How to Stream NFL Games Without Cable

Streaming services from Amazon Prime to YouTube TV give football fans more ways to see games this year

By James K. Willcox

With the NFL season ready to kick off Sept. 8, football fans who have decided to cut the cable cord have plenty of options for streaming NFL action this season. With the right streaming services, you can watch Sunday afternoon games on CBS and Fox, “Sunday Night Football” on NBC, and “Monday Night Football” on ESPN.

One big change this season is that Amazon Prime now has the exclusive rights to “Thursday Night Football,” which kicks off Sept. 15; it’s no longer spread across Prime, Fox, and the NFL Network as it was last year.

Additionally, some games will be available on newer streaming services, such as Paramount+ (formerly called CBS All Access) and Peacock, from NBCUniversal.

If you’re using a cable replacement streaming service, you may already have access to a decent number of games, as well as Super Bowl LVII, which is being broadcast on Fox this year. However, live local channels aren’t available on all cable replacement streaming services in all markets. You’ll need these channels to watch games in your area, so review the channel lineups before subscribing to a service such as DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

Here are just a couple more notes before we list all your streaming options.

First, perhaps the biggest news is that the NFL just released its own paid service, called NFL+. Basically, the service replaces NFL Game Pass and the NFL Mobile app, offering subscribers access to live in-market Sunday afternoon games, as well as national games in prime time on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday nights, with one key caveat—they can only be viewed on a smartphone or tablet. (See more on NFL+ below.)

Second, Fox Sports plans to show “Thursday Night Football” games in 4K HDR, or high dynamic range, as it did last year. (The games are actually produced in 1080p; Fox then upconverts them for viewers with 4K HDR TVs.)

Games in 4K HDR will be available through the Fox Sports and Fox Now apps on Apple TV 4K and select Roku devices, plus FuboTV and YouTube TV streaming packages that carry the channel. Additionally, some viewers can get 4K service from pay TV providers such as Altice/Optimum, Comcast Xfinity, DirecTV, and Verizon FiOS.

See “Give Your Set an NFL Season TV Tuneup” to make your TV picture look its best this season. Need to upgrade your streaming media device? You can see some of our top picks below.

Amazon Prime

“Thursday Night Football” games were split across three networks/services last year, but this season Amazon Prime is the exclusive home for Thursday night NFL action. It’s part of a long-term deal that runs through 2032. Amazon—and its subsidiary Twitch—will stream the nationally broadcast “TNF” game each week. You’ll still be able to watch free over-the air broadcasts for the teams in each of their local markets. Amazon also has the right to show one preseason game per year.

We expect that, like last year, Amazon will get one or two exclusive late-season games and will show a wild-card playoff game that’s also on other networks.

Sign up here: Amazon Prime Video

DirecTV Stream

DirecTV Stream is the new name for what used to be AT&T TV and AT&T TV Now.

DirecTV Stream plans start at $70 per month for a package with about 65 channels. You can watch NFL games on all four broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—in most markets, plus ESPN. The only games you won’t get are the exclusive “Thursday Night Football” games on Amazon.

The big news for DirecTV Stream is that subscribers to the Choice tier and above are getting access to the 2022 NFL Sunday Ticket Max plan at no extra cost. This package includes NFL Sunday Ticket, which lets you stream live, out-of-market NFL regular season games on Sundays. The Max plan gives you extras such as the NFL’s Red Zone Channel and DirecTV Fantasy Zone.

Sign up here: DirecTV Stream

DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket

People who subscribe to DirectTV Stream’s most expensive tiers get NFL Sunday Ticket Max for no extra charge, as described above. But AT&T also lets anyone subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket, with or without the Max plan that provides the Red Zone Channel and DirecTV Fantasy Zone.

NFL Sunday Ticket is the most comprehensive NFL package you can get, offering every Sunday afternoon out-of-market game. (It doesn’t include games shown on your local channels.)

You’ll need to provide your address to check your eligibility. Then, you can get NFLSundayTicket.TV for $293.96, or $73.49 per month for four months. The step-up NFL Sunday Ticket Max plan costs $395.99 for the season, or $99 per month.

College students can get NFLSundayTicket.TV U, which includes everything in the TV Max plan, for just $120, or $30 a month for four months.

Sign up here: NFLSundayTicket.TV

FuboTV

The sports-centric FuboTV costs $70 a month. With it, you get games on CBS, Fox, and NBC in many markets.

Last year FuboTV finally inked a deal for ESPN, so you now get access to “Monday Night Football.” But, unlike last year, you can’t watch Thursday night games, which are being streamed only on Amazon and Twitch. Fox hasn’t said whether it will offer any Sunday games in 4K; last year the Thursday night games were offered in that higher resolution. However, Fox could show Super Bowl LVII in 4K in February.

NFL RedZone, with game highlights and replays from every Sunday game, can be added as part of FuboTV’s $11-per-month Sports Plus add-on pack, or the pricier ($100 a month) Ultimate plan.

Sign up here: FuboTV

Hulu + Live TV

Priced at $70 per month with ads (and $76 without), Hulu’s live TV service, called Hulu + Live TV, provides access to ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC local broadcasts in many markets.

