How to watch 2025 Chicago Bears: Schedule, streaming for Year 2 of Caleb Williams

The Chicago Bears have installed their tent-pole hopeful under center, as Caleb Williams set just about every franchise rookie passing record last fall. They’ve now added an offensive-minded coach in 39-year-old Ben Johnson, who arrives at Halas Hall from a historically good scoring punch in Detroit. One of the most indefatigable fan bases in football practices a ritualistic skepticism, and it’s well-earned after so much heartbreak. Yet the 2025 Bears could be … dare we say it … fun to watch?

Actually finding and accessing the games is more cumbersome than ever, though. In addition to the usual channel rotation of CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC/ESPN and NFL Network, this season’s streaming rights also extend to Amazon Prime, Netflix, Peacock and YouTube. It can get exhausting (and annoying) to keep up with all these changes, so we’ve compiled a leaguewide overview of how the current broadcast carousel works. All of the info below is formatted specifically for the Bears’ 2025 schedule (pre-time flexes, which start as early as Week 5 this year).

Make sure you’re also following the NFL on The Athletic. Our Bears beat reporters are the excellent Kevin Fishbain (Northwestern!) and Dan Wiederer (Illinois!). Founding editor Jon Greenberg will also have consistent dispatches from Soldier Field.

Cable/satellite/streaming base

The first thing we’ll need to watch all 17 Bears games (or more, who knows?!) is a television package. Here are the most popular options, contingent on local availability, with pricing as of September 2025:

Average monthly cost: $85-100. Depending on the carrier, this will cover all NFL action except for out-of-market games, “Thursday Night Football” on Prime and the Christmas slate on Netflix.

Sunday afternoon, in market

CBS and Fox

Our dueling homes for the busiest part of the weekly schedule. A majority of Bears games will fall into the Sunday afternoon bulk, kicking off at either noon or 3-3:30 p.m.

For the most part, CBS has the AFC home games and Fox has the NFC ones. That’s not absolute, though (blame something called the “cross flex,” which sounds like a Ben Johnson thing more than a media rights thing). In general, these over-the-air channels show games pertinent to the region. When there’s no local team to prioritize, they’ll show a game of national intrigue. Fox specifically brands this second afternoon window as “America’s Game of the Week,” and it features the usual suspects with later kickoffs (a lot of Cowboys, Packers, Chiefs and Niners here last season).

Both networks have broadcast teams to spread around the league on Sundays. Here’s a refresher on those lead crews:

CBS —“Hello Friends” Team

Jim Nantz and Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois legend, first and foremost) / Tracy Wolfson sideline

Ian Eagle and JJ Watt / Evan Washburn

Kevin Harlan and Trent Green / Melanie Collins

Andrew Catalon, Charles Davis and Jason McCourty / AJ Ross

Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta / Aditi Kinkhabwala

Bears games on CBS

Fox —“Dancing Robots” Team

Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady / Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi sideline

Joe Davis and Greg Olsen ( hello, dear friend ) / Pam Oliver

Adam Amin (voice of the Chicago Bulls!) and Mark Sanchez / Kristina Pink

Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma / Megan Olivi

Kevin Kugler and Daryl Johnston / Allison Williams

Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth / Jen Hale

Bears games on Fox

What you’ll need to watch: One of the aforementioned cable or streaming packages, or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access. Local CBS games can also be streamed on Paramount+ (starting at $7.99/month). Local Fox games can also be streamed on Fox One (starting at $19.99/month).

Sunday afternoon, out of market

NFL Sunday Ticket

Whether you’re a Chicagoan far from home or caught the ’85 “Super Bowl Shuffle” energy against your best intentions, out-of-market Bears fans need NFL Sunday Ticket to unlock those Sunday games. For an extra fee, you can get NFL RedZone, the frenetic live whip-around anchored by Scott Hanson. That man is peerless in his love for American football.

What you’ll need to watch: YouTube is the current digital home provider of NFL Sunday Ticket (DirecTV carries it for businesses). New Sunday Ticket users can subscribe for $276/year, which comes out to $23/month. Returning users with YouTube TV are charged $378, or $31.50/month, and those without YouTube TV pay $480 ($40/month). These are the prices without RedZone.

