Linear networks still have much higher household reach for NFL broads, but Hulu and YouTube TV have younger audiences.

By Benjamin George

When it comes to household reach for NFL games, the linear networks are still champions, but many of the streaming platforms have the coveted young audiences the NFL is trying to court.

A new analysis of games from the 2025 NFL regular season shows that the linear networks achieve far higher household reach than the streamers, while streamer audiences skew younger.

The only streamer to crack the top 10 NFL broadcasters in terms of household reach is Amazon Prime Video (at No. 9 with 19 million), which is smaller than NFL RedZone, a niche offering for NFL super fans, and ESPN Deportes, which broadcasts games in Spanish.

After Amazon, it’s a steep drop-off for the streaming platforms. Paramount+ is second among streamers, reaching 8.8 million households, less than half Amazon’s reach. Netflix and YouTube TV reach more than 3 million households a piece, and Hulu, Fox-owned MyNetworkTV and Peacock each reach more than 1 million.

There are some important caveats to this data. If an NFL fan watches a CBS game broadcast through the Hulu or YouTube TV app on his connected TV, it counts as a view for both CBS and the streamer. If the game is viewed through a plug-in streaming device, such as Apple TV or Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, only the linear network is registered. So a fraction of the linear network audiences are watching games through streaming services. It should also be noted that the linear networks air far more NFL games than Amazon and Netflix, whose broadcasts are limited to marquee standalone matchups.

Even so, the data make it clear that the old school broadcast networks dominate NFL viewing, whether it be the linear broadcast itself or when that broadcast is accessed through streaming.

For marketers hoping to reach a wide audience, the linear networks are clear favorites. But streamers provide opportunities to target niche demographics, specifically young, digitally native audiences who watch the NFL outside of mainstream linear channels.

Streamers Keep the NFL Young

For more than a decade, linear and cable audiences have dwindled as young viewers “cut the cord” and embraced a streaming-only lifestyle — so much so that the NFL has in recent years moved many of its marquee games to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to reach younger audiences.

The strategy is working, Samba data show.

Six streaming platforms — Hulu, YouTube TV, Fubo, Peacock, Sling TV and ESPN+ — all over-index with audiences younger than 35 years old for NFL games relative to the average NFL broadcast. Reaching this young, cord-cutter audience has been a point of emphasis for the NFL, which wants to cultivate the future generation of football fans.

Notably absent from this list are Amazon, Netflix and Paramount+, whose audiences are average, age-wise, which is a testament to how popular those streaming platforms are in general.

Streaming Offers More Diverse Audiences

Streaming audiences afford marketers the opportunity to reach more diverse, digitally native audiences.

• Netflix skews highest with the high-income households, especially those with incomes of $200,000 or higher (111)

• YouTube TV has the most Black households (162) and low-income households

• Peacock has the highest index among Hispanic viewers (111) and comes second for the 35- to 44-year-old age group (107)

• Hulu has the youngest audience across the board, overindexing among audiences ages  18 to 24, and 25 to 34 (120 and 113, respectively)

• Hulu comes in second for Black audiences (148)

  
  

Don't Just Buy the NFL, Buy the Right Audience

Linear networks still have the broadest traditional audiences, and while they're older than their streaming counterparts, that's not a reason to abandon their massive reach from a media buy. Nor is it a reason to ignore the unique audience segmentation opportunities on streaming platforms.

The NFL is no longer a single media property; it's a portfolio of audiences with different ages, incomes, household characteristics and platform relationships. Instead of buying NFL ad time and being satisfied with the reach numbers, sophisticated marketers should focus on the specific NFL audiences they want to reach and develop creative ways to target them.