While there's always plenty of focus on the San Francisco 49ers' regular-season schedule any given year (those are the games that count, after all), preseason action is a wonderful warmup fans enjoy to get themselves back in the mood for football.
If you're residing in Northern California or within one of the Niners' regional TV broadcast areas, you'll have little trouble tuning into the action.
However, if you're a San Francisco fan living outside the local market, things might be a bit more difficult during the exhibition phase, especially considering the 49ers won't be featured on any primetime preseason games in 2025.
Instead, as shared by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, you'll be treated to the following nationally televised exhibition bouts:
The 2025 NFL preseason schedule has been announced. Here is the team-by-team and nationally televised games pic.twitter.com/1i0vR9gGIT
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 29, 2025
- Hall of Fame Game (Thursday, July 31): Los Angeles Chargers vs. Detroit Lions -- 8 p.m. ET on NBC
- Preseason Week 2 (Sunday, Aug. 17): Buffalo Bills @ Chicago Bears -- 8 p.m. ET on Fox
- Preseason Week 2 (Monday, Aug. 18): Cincinnati Bengals @ Washington Commanders -- 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
- Preseason Week 3 (Thursday, Aug. 21): New England Patriots @ New York Giants -- 8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime
- Preseason Week 3 (Friday, Aug. 22): Minnesota Vikings @ Tennessee Titans -- 8 p.m. ET on CBS
49ers won't have primetime preseason games in 2025
The Niners' three exhibition bouts are all against AFC West teams, kicked off with joint practices against their preseason Week 1 opponent, the Denver Broncos:
- Preseason Week 1 (Saturday, Aug. 9) vs. Denver Broncos -- 8:30 p.m. ET
- Preseason Week 2 (Saturday, Aug. 16) @ Las Vegas Raiders -- 4 p.m. ET
- Preseason Week 3 (Saturday, Aug. 23) vs. Los Angeles Chargers -- 8:30 p.m. ET
Out-of-market fans can subscribe to a streaming service like NFL+ to watch San Francisco in preseason action live.
Again, though, these games don't count aside from helping the 49ers determine their opening 53-man roster.
So, while no primetime games prior to Week 1 of the regular season isn't great for non-Bay Area fans, at least those fans can take comfort in the Niners playing in prime time five times this season.