“Not Paying to Watch Commercials” – ESPN Hiking Subscription Prices Doesn’t Sit Well With NFL Fans
ESPN is set to raise the monthly subscription of its Unlimited mode from $29.99 to $31.99 monthly or $299.99 to $319.99 annually.
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ESPN spent years telling NFL fans that streaming is the better alternative to Cable TV. However, the upcoming price hike has fans wondering whether the old bundle was such a bad deal as the network advertised.
According to Outkick founder and lawyer Clay Travis, ESPN is set to raise the monthly subscription of its Unlimited mode from $29.99 to $31.99 monthly or $299.99 to $319.99 annually (for 365 days). The Charges will take effect from September 17 onward, when the NFL season kicks off.
ESPN has increased their annual cost for streaming the channel to $320 a year, an increase of $20 over last year. Increase starts for football. Remember when people argued streaming would save sports fans money compared to cable? Sports fans keep paying more and getting less.
Clay Travis tweeted
ESPN has increased their annual cost for streaming the channel to $320 a year, an increase of $20 over last year. Increase starts for football. Remember when people argued streaming would save sports fans money compared to cable? Sports fans keep paying more and getting less.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 24, 2026
Travis has been vocal about ESPN increasing streaming prices for some time. He even presented the argument during June congressional testimony. Regardless, the network is increasing its subscription charges.
Football fans react to ESPN increasing its yearly subscription
From the ‘60s to the late ‘90s, cable was the only option for football fans who couldn’t afford stadium tickets. ESPN first streamed a live audio broadcast of a baseball game using RealAudio in 1995. It would still take more than a decade for channels to stream video. The advent of Netflix revolutionized the streaming and OTT (Over The Top) genre.
Nowadays, streaming platforms have slowly tapped into the football audience, leaving cable TV almost moot. NBC, FOX, CBS, and Amazon are dominating the streaming scene.
By and large, ESPN is new to the sports streaming game despite its lineage as one of the pioneers of sports broadcasting. ESPN launched its standalone direct-to-consumer streaming service on August 21, 2025.
A year later, the network is poised to increase the monthly and yearly subscription packages. Clay Travis and other football connoisseurs aren’t thrilled with the price increase.
If you just wanted to buy a subscription for football season, it’s now $32 a month without doing the annual cost. Would run you roughly $200 just for football season.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 24, 2026
I miss cable so much. Everything on one deal, not 15 different subscriptions. It was such a simpler better time.
— Brett (@Texan__Pride) August 24, 2026
Yeah in the olden days when everyone had cable, every single person was forced to indirectly pay ESPN for their channels. So people just dropped cable altogether. Only a fraction of people who paid for cable were watching ESPN, which charged the most of any channel for… https://t.co/zLrUhrXlOK
— Chris (@chriswithans) August 24, 2026
People will quickly get nostalgic for the days (and quality) of the cable bundle. https://t.co/rw4c5D25mW
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) August 24, 2026
Ridiculous https://t.co/0Hd1ivsvY4
— Adam Loewy (@LoewyLawFirm) August 24, 2026
Yes, the tension that always existed but didn't become noticeable until a few years ago is that people liked streaming because of perceived cost savings, but content owners – now distributors – need to ensure they're still making cable dollars. Hard math! https://t.co/LddVQSFXa5
— julia alexander (@loudmouthjulia) August 24, 2026
Scam alert. 🚨 But once again I’ll be a willing victim. 😂 https://t.co/EGahJP6hdf
— Mark R. Hall (@MarkRHall) August 24, 2026
Facts! https://t.co/NUTwGCJpxR
— Mike Oetinger (@oetinger62258) August 24, 2026
According to ESPN data, NFL Network was added to the ESPN app for Unlimited subscribers on July 30, bringing more than 1,500 hours of studio programming along with 19 preseason games. ESPN also added CW Sports programming, which carries the normal lineup of ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, ACC Network and a few other channels.
Audience turned to streaming platforms to avoid paying bloated cable prices. Are they paying more now than in the past? Maybe.
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Ishan Misra
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