Chicago Streaming Tax Increases NFL Thanksgiving Costs by 10%

Streaming NFL games this holiday season comes with high taxes if you live in Chicago. The city adds an extra 10% to streaming prices through a local amusement tax. But why should city leaders get paid so you can enjoy football from the comfort of your living room? That’s a fair question.

If you’re looking to watch every game on Thanksgiving and Black Friday with YouTube TV, Peacock, Paramount+, Amazon, and Prime accounts, be prepared for an additional 10.25% charge on top of the monthly costs of these services. That’s over $11 extra in November if you subscribe to all of them.

Chicago treats at-home streaming the same as attending a ticketed entertainment event, which is what the amusement tax was originally intended for. The city expanded its definition of “amusement” in 2015 to include streaming services. But is it really fair to compare watching football from your living room to attending a live event?

When you pay an amusement tax on a live sporting event, it’s partly because the city incurs expenses for crowd control and public transportation to the event. Watching Thanksgiving football at home doesn’t have those added costs, so why should you be charged an amusement tax?

And to make matters worse, the tax increased from 9% to 10.25% at the beginning of 2025. The cost to the city remains the same whether a viewer has one streaming subscription or five – the city is not an internet service provider.

This growing gap between what the city collects in taxes and the services it provides is becoming more apparent. Streaming taxes are just another layer to the cost of living, giving Chicagoans yet another reason to consider leaving the city.