How to Watch NFL Games Live Without Cable in 2023

How to watch NFL without cable in 2024

Written by Zee

September 1, 2023

Wondering how to watch NFL games without cable TV in 2023? You’re not alone. Missing out on sports is a major concern when thinking about ditching cable or satellite TV. And as the most-watched sport in America, football tops the list. 

But fear not, there are plenty of ways to watch live NFL games without cable and still cut costs. With the right streaming package, you can pay less and watch more live NFL games than before. Read on for all you need to know about how to watch NFL without cable in 2023.

Changes in where to watch NFL games

There have been some BIG changes in the football broadcasting world recently, and some of them actually work in our favor. The big news last year was Thursday Night Football moving to Amazon Prime Video.

The biggest change this season is that the NFL’s flagship service—Sunday Ticket—is no longer available through DirecTV, where it lived for almost 30 years. (We’ll talk about its new home below.)

However, Sunday Ticket may not be the best ticket in town. (Spoiler Alert: it definitely is not.) We’ll help you choose the best plan to fit your football needs and budget. Because if you got rid of cable to save money, you don’t want to end up spending more than before. 

Official NFL Streaming Options

The NFL clearly loves to make things confusing. Because streaming live NFL games can feel as complex as the Patriots’ offensive playbook.

The National Football League has 4 different platforms for watching live NFL games outside of the games on broadcast television. However, only 3 of them are available in the United States—NFL+, NFL Network, and NFL Sunday Ticket.

The 4th service is NFL Game Pass, which is intended for people outside the United States and Canada (and China and Russia).

NFL Network

With the NFL making billion-dollar broadcasting deals left, right, and center (like $11 billion from Amazon and $14 billion from YouTube), there aren’t too many live football games on NFL Network left to watch. It now mostly broadcasts games in the NFL International Series and a few Saturday games late in the season.

Watch NFL games live on NFL Network
Log into NFL Network with live TV streaming services (August 2023)

NFL Network will show 8 games in the 2023 NFL season: 4 international games, 3 games billed as the “Saturday Showdown”, and the Holiday Classic at Mile High on Christmas Eve between the Pats and the Broncos.

The bigger draw for the NFL Network is the commentary shows and all the other football programming that runs 24/7. This includes regular college football games and all 65 NFL preseason games.

The NFL Network is a pay-TV channel, so it requires a TV provider to watch it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a cable provider. You can get NFL Network with a number of live TV streaming services, including:

  • DirecTV Stream
  • Fubo
  • Hulu + Live TV
  • NFL+
  • Sling TV
  • Vidgo
  • YouTube TV

NFL Sunday Ticket

The reason you can’t get NFL Sunday Ticket through DirecTV anymore is because Google ponied up a cool $2 billion per year for the rights, beating out DirecTV, Apple, and others.

That means you can only get NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV. (Unless you’re in Canada, Mexico, or a few of the other countries where it’s provided by others, such as DAZN.)

The good news is you don’t need YouTube TV to sign up for Sunday Ticket as it’s offered as a standalone package. The bad news is that on its own, it costs an eye-popping $449 for the season—or $399 if you sign up before September 19. Getting it with YouTube TV knocks a hundred bucks off the season price.

Tack on another $40 for the season if you want NFL RedZone.

Watch live NFL games with Sunday Ticket
There are 4 Sunday Ticket plans to choose from (August 2023)

What does NFL Sunday Ticket include?

NFL Sunday Ticket gets you every live out-of-market Sunday afternoon game in the NFL’s regular season.

Oh, were you expecting more? Sorry, that’s all folks.

Because all other platforms only offer in-market games, the whole value of Sunday Ticket is its near-monopoly on out-of-market-games.

💡 TIP: If you’ve got friends or family in another market, swapping a profile slot on your streaming services can be a good way to circumvent regional blackouts and watch the NFL games you want.

You can record games to your YouTube TV DVR if you have it, but also through the Sunday Ticket Primetime Channel if you don’t. You’ll need to use the YouTube TV app to do this in both cases. 

