Football serves as an allegory for society at large. A bunch of people inflicting pain on one for supremacy. Athletes and stakeholders have increasingly benefitted from its parallels to society, too, over the years. As the world becomes more capitalistic and generally more opulent, the game across both the professional and amateur rungs has reaped the rewards. The NFL, in particular, has been making coin at an unprecedented rate. But inflation, in tandem with the growing popularity of the sport, may just have led to the stakeholders flying too close to the sun. HOFer and Super Bowl champ Warren Sapp just came across some information that has left him seething. As cliched as it sounds, the NFL is a business. And football savant Sapp isn’t too pleased to be reminded of this.
Remember when watching TV was straightforward? Feels like the advent of streaming services has made things rather dystopian. Conceded, they have their perks. Very obvious ones. But the expense exacted on the consumer is a concern. Since it’s not like you can stick to one or two services and make your bed. Especially if you’re a sports fan. You need multiple subscriptions across multiple platforms to piece together the full picture. ESPN+, YouTube TV, Amazon Prime and a handful of others all carry the rights to broadcast NFL games live. It’s almost like the fan’s love and passion is being exploited. So when the exact breakdown of how much money it’ll cost the average fan to watch the full NFL slate next season hit the airwaves, Warren Sapp made sure it was known he wasn’t subscribing to it (no pun intended!)
Popular NFL news aggregator Dov Kleiman relayed something to his 347K followers on X. Something that’s equal parts disheartening and enraging. “Awful: The average NFL fan will have to spend at LEAST $1,500 to watch every game this upcoming season: Amazon Prime: $89.94, ESPN+: $104.94, Sunday Ticket: $522, YouTube TV: $563.88, Peacock: $13.99, Netflix: $22.99, Taxes/Fees: $197.66, Total: $1,515.40…The NFL needs to fix this ASAP,” he wrote. It really is a travesty how expensive watching football, on TV mind you, has become. Bucs legend and current Colorado assistant coach Warren Sapp caught wind of this post. He quoted it with his sarcastic yet resounding reaction.
“Streaming[,] it’s gonna be great Huh!?” wrote Sapp. In one fell swoop, he’s cleared his stance on both this topical issue and the overarching issue around the streaming era of television. Tackling was always his forte, and he’s still doing it vicariously. If not bringing down quarterbacks coming off the EDGE then bringing down those tasked with running the league he helped become what it is.
Steaming it’s gonna be great Huh!? https://t.co/Tlsm6G5AeV
— Warren Sapp (@WarrenSapp) June 4, 2025
Sure, the NFL doesn’t set these prices. They merely sell broadcasting rights and it’s the corporations that decide the rest. But the league, if it even wishes to, can help mitigate this problem in a variety of ways. Whether they really wish to is a whole ‘nother can of worms. This outrage from Warren Sapp follows his Colorado head coach Deion Sanders’ exposé of the truth behind getting inducted into Canton. And how the NFL inadvertently manages to make its athletes’ ultimate swan song of entering the Hall of Fame a $250,000 blow to them. Figure that.
Warren Sapp’s outrage towards the NFL follows the lead of his HC Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders guested on his and Warren Sapp’s fellow NFL vet Asante Samuel’s Say What Needs To Be Said podcast earlier this week. Amid other just as prominent stuff, he made a revelation that even left Samuel, a potential HOFer, stunned. “I’m going tell you what people don’t know, man. The Hall of Fame costs, too. It ain’t free. The team you played the most years with, you’re gonna have to ride with them. Because if you ain’t riding with them, or they ain’t riding with you, It’s gonna cost you about $250,000,” Coach Prime revealed. Getting your name inducted itself doesn’t actually cost money. Nor did Deion suggest that. But getting inducted accompanies a ceremony and gathering of ex-teammates and family. Deion said that process, including in-house catering services by the Hall and flights to Canton, set you back a quarter of a million.
Deion even reiterated how “$250K was the lowest” out of everyone he’d heard from. It sure makes more sense now why Terrell Owens made the unprecedented decision to skip the ceremony entirely. Deion spoke about how, while the Hall and the NFL aren’t directly correlated, the league should cover the cost for its players. After all, the reason they’re making it is because of their years of service. The NFL reciprocating that by putting up money for the ceremony doesn’t seem like a disingenuous ask whatsoever.
Alas, if the NFL really is shedding extra dollars somewhere, Warren Sapp would probably want it to go towards subsidizing the price of virtual admission for its fans. But this is the reality of the world we’re in, unfortunately. Consumers gon’ consume, and the intrinsic passion of this consumer base means they’ll go above and beyond to get their fix on Sundays.
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