The Controversial Change to ‘NFL RedZone’ That ESPN Hoped Fans Wouldn’t Notice
For over a decade, NFL RedZone has been the holy grail for football fans, delivering on a singular, legendary promise: "Seven hours of commercial-free football." However, that phrase was officially retired at the start of the 2025 NFL season when ESPN agreed to acquire NFL Network and the rights to NFL RedZone. The deal was struck just before the beginning of the season, in August 2025, and with it came the daunting news that advertisements would be injected into the programming.
Initially, longtime ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported that viewers would see only 1-2 minutes of ads in 15-second increments. The insight was met mainly with a sigh of relief, although it appears people are catching on to a steady increase in the number of ads popping up.
ESPN's NFL RedZone Ad Time: A Noticeable Increase
While the expected one or two minutes of ads spaced over the seven hours may have stood true in Week 1, the increase reportedly peaked in Week 13 during games played on Nov. 30. According to a breakdown from Sports Business Journal, there were a total of 17 advertisements that ran throughout ESPN's NFL RedZone coverage on that day.
The ad spots rotated between 15 and 20 seconds, with a 30-second DraftKings ad wrapping up the late-window games. In total, it was just over five minutes of commercials and advertising.
While that timeframe is far from excessive, SBJ also highlighted that the Week 13 RedZone broadcast also featured additional sponsored segments beyond the double box and banner formats, all of which came in the late window of games. This included three 30-second ads, two 60-second ads and one sponsor attached to the top-five plays, which ran for roughly three minutes. Here's the breakdown:
- Allstate "Good Hands" segment: 30 seconds
- Lowe's "Earn Your Sunday" highlight package: 30 seconds
- DraftKings "Crowning Moments" segment: 60 seconds
- Mercedes-Benz "Drive of the Day:" 60 seconds
- Accenture's name on RedZone's "Top Five Plays of the Day:" 3 minutes
While those aren't technically standalone advertisements, as they're attached to different segments of the show, it's a noteworthy tidbit.
The End of the '7 Hours of Commercial-Free Football' Era
Although the beloved catchphrase from the iconic NFL RedZone host, Scott Hanson, became a thing of the past at the start of the new season, the increase in ads serves as a reminder that there is no "seven hours of commercial-free football." As Hanson told the Pat McAfee Show before the 2025 NFL season, his intro would shift to "seven hours of RedZone football starts now."
The good news is that the advertisements throughout ESPN's NFL RedZone don't appear to have ignited too much of a firestorm to this point. That could be because, unlike Hanson, even fans have to take a bathroom break or grab food and drinks at some point throughout the loaded day of NFL action.
Regardless, fans still have the final stretch of the 2025 NFL regular season to enjoy the RedZone channel. After that, the playoffs get underway with the Wild Card round, featuring games from January 10-12, meaning there's action on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to kick off the postseason.
Related: 50 Cent Addresses Securing Unreleased Footage for Diddy Netflix Documentary