Will 2025 NFL & College Football Games Be Available In 4K?

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, any word on whether the NFL and College Football games will be in 4K this year? – Jamal, Sacramento.

Jamal, this is another topic that readers are very curious about so I thought it would be a good time to update with the college season underway and the NFL starting today.

Despite what some people have been led to believe, there is no indication that the networks’ 4K coverage of the 2025 football season will be any different than the 2024 season. That means both ESPN and Fox will offer from 10 to 20 college games in upscaled 4K. (Upscaled to 4K from 1080p HD.) And Fox will likely broadcast the annual Thanksgiving game and the 2025 playoffs in 4K. (The last two seasons, Fox has done every Fox-produced playoff game in 4K.)

But it’s highly unlikely that ESPN or any other streamer/channel will do any football games in 4K with the exception of NBC offering Notre Dame home games (and Big Ten college games) in the format. The reason for this also remains the same. The networks have little incentive to do games in 4K; it costs more money to do a game in 4K (even one just upscaled) and there’s no evidence that a 4K game drives improved ratings or additional advertising dollars to justify the extra expense. Networks are not in the business of being altruistic or anything else besides making money, folks.

If anything changes here, you’ll hear it first from your TV Answer Man. But as the old saying goes, it is what it is.

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