NFL Sunday Ticket 2021

How To Watch Football Without Cable: Stream NFL and College Football

  Are you looking to watch football by streaming the NFL or college football instead of paying for cable each month?

  Good news! It’s entirely possible to accomplish this without paying the cable or satellite company a dime.

  In this article, I’ll walk you through all the ways that you can cut the cord and remain as big a football fan as ever.

  Watch the NFL Without Cable

  If you’re a fan of one of the 32 NFL teams, you likely know that there are six basic timeslots they could play each week of the regular season.

  A typical NFL game week features games on Thursday and Monday nights, while the rest of the league plays on Sunday at either 1 p.m., 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. Eastern.

  Seems simple enough, but there are more than five TV channels that hold the rights to games televised in each of these timeslots. On any given week, your favorite NFL team could play on CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN or the NFL Network.

  And with services like Amazon’s Prime Video and Twitch getting more involved with the future of the league, the number of streaming feeds you could need to see your favorite team’s games doesn’t seem to be decreasing any time soon.

  So to ensure that you’re seeing games from the entire league, cord-cutters are likely going to need a subscription to a live TV streaming service.

  YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV are two popular services that will offer access to all of these channels for the 2021 NFL season.

  Before you make your choice for streaming the NFL, let’s walk through all the options.

  Local NFL Games: Watch Your Favorite Team

  If you are a fan of the local NFL team, you may not even need a live TV streaming subscription to watch the majority of your team’s games.

  That’s because teams play the majority of their games in the Sunday afternoon timeslots that are broadcast on either CBS or FOX. And your local CBS or FOX affiliate is contractually obligated to broadcast the game of your local NFL team each week as a part of an agreement with the NFL.

  This means you could access most of your local team’s games by using an indoor antenna to access your local channels without cable. You may also be able to stream local channels via Locast. If that’s not an option, a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV will provide access to these channels as well as all the other channels you may need to stream the NFL.

  How do you know if your team is playing on CBS or FOX?

  It can vary from week to week based on who their opponents are, but generally speaking, AFC teams are native to CBS broadcasts and NFC teams are native to FOX broadcasts. But AFC teams and NFC teams play against each other for a significant portion of the 18-week season, so there’s no hard-and-fast rule.

  Here’s a look at the full 2021 NFL schedule, which has some CBS or FOX designations for select games already.

  But remember: Just because a game is marked for CBS or FOX doesn’t mean that it will be on TV in your market. These games are picked by your local station affiliates. To get streaming access to all of these games, read on about the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

  NFL Sunday Ticket: Stream Most Out-of-Market Games

  If you don’t live in the local market for your favorite NFL team, the only path to streaming the league without cable is probably the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

  And doing so without busting your budget is going to be tricky.

  This service, which is powered by AT&T’s DIRECTV, allows you to stream Sunday afternoon out-of-market NFL games for a season-long subscription fee. It does not include Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football (more on those later).

  For the overwhelming majority of consumers, the only way to access this package is by becoming a DIRECTV customer.

  The normal cost is upwards of $300 per season (on top of your monthly TV subscription), but DIRECTV often runs deals (like the one pictured below) that offer the service for free if you’re willing to agree to a contract.

  NFL Sunday Ticket 2021AT&T

  DIRECTV can be a costly commitment that defeats the purpose of cutting the cord from your cable company in the first place. So for most streamers, this package is simply a dream until the NFL offers it without the DIRECTV requirement.

  The NFL does offer the Sunday Ticket streaming service to non-DIRECTV subscribers but only if you live in an area where DIRECTV service is not available or if you’re a registered college student.

  RedZone Channel: Action from Multiple NFL Games At Once

  Since the NFL Sunday Ticket is so hard for most cord-cutters to get, many will opt for the NFL RedZone channel as an alternative to get their Sunday afternoon NFL fix.

  This channel offers a chance to see most of the action from every Sunday afternoon NFL game without actually watching the full telecasts.

  RedZone Channel is offered as an add-on service from live TV streaming options like YouTube TV and Sling TV.

  Team Clark has a guide to subscribing for this service without a cable subscription, but it’s going to cost you $10-15 per month extra for the required add-on package.

  Below is a description of the RedZone product from the NFL.

  Thursday Night Football

  The broadcast rights for Thursday Night Football are split between FOX, NFL Network and Amazon Prime. This game is typically available on at least two of those outlets each week.

  Your options for FOX include a live TV streaming service or antenna. The NFL Network is available on the base package for YouTube TV. Alternatively, if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you may be able to stream many of these games without enduring any further expense.

  NBC, which owns the broadcast rights to Sunday Night Football, will air the season-opening game on a Thursday evening. That’s technically the first Thursday night game of the season, but it won’t be branded as Thursday Night Football.

  We’ve included that game, as well as the rest of the league’s scheduled Thursday Night Football games, in the schedule below so that you can understand which networks you’ll need to access in order to watch games on Thursday nights.

  Sunday Night Football

  The broadcast rights for Sunday Night Football belong to NBC. This game, which often features one of the premier NFL matchup of the week, is the sole regular-season NFL game to air on the channel each week.

  Beginning in 2021, Peacock subscribers also will have access to live streaming Sunday Night Football games. With premium subscriptions starting at $4.99 per month, this could be a cost-effective way to stream these.

