Last year, we helped Scott, 32 of York, PA, find the cost of watching Penn State football for a season.
But capitalism never sleeps.
Because of that, media companies bring a host of changes and price increases that have created the need for an updated guide of what it costs to watch every Penn State football game on a television (or computer) this season.
A few notes for this exercise:
We are going to assume Scott or you already have a television that is equipped with a smart device.
We’re also going to backdate this because we want to know the cost since the start of the season. Why? (Well truth be told I forgot to update this piece back then). Because for 2025, there are a few new options and price points available. We’re also still within a month of kicking off the season, meaning you would still have five billing cycles.
We’re going to assume that Penn State can appear on every network possible. For the regular season, that’s CBS, Fox, NBC, FS1, BTN and Peacock. We’re also still optimistic that Penn State will make the College Football Playoff once again and you’ll need access to TNT and ESPN to watch those games.
We are also going to include an internet subscription because if you or Scott choose to go with a streaming service, you would need access to the World Wide Web. You would also need it in case Penn State plays a game on Peacock.
Lastly, fees and costs vary by area and provider. There are also various taxes. We’re just looking at the base costs – unless noted for a specific reason.
Internet
Scott lives in an area that has access to Xfinity. Because of that, he has quite a few options for internet speed.
Xfinity offers two speeds that intrigue him. There is a 300 Mbps option – the slowest but still plenty fast enough – that’s available for $40 per month if he locks into that price for a year right now. There is also a 1Gbps connection available to him for $70. What’s particularly interesting about this speed – besides how fast it is – is that it comes with a subscription to Peacock Premium. This would render the $10.99 Peacock subscription moot with a bit faster of an internet speed.
Traditional Cable
While on Xfinity’s site, he looks at TV options. The Sports + News TV package includes every channel he needs except for TNT, which isn’t immediately necessary to his college football and Penn State viewing but important to keep in mind. The cost for that is $70 a month.
The Popular TV package would get him all of the channels he needs but comes at a $93.50 cost.
Plus, both cable options would require a $12 cable box cost.
At a minimum, he would spend $82 on a television package that doesn’t include all of the channels he needs. With that, he begins to look at streaming providers, still weighing the internet options.
Bundle Streaming Options
Scott first heads to YouTube TV – after canceling his subscription last season to save a few bucks in the offseason.
He sees that YTTV is offering a deal for $49.99 a month for the first two months after signing up. Then, for the final three months of the season, he’d need to pay $82.99 per month.
This covers all channels, except for Peacock, of course.
He also checks out Hulu’s Live TV, which isn’t offering a signup offer that will save him much in the long run. He will have to pay $82.99 per month if he wants to subscribe to Hulu’s Live TV service.
He lastly checks out Sling. After spending some time decoding the various packages, Scott realizes he’d need their highest level of an Orange and Blue subscription with the Sports Extra. That will run him $75.99 per month but doesn’t include CBS.
Individual Streaming Options
Depending on which internet option Scott picks, he’s going to potentially need a Peacock subscription, so he gets to thinking.
Now that Fox offers a direct-to-consumer streaming service that includes BTN and FS1, called Fox One, it may be cheaper to just get each streaming subscription needed.
Fox One starts at $19.99 a month and gets him a decent number of Penn State games. Paramount+ is $12.99 a month and Peacock is $10.99 to get the level needed for live sports.
ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer brand is also available but it’s a steep price at $29.99 per month.
All told, the five different subscriptions come out to $90.95.
The Pick
Because Scott wants to watch a bunch of college football, including games on ESPN, he opts for YouTube TV once again.
He also picks the faster internet speed which includes Peacock.
That will run him $698.95 plus tax for the season, up by about $80 from last year.
The cheapest option for just Penn State games in the regular season, however, would be to opt for the $40 internet and the three subscriptions for Fox One, Peacock and Paramount+. This would run $505. Then, should Penn State make the College Football Playoff, the one month of HBO Max and ESPN costs an additional $45.
The most expensive option would be the $70 a month internet and the $93.50 cable bill, which, with the box, is $877.50 for the season (plus fees.)
| Cheapest | Most Convenient | Most Expensive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $545 | $698.95 | $877.50 |
| TV | Fox One, Peacock, Paramount+ subs + HBO Max and ESPN for CFP | YouTube TV | Traditional Internet & Cable |
| Internet | 300 Mbps | 1Gbps | 1Gbps |
| Pros | Cheapest Option | Intro offer makes it cheaper than Hulu With Live TV; Quadbox | One bill with one company |
| Cons | Requires several different apps, doesn't allow for easy channel flipping | Some slight delay between game and viewing | The most expensive when there are cheaper options out there |
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