Questions and answers about Peacock’s coverage of Dolphins-Chiefs and how to watch

For Dolphins fans in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market and the Keys, Saturday’s viewing experience will feel pretty normal. Turn on one of the local “free” television stations — NBC 6 in this case — and you will be able to watch the Dolphins play at Kansas City at 8 p.m. in a wild card playoff game.

But for Dolphins fans in most of the country, watching Saturday’s game could be something of a hassle or, at the very least, cost you a few bucks.

Saturday’s Dolphins-Chiefs game will be the first postseason game in NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball history that will air exclusively on a streaming service. In a one-year deal, NBC Universal paid the NFL $110 million for rights to carry a wild card game on its streaming service, Peacock.

In an increasingly crowded and competitive streaming market, NBC hopes that this Saturday night playoff game — as well as a Chargers-Bills game last month — will fuel Peacock subscriptions. Peacock occasionally offers a free trial but NBC says there won’t be one this week.

Also, viewers cannot subscribe only for the Dolphins game; the minimum subscription length for Peacock is one month, at a charge of $5.99. There’s also a $1.99 student rate (with verificiation required) and a special $29.99 12-month offer.

The NBC affiliates in Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Kansas City are the only over-the-air stations permitted to air the game. That’s in line with a league policy that requires that games that are streamed or on cable television also be made available on free TV in the home markets.

But “free TV” stations in the West Palm Beach and Naples/Fort Myers markets will not be allowed to air the game.

The NFL began streaming games in 2015 and Amazon has streamed games on Thursday nights the past two seasons.

But why did the NFL agree to a streaming-only playoff game, which some consider a bridge too far?

“The NFL’s media strategy has been to make our games available in as many ways as possible to meet our fans where they spend their time,” a league spokesperson said. “To continue that strategy while staying on top of changing consumption habits, we are increasingly expanding the digital distribution of NFL content. Bringing the excitement of an NFL playoff game exclusively to Peacock’s streaming platform is the next step in that strategy.”

Some viewers had hoped that the league would put less popular teams than the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Dolphins in the Peacock Saturday night slot. But that was never the NFL’s plan, according to a source with direct knowledge.

As the source described it, the NFL wanted to take care of all of its rights holders, and Peacock, with an attractive game. Fox got the coveted Cowboys-Packers game at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, CBS got two popular TV draws in the Steelers and Bills at 1 p.m. Sunday, ESPN was assigned a game between the fourth and fifth NFC seeds on Monday night (Philadelphia-Tampa Bay), while NBC was given an appealing Lions-Rams matchup of quarterbacks who are playing against their former teams (Jared Goff and Matt Stafford).

According to the source, the Dolphins-Chiefs game at that point was essentially “left over” and given to Peacock, with NBC airing the weekend’s least appealing TV game, Cleveland-Houston at 4:30 p.m.

The NFL could have placed the Dolphins-Chiefs game on NBC at 4:30 and the Browns-Texans game on Peacock at 8, but the league and NBC wanted Peacock to have one of the weekend’s more attractive games, to help promote a streaming service that expects to have additional exclusive games in the future.

Viewership assuredly will be far less than what NFL games draw on linear television. As perspective, NBC’s Sunday Night Football games averaged 21.4 million viewers this season, while the Dec. 18 Chargers-Bills game on Peacock drew 7.3 million viewers.

Last year’s wild card playoff games averaged 28.8 million viewers. That’s nearly the number of Peacock’s total subscriber base (reportedly 30 million). That compares with 247 million subscribers for Netflix and 200 million for Amazon Prime.

But Dolphins-Chiefs could become the most streamed sports event in history, a distinction now held by Amazon’s coverage of the Nov. 30 Cowboys-Seahawks game and the Sept. 14 Vikings-Eagles game, which each drew 15 million viewers.

For those outside South Florida, some questions and answers:

▪ What kind of television do you need to watch the Dolphins game on Peacock?

Smart TVs have access to streaming channels, but you don’t necessarily need one to get Peacock.

A streaming device — such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku, Apple TV or DirecTV Gemini device — can make a ‘regular’ television work as a Smart TV. Those devices sell in the $50 range.

▪ Can you watch the game on a computer or mobile device instead?

Yes. The Peacock app is available for download to desktops, mobile, tablets, connected TVs and other devices. Here’s the complete list of supported devices and platforms.

▪ If you don’t live in South Florida or Kansas City, is there a way to get the game without subscribing to Peacock (and without going to a sports bar or restaurant)?

There is one other legal alternative, according to the league: By subscribing to NFL Plus, which distributes playoff games and other NFL content only on mobile devices, at a cost of $6.99 per month. If you get NFL Plus, you can watch the game without purchasing a subscription to Peacock.

▪ Will the game be available on NFL Sunday Ticket?

It will not.

▪ Can you watch the game at a restaurant or sports bar?

Yes, if the owner or manager of the sports bar purchased the game from EverPass, which was authorized by the league to sell rights to this game to commercial establishments. Before leaving your house, we recommend calling your favorite sports bar to confirm it will air the game.

▪ Will NBC 6 in South Florida and Peacock air the same broadcast?

Yes. The Miami and Kansas City NBC stations are simulcasting the Peacock broadcast.

▪ Will it look and sound like a regular NBC telecast?

Yes. Mike Tirico, NBC’s lead NFL announcer, will call the game. But he will be joined by former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, who worked the Ravens-Chargers game with Tirico on Thanksgiving weekend.

Cris Collinsworth, NBC’s lead analyst, was assigned to the Sunday night Lions-Rams game with Tirico.

▪ Will there be commercials during the Dolphins-Chiefs game?

During the first three quarters, yes. But not during the fourth quarter.

▪ During the game, can we expect a lot of promotions for Peacock programming?

Of course. Peacock’s goal Saturday night is to drive subscriptions and, as NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said, “to get people to watch all this various content that we have across the Peacock service, whether it’s Universal Films or its library content like The Office and Parks and Rec. We’re launching Ted this week with Seth MacFarlane, a show based upon the movie, and Traitors, an unscripted show. There’s a wealth of content that people may be unaware it exists.”

▪ If you’re an out-of-market Dolphins fan and don’t want to buy Peacock or NFL Plus and cannot find a restaurant or sports bar airing the game, what other options do you have?

Listening to the game on radio; Kevin Harlan and Ross Tucker have the call on Westwood One nationally.

▪ If you live north of Broward County (but not in Kansas City) and absolutely refuse to get Peacock or NFL Plus and cannot find a restaurant/bar carrying the game, will you ever be able to watch it?

Yes. NFL Network will air a replay of the game at 3 a.m. Sunday.