Ahead of the 2022 NFL season, the National Football League launched a new streaming service called NFL+. At the time, the service effectively replaced NFL Game Pass in the United States and has established itself as the new home for the NFL’s content in the market.
What is included in the NFL Plus platform, and what is the cost of both the standard and premium service?
What Is NFL Plus?
The NFL+ service is a streaming service that allows fans to “take their game on the go.” The service is split into a standard and premium service, depending on the depth fans are looking for. The new service allows the NFL to bring fans the content they want in a direct-to-consumer experience.
In a press release from the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell is quoted as saying, “Today marks an important day in the history of the National Football League with the launch of NFL Plus. The passionate and dedicated football fans are the lifeblood of the NFL, and being able to reach and interact with them across multiple platforms is incredibly important to us.
“We look forward to continuing to grow NFL+ and deepening our relationship with fans across all ages and demographics, providing them access to a tremendous amount of NFL content, including the most valuable content in the media industry: live NFL games.”
The features for each of the services are as follows:
NFL Plus (Standard Service)
- Live local and prime-time games on mobile and tablet devices
- Live out-of-market preseason games across all devices
- Live game audio (home, away, and national calls) for every game of the season
- NFL library programming on-demand (ad-free)
- NFL Network
NFL+ Premium
- All features of NFL+
- Full game replays across devices (ad-free)
- Condensed game replays across devices (ad-free)
- Coaches Film including All-22 (ad-free)
What Is the Cost of NFL+?
The two tiers of the service give fans a choice when it comes to the price. The standard service costs $6.99 per month.
However, if fans want access to full-game replays, condensed-game replays, and Coaches Film, they will have to pay more. The cost of the premium service is $14.99 a month.
What Platforms Support the Service?
In the NFL’s press release, they state that the service is available in the NFL app and on NFL.com. The NFL app is widely available across a number of different platforms, so users should check that it is available on their desired platform before signing up.
What Does This Service Mean for NFL Consumers?
At its core, NFL Plus doesn’t offer many features that you couldn’t already get with an antenna. Cord-cutters can already access live local and prime-time games with a pair of rabbit ears, but the new service will allow fans to watch those games — and all preseason contests — on mobile devices.
Meanwhile, NFL+ Premium is essentially a rebranded iteration of NFL Game Pass, which allowed fans to watch replays of games and analyze All-22 Coaches Film. Game Pass had devolved in recent years, with many of its basic functions rendered virtually unusable. Hopefully, NFL+ Premium will ameliorate some of those issues and simplify the process of rewatching games.
Is NFL Plus Watchable Through a Local Cable Provider?
Unfortunately for fans reliant on their local cable provider, NFL Plus isn’t available to them regardless if it’s Comcast/Xfinity, Verizon, Frontier, or DirecTV.
The reason? The service NFL Plus provides is a direct-to-consumer platform.