What’s missing from NFL Sunday Ticket?

It takes a little more time to cover what NFL Sunday Ticket doesn’t include than what it does. 

First, Sunday Ticket is literal. You won’t see any Thursday Night Football, Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, or the Thanksgiving football games.

Second, the Sunday afternoon games you get are out-of-market games. You get all of them, which is nice, but you don’t get anything that’s broadcast within your local blackout zone.

Third, Sunday Ticket doesn’t include preseason games, if those are important to you.

Fourth, you don’t get any postseason games. And that includes the Super Bowl.

Whether NFL Sunday Ticket is for you probably depends on whether your team is your local team. But there’s a lot missing from a package that costs $112/month and doesn’t even let you watch to the end of the season.

NFL+

At just $6.99/month or $49.99/season, NFL+ is an affordable streaming option for football fans. But don’t get too excited, because it’s not the be-all and end-all of sports streaming services.

What does NFL+ include? 

For starters, you get all the live out-of-market preseason games. But when games start to matter, you’ll only get local and prime-time regular season games. However, you do get all the postseason games, including the Super Bowl. 

You also get a live stream of NFL Network and NFL RedZone, access to NFL Films’ archives, and more. It also includes live local and national audio for every game, but that’s not a huge selling point for a sports streaming service.

What you don’t get are the live regular season out-of-market games that you get with NFL Sunday Ticket.

Watch NFL games live on NFL+
NFL+ Premium is one of the best ways to watch NFL games (August 2023)

Are there different NFL+ price plans?

There are 2 price plans for NFL+. The first is simply called NFL+ and the other is called NFL+ Premium. Both plans only let you watch live games on mobiles devices. However, the NFL+ Premium plan gives you replays of every game on-demand, which you can watch on a TV, PC, or mobile device.

(And if you’re thinking of circumventing this mobile restriction with something like Chromecast or AirPlay, we’ll save you the trouble. Workarounds don’t work with NFL+.)

NFL+

  • Live out-of-market preseason games
  • Live local and national regular season games
  • Live postseason games, including the Super Bowl
  • Live games are only on mobile
  • Live audio for every game 
  • NFL Network, NFL library programming, and more (on TV, PC, and mobile)
  • 3 simultaneous streams
  • $6.99/month or $49.99/year

NFL+ Premium

  • Everything in NFL+
  • NFL RedZone
  • Game replays for all NFL games on-demand (full, condensed, and all-22 coaches film)
  • On-demand games can be watched on TV, PC, or mobile
  • $14.99/month or $99.99/year

There’s a “limited time” deal for new subscribers with the first year being $39.99 for NFL+ or $79.99 for NFL+ Premium. Your plan increases to the regular price when renewed the next season.

NFL Game Pass

If the name NFL Game Pass sounds familiar, that’s because it existed briefly in the US between NFL Game Rewind and NFL+. It didn’t have live games in the United States but had full replays of old games, NFL Films, and more. The NFL gave fans free access to Game Pass for 2 months in 2020, from May through July.

But that’s not the Game Pass we’re talking about. This Game Pass (which is now the only Game Pass) used to go by Game Pass International. But starting this season DAZN is running the service after inking a 10-year deal with the NFL.

What does NFL Game Pass include?

So, what does this foreign Game Pass service include? Everything. It’s hands-down, without a doubt, unequivocally the best source to watch NFL games.

Because it’s international, there are no blackouts. No in-market, out-of-market, blah blah blah. Therefore, it has every regular season game live. 

Here’s everything you get with NFL Game Pass Pro:

  • Every live regular season game
  • Every live Thursday Night Football and Monday Night Football game
  • Every live postseason game, including the Super Bowl
  • Replays for every NFL game on-demand in 4 formats: highlights, full, condensed, and all-22 coaches film
  • NFL Network and NFL RedZone
  • First 7 rounds of the NFL Draft live
  • 2023 NFL Scouting Combine
  • NFL Originals
  • Replays and highlights from every game last season
  • Highlights for every game from the last 10 years
  • 2 simultaneous streams
  • Watch on mobile and TVs

Is that enough NFL football for you?

