The NFL season has begun and with that comes the many different options of how to stream the games for either free or lower cost than paying for traditional cable or satellite plans.
For the Sunday games, you’re going to be looking at watching the games on CBS, FOX and NBC. The issue that comes with this is that not all streaming services have those local stations. If you have YouTube TV, you’ll likely be better than most people. However, anything outside of that is hit or miss.
In order to get the local channels, it’s best to live in a big city. This way, you’ll be able to get local affiliates. A lot of the streaming services do not have them, though.
- Sling TV: 7-day free trial
- PlayStation Vue: 5-day free trial
- Hulu with Live TV: 30-day free trial
- DirecTV Now: 7-day free trial
- YouTube TV: 7-day free trial (only available in certain areas)
- Fubo TV: 7-day free trial
When it comes to watching CBS games, your best bet is to have a live TV streaming service that has your local CBS station. The other option would be to use CBS All Access, which will stream the game in your area. This means that if the regional coverage in your area gets the Indianapolis Colts game, then you will only be able to watch the Colts game for that day.
For FOX games, again, you will need a live TV streaming service in order to get access to them in terms of streaming, again, live TV streaming services are going to be the key. However, if you have credentials or have family or a friend that has cable and satellite subscription credentials, you could use the FOX Sports GO app in order to stream NFL games. With that said, it will work the same way that CBS All Access works. It will all depend on what game you get in your area.
All of that applies to when FOX broadcasts Thursday Night Football. What does change is that the games that are broadcasted for Thursday Night Football can be streamed through both NFL Network and Amazon’s Prime Video service. NFL Network can be found on most streaming services, so there is always the option for that.
Sunday Night Football on NBC can be streamed through the NBC Sports Live Extra on their website and iOS devices. Of course, this will only work if you can verify your provider with the credentials for your account. Other than that, your best bet is to get a live TV streaming service and hope that your local NBC station is on it.
Monday Night Football on ESPN gets a lot better. The channel is available on all streaming services except Fubo TV. I should point out that although it is available on Sling TV, it is not available on the Sling Blue plan, which only carries FOX Sports and NBC Sports networks. Both plans start at $25 a month now.
Another way to stream NFL games this year is an expensive one, but worth it if you are a true NFL fan. That way is through the NFL Game Pass streaming service that basically allows you to stream whatever game you want and also watch replays of games too. The service costs $99 for the entire season.
All of the services mentioned in this article can be used with an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Mac and the Apple TV. This streaming solution will apply for the entire 2018 NFL season. Enjoy it while it’s here, America!
