To watch Monday’s NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals, you may need to get out your wallet.
The Chargers-Cardinals game will be exclusively streamed on ESPN+, which you can’t access without a subscription.
Monday’s other game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will appear in more traditional places — on ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
ESPN+ subscription
ESPN+, like Peacock or Amazon Prime Video, charges monthly or annual fees.
An ESPN+ subscription costs $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
The ESPN+ subscription cost goes up to $14.99 per month if you bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu with ads.
There are no ESPN+ free trials offers running at the moment, according to Sporting News.
Sports on ESPN+
NFL fans who follow other sports likely already have an ESPN+ subscription since it plays a large — and growing — role in the media landscape.
Many NHL games are behind the ESPN+ paywall, as well as several college football games each weekend.
Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game was streamed exclusively on ESPN+, per The Washington Post.
Although ESPN+ is part of the ABC/ESPN family, live ESPN and ABC broadcasts are generally not available on ESPN+, the article noted.
NFL on streaming
NFL fans likely also already pay for a number of other streaming services, since the league has granted exclusive broadcast rights to streaming services a number of times in recent seasons.
As it stands, nearly all Thursday night NFL games are available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Peacock was the only home of a playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins last season, and it was the only place to see the Week 1 game between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles this fall.
Netflix has exclusive rights to two NFL games on Christmas in 2024: the Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens vs. the Houston Texans, as The Athletic reported earlier this year.
Controversy over NFL on streaming
The NFL’s shift to streaming services has been met with pushback, including from NFL players.
In January, ahead of the Chiefs-Dolphins game on Peacock, a defensive end for the Chiefs posted on X that it was “insane” for his team to only be on Peacock, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
Then and now, NFL executives met the criticism with positivity, arguing that the league needs to evolve in order to continue connecting with fans.
“As media consumption habits evolve, the NFL continues to work with our partners to put our games on digital platforms where our fans are increasingly spending their time,” Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution, said in March, per The Washington Post. “The viewership success of both ‘Thursday Night Football’ on Prime Video and the historic wild card game on Peacock last season are strong indicators our streaming distribution is resonating with our fans.”