{
  "id": 7600292,
  "title": "Shrinkflation is coming for pro sports: The cost of watching the NFL jumped 28.6%—and attending a game 72%—since 2015",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/shrinkflation-is-coming-for-pro-sports-the-cost-of-watching-the-nfl",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-15T16:37:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/15/shrinkflation-sports-nfl-cost-fan/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The NFL, America's most popular sport, has experienced a significant increase in costs for fans since 2015. In its opening week, the league set a new record with the highest-scoring Sunday in week one ever. However, the average viewer faces a challenge in watching all the action, as the NFL is implementing shrinkflation—a practice of reducing the amount of games available in individual packages while increasing costs for fans.\n\nIn particular, NFL Sunday Ticket, the league's out-of-market Sunday afternoon package, has shrunk from carrying 211 games in 2021 to 191 games in 2025. The package, which was initially an exclusive DirecTV partnership, is now available on YouTubeTV since 2023, with the price rising from $293.94 to $378—a 28.6% increase. This price hike has made it more difficult for fans to keep up with their favorite teams.\n\nThe trend of shrinking the number of available games extends beyond Sunday Ticket. The NFL has expanded its game schedule to include Thursday, Friday, and Monday night games, but the Sunday Ticket package does not include games outside of 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM on Sundays. This fragmentation has led to fans needing multiple subscriptions to watch games, making it more expensive and time-consuming to follow the league nationally.\n\nThe cost of attending an NFL game has also risen substantially, with the average ticket price increasing 12.2% to $136.38 in 2024, and the average cost of attending a game reaching $196 in 2025—an increase of 72% since 2015. This jump in prices has led some fans to cut back on merchandise purchases and game attendance, essentially pricing them out of the experience. Despite the economic boost for local businesses during sports events, fans are feeling the financial strain of their fandom.",
  "summary": "To watch all the football action this season, you will need to open your wallet more—for less.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}