The NFL's incumbent dynasty has rested up for another go-around. Since 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs have won three Super Bowls and five conference championships. They pursue a 10th consecutive division title (!) this fall, and are averaging an absurd 11.9 wins across the past dozen seasons.
Kansas City lost a few contributors to the offseason shuffle, including safety Justin Reid (New Orleans), guard Joe Thuney (Chicago) and defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton (Carolina). But the front office retained crucial linebacker Nick Bolton and Pro Bowl blocker Trey Smith, among others, and the offense is still led by the inevitable Patrick Mahomes. Per usual, the Chiefs have a lot of prime-time features lined up for 2025.
Actually finding and accessing Chiefs games is more cumbersome than ever, unfortunately. In addition to the usual channel rotation of CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC/ESPN and NFL Network, this season's streaming rights also extend to Amazon Prime, Netflix, Peacock and YouTube. It can get exhausting (and annoying) to keep up with all these changes, so we've compiled a league-wide overview of how the current broadcast carousel works. All of the info below is formatted specifically for K.C.'s 2025 schedule (pre-flexes, which start as early as Week 5 this year).
The first thing we'll need to watch all of the Chiefs' regular-season games is a television package. Here are the most popular options, contingent on local availability, with pricing as of August 2025:
- Average monthly cost: $85-100. Depending on the carrier, this will cover everything except for out-of-market games, "Thursday Night Football" on Prime and the Christmas slate on Netflix.
Our dueling homes for the busiest part of the weekly schedule. A majority of Chiefs games will fall into the Sunday afternoon bulk, kicking off at either 1 or 4-4:30 p.m. Typically (though not always), the East Coast home teams play at 1, while hosts farther out west take that 4-4:30 spot.
For the most part, CBS has the AFC home games and Fox has the NFC ones. That's not absolute, though (blame the networks' "cross flex," which redistributes games in the name of broadcast parity). In general, these over-the-air channels show games pertinent to the region. When there's no local team to prioritize, they'll show a game of national intrigue. Fox specifically brands this second afternoon window as "America's Game of the Week," and the Chiefs are naturally quite common around those parts.
Both networks have several broadcast teams to spread around the league on Sundays. Here's a refresher on those lineups:
CBS -- "Hello Friends" Team
- Jim Nantz and Tony Romo / Tracy Wolfson sideline
- Ian Eagle and JJ Watt / Evan Washburn
- Kevin Harlan and Trent Green (oh, yeah, that Trent Green) / Melanie Collins
- Andrew Catalon, Charles Davis and Jason McCourty / AJ Ross
- Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta / Aditi Kinkhabwala
Fox -- "Dancing Robots" Team
- Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady / Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi sideline
- Joe Davis and Greg Olsen / Pam Oliver
- Adam Amin and Mark Sanchez / Kristina Pink
- Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma / Megan Olivi
- Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston / Allison Williams
- Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth / Jen Hale
What you'll need to watch: One of the aforementioned cable or streaming packages, or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access. Local CBS games can also be streamed on Paramount+ (starting at $7.99/month). Local Fox games can also be streamed on Fox One (starting at $19.99/month).
All of you out-of-market Chiefs fans and recent converts will need NFL Sunday Ticket to unlock the Sunday games listed above. For an extra fee, you can get NFL RedZone, the frenetic live whip-around anchored by Scott Hanson. That man is peerless in his love for American football.
What you'll need to watch: YouTube is the current digital home provider of NFL Sunday Ticket (DirecTV carries it for businesses). New Sunday Ticket users can subscribe for $276/year, which comes out to $23/month. Returning users with YouTube TV are charged $378, or $31.50/month; those without YouTube TV pay $480 ($40/month). Those are prices without RedZone too.
Additionally, the league's NFL+ Premium app has standalone RedZone access for 12 installments of $14.99. Full out-of-market games can't be streamed live here, though, making it a better option for fantasy players rather than dedicated team loyalists.
Got it? Cool. Now, there's more. The Athletic's Andrew Marchand reported that ESPN recently sold 10 percent of its equity to the NFL in exchange for league media assets (NFL Network, cable RedZone rights and fantasy football games). So, as of Sept. 3, the new ESPN Unlimited direct-to-consumer (DTC) service is offering a bundle with NFL+ Premium for $39.99/month. Watching football has never been so exhausting.