Watch NFL games with NFL Game pass - showing the price plans in Japanese yen
You’ll need to be overseas (or have a good VPN) to watch NFL Game Pass (August 2023)

Where is NFL Game Pass available?

It’s available to people residing outside the United States, Canada, China, and Russia. You can only watch NFL Game Pass in the country you created your account, so keep that in mind if you plan on signing up with a VPN. And just be warned that DAZN runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to location services. Expect errors windows popping up like T.J. Watt trying to stop you from watching NFL Game Pass.

Because it’s an international service, the NFL Game Pass price varies considerably. It roughly ranges from around $75 to $200 USD for the entire year, depending on currency exchange rates. And yes, that’s year, not season. The subscription can run for a full 12 months if you sign up before preseason starts.

Are there different NFL Game Pass price plans?

There are 2 NFL Game Pass plans, but only one has the live games you’re looking for. The NFL Game Pass Season Pro plan gets you everything mentioned above. Its price varies from country, but here are a few examples from around the globe:

  • Game Pass price in the UK: £150.99
  • Game Pass price in Japan: ¥26,800
  • Game Pass price in Brazil: R$384.90
  • Game Pass price in France: €198.99

The second plan is the Highlights & More plan and it’s completely free. Yep. Zero dineros. Or yen. Or pesos. You get regular season and playoff highlights, game previews, the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, and… NFL Network! Yep again. The NFL Network is 100% free overseas through DAZN.

🏈 CHECK IT OUT

Other ways to stream NFL games

You don’t need to go an official route to watch live NFL games without cable. Live TV streaming services let you watch live NFL games the same as if you had cable. There are also 2 on-demand streaming services with a few live NFL games.

The big difference, compared with NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Game Pass, is that you won’t get live out-of-market games. You also won’t get Thursday Night Football games.

Which networks broadcast NFL games?

Broadcasting for NFL live game coverage typically breaks down like this:

  • AFC* regional Sunday afternoon games: CBS 
  • NFC regional Sunday afternoon games: FOX
  • Sunday Night Football: NBC
  • Monday Night Football: ESPN, ABC
  • 8 live games on NFL Network

* The broadcaster for inter-conference games is usually based on the visitor’s conference.

This means you just need a live TV plan that has some, most, or all of these channels. This handy table below shows you at a glance who’s got which live games plus a couple features. Each service is looked at in more detail after the table.

How to watch NFL without cable - table detailing different streaming options
There are plenty of options for streaming NFL game live (September 2023)

Watch NFL on DirecTV Stream ($75 – $155)

DirecTV Stream is the most expensive streaming service on the market. It had a long run as the best choice for sports, but our DirecTV Stream Review can help you decide if it’s worth it for you.

Live NFL games on DirecTV Stream:

  • All Sunday regional games (in-market)
  • Sunday Night Football
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

If you want to see every touchdown with NFL RedZone, you’ll need to add the DirecTV Sports Pack for $14.99/month to whichever plan you choose.

Watch NFL on Fubo ($75 – $100)

Fubo made a name for itself as a sports-focused streaming service. And it’s continued down that path by recently becoming only the second streaming service with Bally Sports. You’ll get all the same live NFL games you can watch with DirecTV Stream.

Live NFL games on Fubo:

  • All Sunday regional games  (in-market)
  • Sunday Night Football
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

You’ll need the $100/month Ultimate plan if you want to watch NFL RedZone.

Watch NFL on Hulu + Live TV ($70 – $83)

Hulu + Live TV is $5/month cheaper than DirecTV Stream and Fubo and gets you all the same games. On top of that, it includes ESPN+ as well as Hulu (on-demand) and Disney+. 

