Prime-time games should be easy to watch. However, the NFL features only a handful of marquee games each week of the season. Head coach Mike Macdonald and his Seattle Seahawks have four such games on the 2025 schedule, but one will not be treated as much by ESPN and the NFL.
Seattle's four prime-time games are two on Thursday nights on Amazon Prime Video (Week 4 versus the Arizona Cardinals and Week 16 versus the Los Angeles Rams), one on Sunday Night Football on NBC (Week 9 versus the Washington Commanders), and one on Monday Night Football.
Well, sort of. The issue is that the Monday game will not be your normal viewing experience. During the regular season, most games can be seen on local television channels or networks such as ESPN, NBC, ABC, or streamers like Amazon or Netflix. Netflix carries two games on Christmas Day, but everyone already assumes that one must subscribe to see the games.
Seahawks fans should be peeved at ESPN over change to Week 7 viewing options
We expect to be able to watch any games on ESPN with our cable package. Fans can see games on the NFL Sunday Ticket, but people understand they have to pay for that experience. We don't expect that with ESPN.
The Seahawks' Week 7 game versus the Houston Texans is now only going to be available on ESPN+, unless a fan lives in the local Seattle or Houston areas. Lots of 12s live in the Pacific Northwest, but many don't. Plus, Seahawks fans want other fans to be able to watch Seattle do their thing.
The kickoff time will also keep many people from watching. The game will not start until 7 p.m. PT (which is, of course, 10 p.m. ET). But if you live outside of Seattle and Houston, you must subscribe to ESPN+ to view the contest.
Current rates for the streamer are $11.99 a month or $119.99 yearly. Maybe that is far less than a single-game ticket to an NFL game, but most people wanting to watch the Seahawks and Texans are not planning to fly to Seattle to see the game in person. Instead, fans will be forced to fork over an extra cost that is a money grab for ESPN. Many will simply decide not to watch.
ESPN gets the chance to screw over NFL fans once a season. This year, it is the Seahawks' turn. The game was their only scheduled Monday Night Football matchup, but it doesn't seem like an MNF game.
