NFL+ fell at the very first hurdle of the new season, with the premium service struggling to function and deliver preseason action to paying customers as gridiron play returned
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was called out by fans for allowing the league's streaming service to be so poor
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was called out by fans for allowing the league's streaming service to be so poor(Image: Getty Images)
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Fans lashed out at NFL+ after the streaming platform suffered issues for the very first round of preseason games ahead of the 2026 season.
On Thursday, with training camps underway across the league, preseason kicked off to give fans their first taste of competitive football. However, the NFL’s streaming platform failed to deliver.
Numerous NFL+ subscribers reported problems in both logging in and accessing preseason games through the league’s paid streaming service. The issues were particularly surprising, especially given the league has had a whole offseason to address them - and still charge users $6.99 a month.
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One user tagged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in an attempt to highlight how poor the coverage was, writing: “hey @nfl go ahead and refund us for your terrible @NFLPlus product if you’re not gonna let us watch games and login properly to access what we paid for cc: @nflcommish.”
It became immediately clear that they were not the only user with problems. Another wrote: “Its AWFUL. TERRIBLE. The games keep crashing. I can't believe they're charging for this GARBAGE product.”
“so dumb, the first day anyone is trying to use the app and they can't figure it out for 5 pre season games,” another posted, highlighting the fact that this is the first hurdle and NFL+ has clattered into it.
Another vented: “It’s been the worst product for years. It’s never worked properly since it started. Sad that with partners like @YouTube and @amazon they don’t just let them run it and get out of the way.”
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Fernando Mendoza threw a touchdown on his preseason debut with the Raiders
Fernando Mendoza threw a touchdown on his preseason debut with the Raiders(Image: Getty Images)
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“Lad I unsubscribed a while back. Maybe when the regular season kicks off (about a month from now) again, I will give it another shot? Wasn't a fan of being restricted to access via only my tablet. Couldn't sign up/sign in w my Amazon fire TV. No screen-casting either!” one more fan wrote in frustrations.
Most fans were just “annoyed” and “disappointed” with the poor quality of the NFL+ service, with one user particularly aggrieved by their lack of acknowledgement.
Another compared NFL+ to MLB’s version, and how the gridiron edition is so much worse: “I missed almost the entire first quarter of the game trying to sign back into the app. You know, when the starters would actually be on the field. NFL+ is so much worse than MLB at Bat. It is an embarrassment.”
Three of the six games on the Aug. 13 schedule were available through ESPN Unlimited or NFL Network, while the other three were available to stream through NFL+.