Every touchdown from every game. That's the promise NFL RedZone fans can expect to continue being kept by the league's flagship whiparound program this season. Those hoping seven hours of commercial-free football will return will have to keep reminiscing about the good ol' days.
RedZone's host Scott Hanson implored fans, however, to give the program a chance this year to redeem itself after a 2025 season that included bunches of commercials interrupting their obsessive viewing habits.
"The actual ads that you see, there will be fewer of what we call the 15-second commercials with the audio going and the product and whatnot," Hanson explained to Front Office Sports on Friday. "There will be fewer at the beginning of the year this year than we ended with at the end of last year. I can confirm that."
Ad-reduced NFL RedZone: What to expect for the 2026 season
According to Hanson, the program run by the league and now distributed by ESPN is going to limit the amount of traditional commercials that get slipped in to periods where there's no play occurring or teams aren't in the red zone. That being said, sponsored content and segments like the "Mercedes-Benz Drive of the Day" or the "Allstate Good Hands Play of the Day" will still be staples of the show. Hanson clarified those are "not considered an outright commercial" by those above his paygrade making decisions on the ad approach.
“Our promise to you is we never miss a touchdown,” he continued. “We only sneak [commercials] in when the team is walking back to the huddle during at least a little bit of a dead period in the game, and it’s one 15-second standalone commercial at a time … I would just tell fans this: if you loved RedZone two years ago before there was ever a 15 second standalone commercial, try us this year and see if it’s not still the show that you love to watch and set your calendar by every year. I think we will deliver the way we always have for our great fans.”
While that's a purported improvement, it may not last all season long. Hanson couldn't confirm to Front Office Sports whether that reduction will last the entire year. In the 2024 trial run, there were only four 15-second commercials but by Week 13 in 2025 there were ads aired in some form. Fans will have to pay attention to whether there are more products and sports betting offers being shoved in their faces during the latter half of this year's schedule.
“I don’t think anybody is upset about the commercials” - Pat McAfee on RedZone adding full commercials in 2025
— Jack Settleman (@jacksettleman) September 3, 2025
ESPN/Disney owns 10% of RedZone and now their top guy is trying convince us no one will be upset about commercials. pic.twitter.com/e3MLFYCEYC
At least the commercials aren't full screen. The program producers have been smart in displaying them in a splitscreen format or "boxes" paired with visuals from the game currently being focused on. So while it's disappointing RedZone is no longer commercial free, it's still rare the action gets covered up by product placement.
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