Seven hours of commercial-free football are no longer.
Fans can still catch seven straight hours of football from around the league each Sunday on NFL RedZone, but one of the service’s most popular features is officially gone for the 2025 season.
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’t enough to stop the NFL from rolling out commercials on a full-time basis in 2025.
Here’s what to know about NFL RedZone’s new ad policy—and whether it’s connected to the league’s recent agreement with ESPN.
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Why are commercials in NFL RedZone?
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. ESPN's Adam Schefter also reported ads will comprise 1-2 minutes of the total show.
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.
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."
An update from the NFL:
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) September 3, 2025
• The plan is to space a limited number of ads throughout the 7+ hours of the show.
• Double-box ads.
•Viewers will hear the audio of the ads but the other box will show NFL RedZone
"This move has been contemplated and tested for over a year now,… https://t.co/CweVXzfeh0
The NFL initially experimented with ads 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.
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 starts now" after calling it "commercial-free football" in recent years.
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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’t be pinned on ESPN. The network doesn’t assume control of RedZone until 2026, and the agreement has not yet been formally approved.
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 released by the two sides.
By all indications, the controversial change was executed by the NFL despite widespread outrage when commercials started appearing late in the 2024 season.
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Does ESPN own NFL RedZone?
The NFL and ESPN announced a major agreement in August that will transfer the rights to NFL Network and NFL RedZone to ESPN in exchange for 10 percent equity in ESPN for the league.
The deal, however, isn’t believed to be tied to the decision to add commercials to RedZone. The channel won’t officially transfer until 2026, and ESPN isn’t expected to have a significant role in its production.
In a joint statement, the NFL and ESPN said the league will “continue to own, operate and produce NFL RedZone, and retain the rights to distribute NFL RedZone digitally.” ESPN, meanwhile, will “own broad rights to the RedZone brand and distribute the NFL RedZone channel to pay TV operators for continued inclusion in their sports packages.”
ESPN's coverage of the NFL will soon intertwine with the NFL's coverage of its own league, which could lead to some questions about the impartiality of ESPN's reporting on the league given the NFL will own a stake in the network, but beyond the new commercials, NFL RedZone is expected to remain unaffected for the time being.