Additionally, the league’s NFL+ Premium app has standalone RedZone access for 12 installments of $14.99. Full out-of-market games can’t be streamed live here, though, making it a better option for fantasy players rather than dedicated team loyalists.

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that ESPN recently sold 10% of its equity to the NFL in exchange for league media assets (NFL Network, cable RedZone rights and fantasy football games). Now, the new ESPN Unlimited direct-to-consumer (DTC) service is offering a bundle with NFL+ Premium for $39.99/month.

Average monthly cost: $23-40

“Sunday Night Football”

NBC

Sundays always end with “Sunday Night Football,” featuring Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth in the booth. Tirico is the successor to longtime SNF voice Al Michaels. Collinsworth, well … “ here’s a guy” who gets really excited about nickel corners and pass-blocking running backs. Melissa Stark is NBC’s Sunday night sideline reporter.

As we get into the later weeks, NBC will flex into matchups with greater playoff implications. The same goes for ABC/ESPN (Mondays) and Prime Video (Thursdays). Network flexing is a contentious issue, though. Putting a more compelling game on national TV rewards viewers at home, but sudden schedule changes obviously hurt traveling fans. For SNF in Weeks 5-13, a flex must be announced at least 12 days before the game. That window halves to a six-day warning in Weeks 14-17.

Bears games on NBC

What you’ll need to watch: A TV package, or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access, or a Peacock account (sports subscription with ads starts at $10.99 per month).

“Monday Night Football”

ESPN, ABC

Here’s where you’ll find end-of-week pageantry with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and that inescapable theme music. Industry vet Lisa Salters dispatches from the sideline, along with Laura Rutledge. When there are multiple Monday night listings, Chris Fowler does play-by-play on the doubleheader’s other game, with former safety Louis Riddick and former quarterback Dan Orlovsky on color commentary. Katie George and Peter Schrager cover the sidelines with that group. The MNF crew for ESPN Deportes includes play-by-play woman Rebeca Landa and analyst Sebastian Martinez-Christensen, with sideline reports from MJ Acosta-Ruiz and the incomparable John Sutcliffe.

There is usually a simulcast on ESPN2 anchored by Peyton and Eli Manning. Sometimes, the Super Bowl-winning brothers offer unique vantage points on late-game situations. We get shenanigans in equal measure, because what else is this format for? There will be a “ManningCast” showing during the Bears’ first MNF game, but sadly not for the Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels encore from last season.

Bears games on ABC/ESPN

What you’ll need to watch: A TV package, or a broadcast antenna for free over-the-air access to ABC. ABC and ESPN are also available with the new ESPN DTC service ($29.99 per month).

“Thursday Night Football”

Prime Video

This marks year No. 4 of TNF on Amazon. Al Michaels does play-by-play, and he’s joined by Kirk Herbstreit (“College GameDay” staple and Golden Retriever enthusiast). Kaylee Hartung handles the sideline reporting. Thursday games are on the Prime Video app for national audiences, and broadcasts are free over the air in the two teams’ home markets. Alternatively, TNF can be streamed on Twitch or with an NFL+ subscription (mobile only, however).

Last year’s ill-fated first TNF flex did not lead to new safeguards; rather, the league reduced the notice window from 28 days down to 21. Again, those flexes favor folks at home who want exciting and relevant late-season viewing, but it brings chaos to ticket holders and the participating teams themselves.

Bears games on Prime Video

What you’ll need to watch: Amazon Prime, which costs $14.99 per month, NFL+ ($6.99/month) or a registered Twitch account.

Average monthly cost: $0-15

The Bears have avoided the NFL’s ever-expanding international slate this year. Those time slots can get disorienting for fans and players alike. There are still two unknowns on Chicago’s schedule, however. In Week 16, the Bears host the Packers on Saturday at a time that has yet to be announced.

Then, the Week 18’s finale versus Detroit is a TBD “flex game,” with no network listed. The entirety of the Week 18 schedule will be announced after Week 17 is in the books. We at least know it won’t be a Thursday or Monday game, though Week 18 does have some Saturday slots reserved for matchups with playoff gravity.

All right, we’ve made it through to the other side. There’s a timeout … where? … in this piece … oh. Take the rest of that time to enjoy an all-time great rap song:

Bears single-season records

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