How to watch every football game of the 2026 NFL season

1 week ago 9

Football is back (sort of)! While the 2026 NFL preseason won't kick off until August, the complete 18-week regular 2026 NFL season schedule has been released, ushering in the unofficial start of the 2026-27 NFL season. Are you ready to watch some football? This season, NFL games will air across 10+ channels and streaming platforms. If you're worried about the challenge of following your favorite team through the upcoming season, from the NFL season opener to the 2027 Super Bowl, Yahoo Sports has you covered. Here's your playbook for how to watch the 2026-27 NFL season.

How to watch the 2026 NFL season:

Dates: Sept. 9, 2026 - Feb. 14, 2027

TV channels: ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC and NFL Network

Streaming: Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+, Paramount+, NFL+, Netflix

2026 NFL season opening week schedule:

Week 1 of the NFL season will open with a home game for the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. The 2026 NFL season's opening game will air nationally on NBC at 8:20 p.m. ET — it'll also stream live on Peacock and NFL+. Spanish coverage of the game will air on Telemundo and Universo.

The following day, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will face off in Australia for an NFL International game streaming exclusively on Netflix.

How to watch NFL games in 2026:

Many NFL games are broadcast on local channels, so if you're looking to catch an in-market game, it may be as simple as turning on your TV (or setting up a digital TV antenna) or finding a live TV streaming service that carries the correct RSN (Regional Sports Network). If you want to watch out-of-market games, a $7 monthly subscription to NFL+ will let you watch every out-of-market game, local and primetime, in the season (and preseason) on your phone — but only a select few regular-season games on your TV. You could also spring for the uber-expensive NFL Sunday Ticket package to get every out-of-market Sunday game of the season.

When it comes to nationally broadcast games, the NFL typically airs on ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, and NFL Network. Thursday Night Football games stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video; select football games stream exclusively on Peacock; games on CBS stream live on Paramount+ Premium; and select games stream on ESPN’s App this season. For those keeping count, that's six channels and four streaming platforms to keep up with this season — and that's not counting your local RSN's for in-market games and an NFL+ or NFL Sunday Ticket subscription for out-of-market games. Plus, Netflix is once again hosting at least two Christmas Day matches, a playoff game, and the first-ever Thanksgiving Eve match, so don’t forget to add that subscription into the mix.

Confused? You're not alone. Here's a breakdown of the platforms we recommend checking out ahead of the 2026 NFL season, so that come game time, tuning into your favorite team's games will be as easy as simply turning on the TV.

YouTube TV gets you nearly every channel you need to watch the NFL, including Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, ESPN, and NFL Network. Plus, YouTube TV is the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. The Sunday Ticket package, while pricey on its own, gets you ALL the Sunday out-of-market games (160+ games per season).

Current pricing for 2026 Sunday Ticket plans isn't available yet, but in past years, a Sunday Ticket with a YouTube TV bundle cost $158.99/month for four months (that's $586 for the season). Without the Sunday Ticket, you can get a deal on YouTube TV right now: $67.99/month for your first five months, then $83/month thereafter.

One thing to note: YouTube TV livestreams tend to run a slight delay, which isn't ideal if you're trying to keep up with the live game down to the exact second.

DirecTV's Choice tier (currently $104.98/month after fees for your first three months) gets you access to nearly every channel you need to watch NFL games throughout the year: NFL Network, ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, SEC Network, and an abundance of local RSNs. DirecTV Choice (and most other DirecTV plans) also come with free ESPN Unlimited, which gets you access to every ESPN channel, an amazing value and a must for watching tons of college and pro sports all year round.

DirecTV offers a free trial on any tier, so you can try it all out at low risk. After your free trial and new subscriber month deal on DirecTV's Choice tier, the monthly price goes up to $115/month (after fees). If you're interested in trying a live TV streaming service but aren't ready to commit, we recommend starting with DirecTV.

Fubo TV gives you access to ESPN, NFL Network, Fox, ABC, CBS, and 100+ more live channels. Starting at $73.99/month after the first-month deal, the live TV streaming service is definitely pricey (though certainly not the most expensive option on this list), but it offers most channels you'll need to watch both the NFL preseason and regular season.

The one glaring exception is NBC, which hasn't been available via Fubo since last year. If you already have Peacock, that may not be a problem for you, but if you want to catch NFL games on NBC, Fubo may not be the right choice this time around.

Fubo subscribers also get unlimited cloud DVR storage and plenty of non-sports channels. The platform offers a free trial period, so you can check it out ahead of the 2026 NFL season and decide if it's right for you this year. Your first month of the Core Fubo plan will cost $48.99, and then it's $73.99/month thereafter.

Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for the NFL's Thursday Night Football games. On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day 2026 sale event, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more.

A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days.

A basic $7.99 per month (or $40 annually) NFL+ subscription will get you live local and primetime regular and preseason NFL games exclusively on your phone or tablet, plus live audio for every game of the season across supported devices and access to NFL Network.

NFL+ Premium, while a little pricier at $14.99 per month (or $80 annually), also includes access to NFL RedZone, plus full and condensed replays of every game across supported devices. NFL+ also offers a 7-day free trial.

This year’s NFL season kicks off on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 with a match hosted by the 2026 Super Bowl winning-Seattle Seahawks.

Immediately following the 2026 NFL kickoff game, on Thursday, Sept. 10, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will face off in Australia. Netflix will be the exclusive streaming home for the first NFL international game of the season.