Live NFL games on Hulu + Live TV:

  • All Sunday regional games  (in-market)
  • Sunday Night Football
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

Hulu + Live TV is also a cheaper way to get NFL RedZone, which is in the Sports Add-on for an extra $9.99/month. 

Watch NFL on Paramount+ ($6 – $12)

Paramount+ doesn’t have the most robust football schedule, but it’s a fraction of the price of live TV streaming services. Paramount owns CBS, so it’s a great choice if your team’s in the AFC.

Unlike live TV streaming services, you can get an annual plan and save money. It works out to about 2 months free.

Live NFL games on Paramount+:

  • All live local and national games on CBS
  • Super Bowl LVIII

Watch NFL on Peacock ($6 – $12)

NBC owns Peacock, so you get all the NFL games on NBC. Like Paramount+, it’s primarily an on-demand streaming service, so it’s exponentially cheaper than live TV streaming services. It also offers an annual plan that equals about 2 free months.

Live NFL games on Peacock:

  • Kickoff game Sept. 7 (Lion @ Chiefs)
  • Sunday Night Football 
  • 1 Thanksgiving game (49ers @ Seahawks)
  • 1 exclusive broadcast in Week 16 (Bills @ Chargers)
  • 1 Wild Card Game

Watch NFL on Sling TV ($40 – $60)

Sling is the cheapest live TV streaming service for watching NFL games, but that means it’s not as straightforward as the others mentioned here.

The Blue plan is only $45/month and gets you ABC, NBC, FOX, and NFL Network. However, ESPN – which is the home of Monday Night Football – is in the Orange plan, which doesn’t have any of those networks in the Blue plan.

If you want to watch MNF as well, you’ll need the Orange + Blue plan for $60/month. And then Sling TV is no longer looking like such a good deal.

Perhaps most importantly, Sling TV doesn’t have CBS, so say goodbye to those AFC Sunday games. (But you could remedy that by getting Paramount+ for $6/month.)

Live NFL games on Sling TV:

  • All Sunday regional games on FOX (in-market)
  • Sunday Night Football
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

If you want NFL RedZone, you’ll need the Sports Extra add-on for $11/month.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Sling TV only had FOX and NBC in select markets, so be sure to confirm that they serve your area before signing up.

Watch NFL games on Sling TV - list of select markets for Fox and NBC
Confirm that your market is covered before subscribing to Sling TV (August 2023)

Watch NFL on Vidgo ($70 – $100)

Vidgo has tried to follow in Fubo’s footsteps by focusing on sports. They’ve even got Gronk as their spokesman. But they’re better for college football than watching NFL games. Vidgo has ESPN and NFL Network but doesn’t have CBS or NBC.

Live NFL games on Vidgo:

  • All Sunday regional games on FOX (in-market)
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

To watch NFL RedZone, you’ll need the Premium plan for $84.99/month.

Watch NFL on YouTube TV ($73)

YouTube TV shook things up when it became the new home for NFL Sunday Ticket. If you sign up for YouTube TV, you’ll get 50 bucks knocked off your Sunday Ticket. Without Sunday Ticket, you can still record every game in the league to your cloud DVR to watch after the game’s over.

Live NFL games on YouTube TV:

  • All Sunday regional games (in-market)
  • Sunday Night Football
  • Monday Night Football
  • NFL Network games

To watch NFL RedZone, you’ll need the Sport Plus add-on for $10.99/month.

How to watch Monday Night Football

ESPN is the exclusive home of Monday Night Football for the NFL, although the final MNF game of the season – the Ravens at the 49ers – is only on (former) parent company ABC.

Watch Monday Night Football games on ESPN - screenshot of the commentary desk
You’ll need ESPN if you want to watch (most of) the Monday Night Football games in 2023

Aside from that week 16 showdown at Levi’s Stadium, every game is on ESPN, with 4 of those games simulcast on ABC and one on ESPN+.

