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After a break of several months, a new NFL season has kicked off. With Thursday’s opener now behind us, it’s time to start focusing on the other aspect of NFL prep: figuring out how to watch all the action on Sunday.
As always, paying for cable is usually the easiest solution. For cord-cutters who want to save some money, however, NFL football streaming options get a bit more complicated. Your best bet is to subscribe to a live TV streaming service, but the sheer number of channels that carry live games — local CBS, NBC and Fox channels, as well as the national feeds of NFL Network and ESPN — means you’ll either have to get a relatively expensive service or make a compromise and likely miss some games every week.
The only way to get a full football experience is to have a whole litany of channels from your TV provider. Sunday NFC games are largely on Fox, AFC games are on CBS and Sunday night football is on NBC. Monday night football is only on ESPN. Though Fox has most Thursday night games (with additional streaming on Amazon Prime Video), there are several that are available only on NFL Network.
With all that in mind, we offer our recommendations for the best way to watch NFL without cable.
Read more: YouTube TV vs. Hulu vs. Sling TV vs. Philo vs. FuboTV vs. AT&T TV: 100 channels compared
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Best for everything: YouTube TV ($65)
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Our pick from last year remains our go-to choice for 2021.
At $65 per month each, FuboTV’s Starter plan, Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV check all the NFL boxes. Local channels CBS, NBC and Fox are included in many markets, as are ESPN and the NFL Network, so you can watch Sundays, Monday night and Thursday night.
Want RedZone for following your fantasy team? That’s available on all three services as part of an add-on. YouTube TV users can add the $11 per month Sports Plus add-on by clicking on your profile and going to Settings, then the Membership tab. FuboTV users can go into My Profile and choose Manage Add-ons for its $11 per month Sports Plus with NFL RedZone offering.
After adding the NFL Network in July, Hulu users can now add RedZone for $10 per month with its Sports add-on.
Both YouTube TV and FuboTV allow for three people to watch at once (Hulu allows for two live streams) and all three have apps on nearly every mobile device and major streaming platform including Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Roku and Apple TV.
While all three are largely similar, we like YouTube TV for its superior DVR (unlimited storage compared to 250 hours on FuboTV and 50 hours on Hulu) and that it, unlike Fubo, includes the Turner channels.
Both YouTube TV and FuboTV will stream Thursday Night Football games in 4K, but only Fubo includes the higher quality broadcasts with its base package. To watch in 4K on YouTube TV you’ll need to spend another $20 per month.
Worth noting: YouTube TV and Hulu are each running promotions that drop their respective $65 monthly prices down to $55 per month for the first three months for new users. This should take you through much of the NFL regular season before the pricing jumps by $10 per month.
DirecTV Stream AT&T TV (formerly AT&T TV) offers most of the main broadcast channels, but starts at $70 per month and lacks NFL Network and RedZone.
Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plan for $50 a month gets you ESPN and the NFL Network, and, in select major markets, Fox and/or NBC, but you’ll still lack CBS. You can also add RedZone for $15 per month with the Sports Extra add-on.
The cheapest way to stream NFL RedZone
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A frequent fan-favorite method of following all the NFL action, RedZone is a way to catch every big play around the league. The cheapest road to RedZone is through getting Sling TV Blue for $35 per month and adding the $11 per month Sports Extra add-on.
This option can also be streamed on a host of devices including iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and web browsers.
Sling is currently offering a discount on the first month of Sling Blue, dropping the price to $10 for the main package.
Note: If you only subscribe to Sling’s Orange package you won’t be able to get RedZone in Sports Extra. Your base package needs to be either Sling Blue or its larger Sling Blue Plus Orange bundle to be able to get RedZone as an add-on. If you do the latter, the Sports Extra add-on is $15 per month as you will also get additional channels like the SEC Network, ACC Network and PAC 12 Network.
Budget alternative for NFC fans in big cities: Sling Blue ($35) or an antenna ($10 or free)
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Those looking to save some cash might want to check out Sling Blue for $35 a month. While it lacks ESPN, meaning you’ll miss out on Monday Night Football, in select markets you’ll be able to get Fox and NBC. The catch is that those markets are mainly in big cities, so if you live outside one of those areas, Sling Blue might not be for you.
You can also add RedZone through the company’s $11 per month Sports Extra add-on.
Fox, of course, broadcasts most NFC and Thursday night games (with the others on NFL Network and/or Amazon Prime Video), while NBC has Sunday Night Football. CBS, which broadcasts the bulk of AFC games, isn’t included on Sling at all. But an antenna can fill those local channel gaps.
Local and prime-time games will also be available to watch for free on your iOS or Android phone or tablet through the Yahoo Sports app. You cannot, however, cast this feed to your big screen.
Budget alternatives for AFC fans: Paramount Plus (or an antenna)
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There are some apps that offer CBS’ slate of Sunday AFC games live, including Paramount Plus’ Premium tier for $10 per month. Depending on where you live, however, your local CBS station (and those NFL games) might not be available. CBS offers livestreaming services in many markets; you can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
An antenna is another option for getting CBS, as is watching on the Yahoo Sports app. And as we mentioned above, an over-the-air antenna connected to your TV provides another free option, no streaming required, as long as you have good reception.
Thursday Night Football: NFL Network, Fox, Amazon Prime
The 2021 schedule of NFL Network games.
NFL
Thursday Night Football is probably the most complicated part of the NFL streaming schedule. Most games will be available on the NFL Network, Fox, Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.
A handful of games, however, are also being shown exclusively on the NFL Network, including the Week 5 London game between the Jets and Falcons, and the Week 15 Saturday doubleheader with matchups that are yet to be announced.
As mentioned above, if you want the NFL Network you’re going to need FuboTV, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling TV Blue or YouTube TV or use the Yahoo Sports app.
What about Sunday Ticket?
NFL Sunday Ticket is still largely limited to DirecTV satellite subscribers, though those who live in buildings that can’t add a satellite dish can get a streaming version to watch football starting at $294 for its To Go package, or $396 for a Max package that includes the RedZone channel (a student version is also available at a discount). You can check your address on the Sunday Ticket site.
The problem here, however, is even if you’re eligible it doesn’t include your local games. You can only watch Sunday games that aren’t being broadcast on CBS, Fox or NBC in your area.