Average monthly cost: $23-40
Sundays always end with "Sunday Night Football," featuring Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth in the booth. Tirico is the successor to longtime SNF voice Al Michaels. Collinsworth, well ... "here's a guy" who gets really excited about nickel corners and pass-blocking running backs. Melissa Stark is NBC's Sunday night sideline reporter.
As we get into the later weeks, NBC will flex into matchups with greater playoff implications. The same goes for ABC/ESPN (Mondays) and Prime Video (Thursdays). Network flexing is a contentious issue, though. Putting a more compelling game on national TV rewards viewers at home, but sudden schedule changes obviously hurt traveling fans. For SNF in Weeks 5-13, a flex must be announced at least 12 days before the game. That window halves to a six-day warning in Weeks 14-17.
What you'll need to watch: A TV package, or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access, or a Peacock account (basic subscription with ads starts at $7.99 per month).
Here's where you'll find end-of-week pageantry with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and the inescapable theme music. Industry vet Lisa Salters dispatches from the sideline along with Laura Rutledge. When there are multiple Monday night listings, Chris Fowler does play-by-play on the doubleheader’s other game with former safety Louis Riddick and former quarterback Dan Orlovsky on color commentary. Katie George and Peter Schrager cover the sidelines with that group. The MNF crew for ESPN Deportes includes play-by-play woman Rebeca Landa and analyst Sebastian Martinez-Christensen with sideline reports from MJ Acosta-Ruiz and the incomparable John Sutcliffe.
There will usually be a simulcast on ESPN2 anchored by Peyton and Eli Manning. Sometimes, the Super Bowl-winning brothers offer unique vantage points on late-game situations. We get shenanigans in equal measure because what else is this format for? The "ManningCast" is where Eli got a Death Row chain from Snoop Dogg; it’s where Green Bay Gumby tried to drink through his felt eyeball. Mahomes and Travis Kelce have both appeared here.
What you'll need to watch: A TV package; or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access to ABC. ABC and ESPN are also available with the new ESPN DTC service ($29.99 per month).
This marks year No. 4 of TNF on Amazon. Al Michaels does play-by-play, and he’s joined by Kirk Herbstreit (“College GameDay” staple and Golden Retriever enthusiast). Kaylee Hartung handles the sideline reporting. Thursday games are on the Prime Video app for national audiences, and broadcasts are free over the air in the two teams’ home markets. Alternatively, TNF can be streamed on Twitch or with an NFL+ subscription (mobile only, however).
Last year’s ill-fated first TNF flex did not lead to new safeguards; rather, the league reduced the notice window from 28 days down to 21. Again, those flexes favor folks at home who want exciting and relevant late-season viewing, but it brings chaos to ticket holders and the participating teams themselves.
What you’ll need to watch: Amazon Prime, which costs $14.99 per month; or NFL+ ($6.99/month) or a registered Twitch account.
- Average monthly cost: $0-15
One day after the 2025 season opener, we’re whisked down to Brazil for a Friday night clash between the Chargers and Chiefs. This one is a special circumstance and a much-needed relief, streamers-in-arms -- it’s going to be on YouTube (the website itself!), entirely free worldwide and no login needed. It’s a one-off experiment that should go smoothly ... so long as viewers know how to throw it on the big screen (HDMI, screen mirroring, the YouTube app on a smart TV, etc.).
Sportscaster Rich Eisen and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner will be on the call, while Stacey Dales and content creator/former UFL kicker Deestroying will be on the sidelines. Influencer IShowSpeed, whose YouTube following reaches 43 million fans, will headline one of the four “Watch With” streams during the game.
What you’ll need to watch: YouTube, no account required.
After all of that, there’s still one kickoff time that’s TBD: Kansas City’s Week 18 “flex game” at the Las Vegas Raiders. Stay tuned on that, but it will certainly get high visibility should it become a must-win for the reigning AFC champs. All of the league’s Week 18 matchups are flex-eligible around Saturday and Sunday spots, and that final week’s slate isn’t finalized until Week 17 is in the books.
And there we have it. That’s where the schedule stands, at least until flexing begins.