  Of course, NBC is a channel that many people may be able to access without cable or a live TV stream if they have an antenna that can catch the signal of the local NBC affiliate.

  Here is the 2021 Sunday Night Football schedule. It is worth noting that the NFL has the ability to change the game featured in this national broadcast from Oct. 10 until the end of the season to ensure it has a desirable game in the spotlight each week.

  Monday Night Football

  The broadcast rights for Monday Night Football belong to ESPN. This game, which often features one of the premier NFL matchups of the week, is the sole regular-season NFL game to air on the channel each week.

  Games also occasionally appear on ABC, which is a sister channel to ESPN and was the long-time home for this American staple.

  To assure that you have access to both channels without cable, you’re likely going to need a live TV streaming service like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.

  Here are the 2021 Monday Night Football games and the channels that will broadcast them.

  Watch College Football Without Cable

  In many areas of the country, college football actually is more popular the professional product of the NFL.

  Rooted in deep traditions and filled with gameday pageantry, college football draws some of the biggest crowds for any sporting event in the world.

  So it’s completely understandable that there’s a big market for streaming college football games each fall. From the beginning of the season until the conclusion of the College Football Playoff, there are way to watch all the action without paying for cable.

  Let’s walk through how to watch all portions of the college football season without cable.

  College Football Playoff

  The College Football Playoff is a meeting of the top four college football teams to decide each season’s national champion.

  The two semifinal games will be played on Dec. 31, 2021 and the national championship game will be played on Jan. 10, 2022.

  ESPN owns the television rights to the College Football Playoff, so you’ll need access to its family of channels in order to see the action. Typically the national title game is simulcast over multiple ESPN channels with each offering a different presentation method.

  The College Football Playoff is the grand finale of what is often referred to as “bowl season” for the sport. There are 2-3 weeks worth of post-season bowl games that are played as a lead-up to this “final four” event. Most of those games are played on the ESPN family of channels, though there are some that are broadcast on networks like FS1, FOX and CBS Sports Network. All of these channels are available in YouTube TV’s base streaming package.

  Southeastern Conference (SEC)

  The Southeastern Conference plays games each week on the following channels: CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network and SEC Network+.

  While game day content is spread across several channels, the conference does have its own 24-hour channel. Here are the streaming services that offer the SEC Network:

  You need live streaming access to the channels listed above to watch the following universities’ football games:

  Alabama Crimson TideArkansas RazorbacksAuburn TigersFlorida GatorsGeorgia BulldogsKentucky WildcatsLSU TigersMississippi State BulldogsMissouri TigersOle Miss RebelsSouth Carolina GamecocksTennessee VolunteersTexas A&M AggiesVanderbilt Commodores

  Big Ten Conference (B1G)

  The Big Ten plays games each week on the following channels: FOX, ABC, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, Big Ten Network and Big Ten Network Plus.

  While game day content is spread across several channels, this conference also has its own 24-hour channel. Here are the streaming services that offer the Big Ten Network:

  You need live streaming access to the channels listed above to watch the following universities’ football games:

  Indiana HoosiersIllinois Fighting IlliniIowa HawkeyesMaryland TerrapinsMichigan WolverinesMichigan State SpartansMinnesota Golden GophersNebraska CornhuskersNorthwestern WildcatsOhio State BuckeyesPenn State Nittany LionsPurdue BoilermakersRutgers Scarlet KnightsWisconsin Badgers

  Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

  The Atlantic Coast Conference plays games each week on the following channels: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network, ACC Network Extra and Bally Sports regional networks.

  Game day content is spread across several channels, but the ACC also has its own 24-hour channel. Here are the streaming services that offer the ACC Network:

  You need live streaming access to the channels listed above to watch the following universities’ football games:

  Boston College EaglesClemson TigersDuke Blue DevilsFlorida State SeminolesGeorgia Tech Yellow JacketsLouisville CardinalsMiami HurricanesNorth Carolina Tar HeelsNorth Carolina State WolfpackPittsburgh PanthersSyracuse OrangeVirginia CavaliersVirginia Tech HokiesWake Forest Demon Deacons

  Note: Notre Dame does compete in the ACC for non-football sports but maintains modified conference independence for football. The Fighting Irish football games can be found on NBC.

  Big 12 Conference

  The Big 12 plays games each week on the following channels: ABC, FOX, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and the ESPN+ streaming service.

  Unlike the rest of the “power 5” conferences, the Big 12 does not have its own 24-hour channel. Instead, it has a joint agreement with FOX and ESPN that opens up both television and digital-only broadcasts of its sporting events.

  You need live streaming access to the channels listed above to watch the following universities’ football games:

  Baylor BearsIowa State CyclonesKansas JayhawksKansas State WildcatsOklahoma SoonersOklahoma State CowboysTCU Horned FrogsTexas LonghornsTexas Tech Red RaidersWest Virginia Mountaineers

  PAC-12 Conference

  The PAC-12 plays games each week on the following channels: FOX, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and the PAC-12 Network.

  While game day content is spread across several channels, the conference does have its own 24-hour channel. Here are the streaming services that offer the PAC-12 Network:

  You need live streaming access to the channels listed above to watch the following universities’ football games:

  Arizona WildcatsArizona State Sun DevilsCal Golden BearsColorado BuffaloesOregon DucksOregon State BeaversStanford CardinalUCLA BruinsUSC TrojansUtah UtesWashington HuskiesWashington State Cougars

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