You can also get CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports, as well as the NFL Network, though like other services Hulu + Live TV no longer carries Thursday night games. You can add NFL RedZone for an additional $10 per month as part of a sports add-on pack.

Sign up here: Hulu + Live TV

Network Apps

If you subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service, you may be able to watch football when you’re on the go by using a network’s mobile app. The following apps all require authentication, meaning you need to be a cable or satellite subscriber.

• CBS Sports: In addition to people who sign up for Paramount+, the network lets “authenticated” CBS viewers—anyone who gets CBS through a pay TV service—stream games via the CBS Sports app, and online at CBS.com.

• Fox Sports: The Fox TV Everywhere app offers live coverage of local-market games and regional sports networks. You can also access the games through most cable-style streaming services, such as FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV. You can watch NFL games via FoxSports.com on your laptop or tablet and some streaming devices—including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku. You get access only to the channels in your TV lineup.

• NBC Sports: NBC will stream every 2022 “Sunday Night Football” game live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App. Both require authentication proving that you have a cable, satellite, or live streaming TV subscription, and both will let you watch football on an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, a computer, a Samsung smart TV, many streaming players, and Xbox game consoles. The games will also be available on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service (see below).

• WatchESPN: ESPN’s mobile app delivers “Monday Night Football,” along with shows such as “SportsCenter” once you authenticate that you get ESPN via a paid TV service. The newer $10-a-month ESPN+ streaming service doesn’t have live “Monday Night Football” games, though they are coming in 2023. This year, though, ESPN+ will have one live international game, the Broncos vs. the Jaguars at London’s Wembley Stadium on Oct. 30. You can access WatchESPN on your computer, smartphone, tablet, Xbox game console, and streaming players, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and Roku.

NFL+

Basically, NFL Game Pass—which used to let you watch pretty much any game you wanted, but only after the game’s original broadcast is over—has now morphed into NFL+, the league’s new streaming service. The service also replaces the NFL Mobile app, which allowed you to watch live games on a mobile device.

There are two pricing tiers. The basic NFL+ plan costs $5 a month and lets you watch games live on a smartphone or tablet, and also access the on-demand NFL Films library. NFL+ Premium costs $10 a month and adds full-game and condensed-game replays, plus access to the Coaches Film (all the plays from each game).

Sign up here: NFL+

Paramount+

If you like watching Sunday afternoon football games, you’ll want access to CBS. Cord-cutters can use the company’s Paramount+ streaming service (previously called CBS All Access). It offers access to the entire CBS NFL football season. (Note that this year the Super Bowl shifts to Fox.)

In addition to regional AFC Sunday afternoon games, you also get an AFC Wild Card showdown, AFC divisional playoff contests, and the AFC Championship game. (A second Wild Card game will be added to the CBS Sports lineup during the 2024, 2029, and 2033 seasons.) Also included are all NFL-related pregame shows, including “The NFL on CBS,” plus “Inside the NFL,” which has moved from Showtime to Paramount+.

The games will be available on both the $5-a-month ad-supported Paramount+ Essential service and the $10-a-month ad-free Premium version. You can also stream games on mobile devices.

Sign up here: Paramount+

Peacock

Peacock, a streaming service from NBCUniversal, lets you watch Sunday night NFL games broadcast on NBC, provided you opt for one of the paid Peacock services—live football isn’t available on the free version.

The ad-supported Peacock Premium service costs $5 a month. The $10 a month ad-free Premium Plus tier removes the ads, but only on nonlive programming.

Peacock has added some 4K movies to its lineup recently, but NBC hasn’t yet said whether it will offer any NFL games in 4K this year.

Sign up here: Peacock

Sling TV

Sling TV is a mixed bag for football fans. Though it includes NBC, Fox, the NFL Network, and ESPN in many markets, it’s missing ABC and CBS, so you won’t get some of the Monday Night Football games simulcast on ABC, or the AFC games that CBS shows on Sunday afternoons. Also, you’ll need to subscribe to both the Blue (NBC, Fox, NFL Network) and Orange (ESPN) plans to get all the games. Each plan costs $35 a month, but you can get a combined plan for $50 a month. You can add NFL Red Zone as part of an $11-a-month Sports Extra add-on.

Sign up here: Sling TV

YouTube TV

YouTube TV offers 70-plus channels—including all the major broadcast networks, plus the ESPN networks and Fox Sports—for $65 per month. So YouTube TV subscribers should have access to all the NFL action except for “TNF” on Amazon.

It also has the NFL Network, plus the ability to add NFL RedZone in the Sports Plus tier for an additional $11 per month.

Also, YouTube TV now has a 4K HDR option, which costs an additional $10 a month for the first year. As we noted above with FuboTV above, it’s not clear whether Fox will offer any regular-season games in 4K this year, as it did with “TNF” games in 2021. But it is likely that Fox will broadcast Super Bowl LVII in 4K in February.

Sign up here: YouTube TV

Product Picks

Whichever service you choose, you’ll enjoy the game more if you use a trusty device to stream it to your TV. Here are a few of the best-rated streaming media devices from CR’s ratings, listed in alphabetical order.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

Apple TV 4K (32GB, 2021)

Google Chromecast with Google TV

Roku Streaming Stick 4K+

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