Seven hours of commercial-free football are no longer.<\/p>\n
Fans can still catch seven straight hours of football from around the league each Sunday on NFL RedZone, but one of the service\u2019s most popular features is officially gone for the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Hints of change surfaced late in the 2024 campaign, when viewers began noticing the occasional commercial break. The backlash was immediate, and host Scott Hanson even addressed the issue on air. Still, that wasn\u2019t enough to stop the NFL from rolling out commercials on a full-time basis in 2025.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to know about NFL RedZone\u2019s new ad policy\u2014and whether it\u2019s connected to the league\u2019s recent agreement with ESPN.<\/p>\n
NFL HQ:\u00a0Live NFL scores<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Full NFL schedule<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Updated NFL standings<\/a><\/p>\n Why are commercials in NFL RedZone?<\/p>\n NFL RedZone features commercials this season, in a shift from its commercial-free tagline, though the ads will be fairly brief: four 15-second commercials are expected to run during the seven hours of programming, adding up to one minute, according to Sports Business Journal<\/a>. ESPN’s Adam Schefter<\/a> also reported ads will comprise 1-2 minutes of the total show.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ads will be double-boxed, which means viewers will still be able to see NFL action, but the ad audio will play over the NFL broadcast audio.\u00a0<\/p>\n The NFL hasn’t given an explanation for the decision, though the answer is likely obvious: any ad space during a program as highly-viewed as NFL RedZone would bring in a significant amount of money for the league. The league did say the change has been “contemplated and tested over the past year.”<\/p>\n An update from the NFL:<\/p>\n \u2022 The plan is to space a limited number of ads throughout the 7+ hours of the show.<\/p>\n \u2022 Double-box ads.<\/p>\n \u2022Viewers will hear the audio of the ads but the other box will show NFL RedZone<\/p>\n “This move has been contemplated and tested for over a year now,\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/CweVXzfeh0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) September 3, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The NFL initially experimented with ads<\/a> during Week 15 last season, with Sportico reporting the commercials were “tests.” Despite criticism, the league evidently saw enough in those tests to make the change full-time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson called the change a “business decision” that he was not part of; that decision forced him to change his opening catchphrase to “seven hours of RedZone football\u00a0starts now” after calling it “commercial-free football” in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n MORE: Sporting News’ expert predictions for 2025 NFL season<\/a><\/p>\n While some of the backlash over the decision has been directed at ESPN, which recently reached an agreement to take over NFL Network and NFL RedZone in exchange for equity in the company, the change can\u2019t be pinned on ESPN. The network doesn\u2019t assume control of RedZone until 2026, and the agreement has not yet been formally approved.<\/p>\n Additionally, when ESPN does acquire NFL RedZone, the NFL will “continue to own, operate, and produce NFL RedZone” while ESPN holds the “broad rights” to the channel’s branding and distribution, per the statement<\/a> released by the two sides.<\/p>\n By all indications, the controversial change was executed by the NFL despite widespread outrage when commercials started appearing late in the 2024 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n