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2025Fan ZoneNFLWeek 14

NFL RedZone’s Shocking Latest Move Ignites Fan Fury – Massive Backlash Erupts Online

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This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

NFL RedZone’s Latest Move Leaves Fans Fuming
Scott Hanson (Image via NFL Redzone)

Football fans are not happy with NFL RedZone this season.

The central selling point for the NFL Media product used to be that it was “Seven hours of commercial-free football.” However, since the switch to ESPN, the Sunday viewing plug has been bombarding viewers with ads.

While the NFL initially claimed that commercials would be limited on RedZone and essentially go unnoticed, that is no longer the case. Four short ads were promised during the seven-hour broadcast in Week 1. However, Sports Business Journal has pointed out that 16 of them aired in Week 13. 

Half of them offered audio of a commercial in one box while a game was shown in another box. The other half took up much of the screen in banner fashion, with the action people paid to see limited to a smaller section of the screen. 

Fans had threatened to boycott the program earlier in the season, with some following through on their promises. 

Newest Reports On NFL RedZone Trigger Similar Reactions

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Scott Hanson (Photo Via Instagram/@scotthanson1)

The latest reports on RedZone advertising prompted similar reactions on social media. 

“I cancelled it in week 3 because of the commercials. Now I watch commercial-free highlights on YouTube an hour after each game finishes. It’s free and commercial-free,” someone shared.

“Can’t wait for Red Zone + to launch, now with no ads!” another quipped.

“Exactly what anyone with a functioning brain said would happen. All for laying the groundwork for a million commercials when espn takes over,” said a third.

“Goodell might be creating more revenue for the owners but he sure is sticking it to the fans 😒,” someone else said.

RedZone ads are not quite what viewers are used to. 

Fans know what to expect with regular game broadcasts; commercials typically air during timeouts, and announcers usually say they’re cutting to commercials. 

With NFL RedZone, they’re predominantly random and come without warning. 

It doesn’t appear that they’ll be going away anytime soon, though someone has figured out a way for the NFL to keep making boatloads of cash with the program while keeping it commercial-free.

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