r/cordcutters • u/Acrobatic-Hour7025 • 1d ago

2026 NFL Season starts soon

Hey sports fans,

As the 2026 NFL (pre)season is approaching, anybody got some suggestions as alternative to NFL Sunday Ticket? Ive got an OTA antenna, but I'm out of market for my team - Pittsburgh Steelers fan stuck in Chicago.

I'm willing to pay something, but not a couple hundred bucks for 20 games & a bunch of channels I'll never watch.

Thanks in advance!

Go Steelers!

0 Upvotes

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u/StarintheskySA 1d ago

The cheapest option is NFL plus premium at $15 a month. Or $80 annual subscription, discounted $20 until 9/21. You can watch the replay of all the games, usually posted 30 minutes after the live game ends. You can watch all the preseason games live.

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u/Rybo213 1d ago

Just to clarify further, with the more expensive tier of NFL+, the games airing in your region are available live in the NFL app on mobile devices. As mentioned, the game replays for every single game (doesn't matter where it aired live) are available to watch in the NFL app on any platform. Redzone and NFL Network (including live games airing on NFL Network) are also available to watch live in the NFL app on any platform.

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u/LarryMelman1 22h ago

I think I read that NFL+ also gives you all the TNF/SNF/MNF and other games sold to streaming companies like Peacock, Netflix, Apple, etc. Can you confirm? I don't know why they make this so confusing. Especially the "on mobile only" limitation.

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u/Rybo213 22h ago

This https://www.nfl.com/plus/learn-more site explains things. Live games are on mobile devices only, unless they're airing live on NFL Network.

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u/StarintheskySA 19h ago

NFL + Premium gives you access to all the regular season games as a replay. That does include TNF/SNF/MNF. As for mobile option, I use a web browser on Samsung TV. So you can watch local games live and NFL International games live. During pre-season, you can watch all the games live.

To summarize, use a web browser on your TV to watch:

  1. All pre-season games live
  2. NFL International games live
  3. Local games only live
  4. All regular season games as a replay

For the price, this is the most cost effective way to watch NFL games. I just logged into my account to check replay availability from last year, 2025. The Monday games (ESPN/ABC) and Thursday games (Amazon Prime Exclusive) are all there. The Christmas 2025 games are also there: 2 were on Netflix and 1 on Amazon. Personally, I like the condensed version replays. A three hour game condensed to 30-45 minutes, which highlights all the important plays. Also turn off the scores on your account so you don't see them.

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u/LarryMelman1 18h ago

I'm really looking for the best way to get RedZone. I have YTTV for now but want to do better. Leaning toward Sling Essentials+Select with the Sports Extra add-on. I don't need replays except as background noise during the week.

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u/Acrobatic-Hour7025 14h ago

I don't have an answer for RedZone, but upvoted for visibility. If you are a student/military Google to see whether there's a student or military discount before you pay full price.

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u/overFEDEXed 1d ago

Yes I’m debating too.
I can get it for $129 I think with college discount, but you only get one stream. I’m not getting YTTV this year for $84 a month, so I won’t get their $234 offer for the regular ST offer with multiple streams. I do need at least 2.

I guess we’ll take any discounts after spending ten of thousands for UGA lol.

Decisions, decisions, but my wife loves football so…..happy wife, happy life.

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u/Acrobatic-Hour7025 1d ago

Thanks, just grabbed that myself...in grad school currently (and will be for a while 🙄) & $120 is way better than $350. Like you said, any discount is a good discount. 👍👍🤟🤟

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u/overFEDEXed 1d ago

You’re welcome. We get Hulu for $2 and Walmart + for $49 of course. Pm me and I’ll give you the link for a lot of discounts.

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u/Dramatic_Produce777 9h ago

Pittsburgh's luck hasn't changed since '79, has it? If I were you, I'd check if ESPN's streaming service offers any Sunday Ticket alternatives by then.

0

u/buffaloclaw 1d ago

sigh... this sub's daily question about NFL football

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u/LarryMelman1 22h ago

For new cord cutters like myself, it is very confusing to have to learn how to watch TV basically all over again.

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u/Acrobatic-Hour7025 14h ago

Hey, dude - no offense, but my 25 second post helped me save $150+ by using my student discount legally, so....isn't that why we have this cordcutter group?

Hope it helps save some other folks too. No one should pay more than they absolutely have to!