The NFL experimented with ads on its commercial-free RedZone service on Sunday, but the league does not expect to do so again for the final weeks of this season.
A league source told Sportico that the NFL does not “currently” plan to test ads on RedZone again this season, and any permanent change would not come until next year at the earliest. There are three weeks left in the NFL season.
Including the since-discontinued DIRECTV version, NFL RedZone has been commercial free from its inception. Indeed, the commercial free aspect is core to its branding, with host Scott Hanson bellowing his best-known catchphrase — “Seven hours of commercial-free football start now!” — at the start of each afternoon window.
Hanson amended his catchphrase to “seven hours of RedZone football start now” at the beginning of Sunday’s late window.
The commercials that aired Sunday were brief and aired as part of a split-screen with live play, but even that was far beyond what had been the norm. It is typical for RedZone, which picks up feeds of the regional windows airing on FOX and CBS, to cut away as soon as the networks go to their own commercial breaks.
If not nearly as expensive as NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL RedZone does cost extra to access, as it is offered primarily as part of higher sports tiers than basic cable options like ESPN. To get RedZone via the NFL+ streaming service, once has to sign up for the $15/mo option (as opposed to the $6/mo base plan).
