about $36 to $60.
Understand this is ONLY the price for NFL RedZone. To even be able to watch NFL RedZone, you’ll already have to have some sort of subscription package with an approved provider. You then can add NFL RedZone to your package, which will start at about $25 per month and can run as high as more than $100 per month.
At one time, the cheapest NFL RedZone price involved subscribing to the NFL RedZone app for $5 per month without the need for a subscription service. However, NFL Network no longer allows this loophole.
NFL RedZone gives you roughly seven hours of programming with no commercials every Sunday during the season.
How to Get NFL RedZone
To begin viewing NFL RedZone, you’ll first need to pay for a streaming or satellite service. If that service offers NFL RedZone streaming, you can choose to add it for an extra monthly fee. Below we will go over both streaming services and traditional cable services that allow you to add NFL RedZone to your package.
If you need some help picking the best TV subscription package, we’ve put together a review of the best TV service providers that can help.
Adding NFL RedZone on Streaming Services
So once you have the right subscription, figuring out how to get NFL RedZone is an easy process. Streaming and satellite service providers offer NFL RedZone as an add-on service to the main package. Think of it like an HBO-type service, where it’s available as an extra cost for those who want to pay for it.
With some streaming service providers, you will need a certain tier of subscription to be able to add NFL RedZone. In other words, it may not be available in the lowest-priced tier. Sometimes, NFL RedZone is bundled with other sports channels in a package.
NFL RedZone is available from the following streaming services:
- fuboTV
- PlayStation Vue
- Sling TV
Adding NFL RedZone on Cable or Satellite
Here is a list of the cable TV subscribers where NFL RedZone is offered for an add-on cost.
- COX
- Fios
- Optimum
- Spectrum
- xfinity
You also can find NFL RedZone on the DISH Network satellite service. You will have to subscribe to DISH America’s Top 120 Plus tier of service (or higher) if you want access to NFL RedZone. (And if you’re wondering, ”What channel is NFL RedZone on DISH?” Well, that’d be channel 155.)
NFL RedZone vs NFL SUNDAY TICKET
Understand that there’s no NFL RedZone DIRECTV option. For those who have DIRECTV, you’ll have to purchase NFL SUNDAY TICKET, which has its own NFL RedZone-like channel.
With NFL SUNDAY TICKET, you receive every NFL game that’s not shown in your local market on Sunday afternoons from start to finish. So when paired with your local games, you have the option of watching every game.
You can choose which games you watch, whereas with NFL RedZone, the service picks which parts of games it shows: the scoring bits.
NFL SUNDAY TICKET is far pricier than NFL RedZone, as it runs about $300 for the full season. DIRECTV does often run promotions for first-year customers that allow them to get NFL SUNDAY TICKET for free during their first year.
Our NFL RedZone review shows that NFL SUNDAY TICKET is better for those who have a favorite team or two that they want to watch from start to finish every week. For those who just want scoring plays from all games, NFL RedZone works nicely at a much lower price point.
NFL SUNDAY TICKET is exclusive to DIRECTV subscribers.
Recap
Ultimately, our NFL RedZone review shows that this service is made with the fantasy football player in mind. Being able to keep track of the players on your fantasy team and watch them score is a lot of fun. (Watching the opposing fantasy team’s players score is not quite as fun, though.) The RedZone screen includes fantasy stat updates and the studio hosts discuss fantasy quite a bit.
If you like watching a favorite team’s game every week from kickoff to the final snap, though, NFL RedZone may not be for you. It bounces too much from game to game for you to enjoy your favorite team’s game.
For those who want to watch an out-of-local-market favorite team every week, the NFL SUNDAY TICKET from DIRECTV is a better choice… and it includes its own scoring highlights channel as part of the package.
NFL RedZone is made for those who:
- Don’t want to follow one team exclusively
- Have one (or more) fantasy teams to track
- Love flipping channels from game to game (which RedZone does for you … no more wearing out your remote batteries)
- Only want to watch the most exciting NFL plays
- Want a cheaper alternative to NFL SUNDAY TICKET
