One of the best parts of an NFL Sunday for football fans is NFL RedZone, which became famous for delivering over seven hours of commercial-free football. Host Scott Hanson has become a master of the format, providing commentary as fans see live NFL action throughout the Sunday doubleheader window, which has proven to be a hit with fans invested in fantasy football as they get to see every touchdown from every game.
The "commercial-free" aspect of RedZone is no more, as the NFL quietly experimented with brief ads last season and committed to including four 15 second ads during a broadcast, with Hanson having to modify his signature introduction to remove the commercial-free phrasing since the NFL was no longer committed to that. While the league promised to keep the commercials to just 60 total seconds in seven hours, fans who checked out RedZone during Week 7 noticed a lot more ads popping up over the course of the broadcast.
Is NFL Red Zone selling out its fans?
While it is true that regular football games are filled with commercial breaks, most fans are able to watch games for free over the air through broadcast networks like CBS, FOX, NBC and ABC.
NFL RedZone has always been a separate entity that fans pay money for, with many opting in for the specific promise of being able to watch over seven hours of NFL action without commercial interruptions, so the fact the league has decided to try and monetize that space with ads feels like a slap in the face to the service's loyal customers.
This move shouldn't be surprising, however, as the league publicized its intention to add commercials in the offseason and charges $14.99 a month for access to RedZone. There does not appear to be a significant drop-off in subscribers, leading the NFL to feel emboldened to squeeze even more money out of its product by charging advertisers for the right to reach the subset of fans who are avoiding their commercials during a regular game broadcast.
While this is an unfortunate development for fans, the NFL is likely to try increasing its ad volume to get more money as long as fans are still paying for the right to access the RedZone service.
Any fan who feels strongly enough about losing commercial-free football is obviously free to cancel their subscription, but unless large numbers of fans boycott RedZone over the increased ad presence the NFL will slowly sneak more into the broadcast, viewing them as a more lucrative opportunity to make money during dead windows of action when Hanson usually has to kill time with highlights or news updates.