Therefore, you’ll need a live TV streaming service with ESPN. These are:

Sling TV is the cheapest of these at $40/month for the Orange plan which has ESPN. However, as noted above, Sling TV splits up channels to push you into the Orange + Blue plan for $60/month. At that point, you’re better off spending another 10 bucks for Hulu + Live TV.

How to watch Thursday Night Football

Watch TNF on Prime Video

Last season Thursday Night Football settled into its new home at Amazon Prime Video. That means if you want to watch every TNF game of the season, you’ll either need to sign up for Amazon Prime (which includes Prime Video) or get Prime Video as a standalone service.

If you do a lot of online shopping, getting Amazon Prime is a no-brainer. It costs $14.99/month or $139 per year. Prime Video on its own is $8.99/month. Read our Prime Video Review to learn all about it and see if it’s worth your money.

Watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video - QB promo with Hurts, Mahomes, and Allen
Amazon Prime Video became the home of Thursday Night Football in 2022 (August 2023)

Watch TNF on Twitch

You can watch every Thursday Night Football game for free on Twitch (which Amazon bought for almost a billion dollars in 2014). Simply go to the Prime Video Twitch channel on Thursday night to watch the game. You don’t even need an account.

You can watch it in browsers or using the Twitch app, which is available on iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation, Apple TV, Android TV, Fire Tablet, and Fire TV. 

Watch TNF on NFL+

You can watch Thursday Night Football through the NFL mobile app with an NFL+ subscription.  

Watch TNF on local TV

If you’re only interested in watching your local team when it plays on Thursday Night Football, you’ll be able to watch it on local affiliates in the home and away team markets. In this case, you just need a live TV streaming service that has your local channel with NFL games.

How to watch NFL games for free

The question on the tips of so many tongues – Can I watch live NFL games for free? Unfortunately, aside from hanging out in the TV section of a Best Buy, there aren’t too many options. Here are a couple of ways to watch live NFL games for free, but they won’t apply to everyone.

Watch 8 NFL games live free on NFL Network

If you live in one of the countries where NFL Game Pass is available, you’ll be able to watch the 8 games on NFL Network with the Game Pass Free plan. Whether you can watch them with a VPN depends on the power of your VPN. As noted above, DAZN is no slouch when it comes to locking down locations.

Watch NFL games live free with free trials

But if you want to watch more than the 8 free NFL games on NFL Network, you’ll need to take advantage of free trials. However, free trials are no longer a sure thing. Here’s the current state of affairs regarding free trials for the services mentioned above.

  • DirecTV Stream: 5 days
  • Fubo: 7 days
  • Hulu + Live TV: None
  • Paramount+: 7 days
  • Peacock: 7 days
  • NFL+: 7 days
  • Sling TV: None
  • Vidgo: None
  • YouTube TV: 7 to 30 days

Doing a bit of basic math, by bouncing around free trials you can watch anywhere from 40 to 63 days of watching free NFL games. That’s barely enough to get you through half a season – and frankly, it sounds like more trouble than it’s worth – but the option is there.

Final thoughts on watching NFL games without cable

If you want to watch a lot of out-of-market games live, then Sunday Ticket is probably what you need. But if you usually watch your local team live and record other games to watch later, then NFL Sunday Ticket is a complete waste of money. In such a situation, NFL+ Premium is a much better option as you can watch on-demand games on a TV.

For football fans with families – or those who love movies, Star Wars, Disney, or other sports – Hulu + Live TV is the best choice to watch live NFL games without cable. It’s the least expensive of the 4 most full-featured live TV streaming services and includes Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. It’s also the cheapest option if you want to add NFL RedZone, costing $79.98/month in total.

Finally, if you’re used to watching sports on satellite, DirecTV Stream is an option to consider, although anything above the entry-level Entertainment plan is going to be expensive. But it’s not until the second-level Choice plan ($99.99/month) that you get the regional sports networks (RSNs), which are the big draw of DirecTV Stream.


Featured image by Adrian Curiel on Unsplash
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1 Comment

  1. binance

    Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!

    Reply

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