How To Watch the NFL Without Cable in 2024

Are you a cord cutter AND a huge NFL fan like money expert Clark Howard?

Two of Clark’s passions are saving money and watching all the pro football action he can each fall.

This article is my annual attempt to help you enjoy both of these things with him.

Before we get started, I feel as though I should issue a fair warning: 2024 is going to be a rough year for watching the NFL and saving cash.

The league continues to distribute "exclusive" broadcasts of games to standalone streaming services. This makes it difficult to watch everything with just one live TV streaming subscription. Even those of you who are willing to pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket package are going to find that there are several games each week of the season that require a subscription to some other service.

It’s not all bad news, though. Watching your local team is still going to be relatively inexpensive most weeks. The cost increases are mostly going to impact the diehards.

With all that in mind, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

• Charting the Channels: Where To Find NFL Games in 2024
• Taking What They'll Give You: How To Watch NFL Games for Free
• Understanding NFL Sunday Ticket vs. NFL+ vs. NFL RedZone

Charting the Channels: Where To Find NFL Games in 2024

Before you can determine how to save money while watching the NFL, you first must understand where the NFL games will be televised this season.

You'll have games that are on old standbys like NBC, CBS, FOX and ABC, but you'll also need access to NFL Network and ESPN to catch some games exclusive to those channels. And it doesn't stop there. You'll also need video streaming services like Amazon's Prime Video and Netflix to enjoy some national broadcasts this year as well.

Here’s a chart to help you understand what NFL fans will need for various games in 2024:

Taking What They’ll Give You: How To Watch NFL Games for Free

If that chart above has you overwhelmed with questions about how you’re going to afford being an NFL fan this season, let’s take a step back and assess the bigger picture.

There are still some free and cheap ways to watch the NFL in 2024.

Though there’s a big marketing push for “prime time” games on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, the bulk of the NFL games are played on Sunday afternoons.

And those games are broadcast either on CBS or FOX.

The games that your local CBS and FOX affiliates broadcast are available for free via digital antenna.

Making a small investment in an antenna can give you access to as many as four NFL games, including your local “in-market” team, each Sunday without having to pay for a subscription.

For example, if you live in the Atlanta area, you’re likely to receive the Falcons game via FOX or CBS broadcast most weeks. You also will get two or three non-Falcons, “out-of-market” games, as well.

The tricky part, though, is predicting which “out-of-market” games you’ll receive on any given week. Those will vary week to week based on the NFL schedule and local channel broadcasting rights.

This means it will be hard to consistently watch a team outside of your local TV market this way. For example, if you’re that same person living in Atlanta but you’re a big Seattle Seahawks fan, you’re not likely going to consistently see your team via this free option.

To ensure you’re able to watch the teams you want on your terms each Sunday afternoon, you’ll likely need to invest in one of the NFL products we talk about next.

Understanding NFL Sunday Ticket vs. NFL+ vs. NFL RedZone

If you’ve determined that watching your local in-market games is simply not enough football for you, we have some more comprehensive options.

The NFL has three products out there that you may have heard about: NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL+ and NFL RedZone.

There is some overlap between these services, so you’re likely only going to be interested in paying for one.

But I want to make sure you understand what each of them offers so that you can decide whether they’re worth an investment for this season.

NFL Sunday Ticket

This is the “premium” streaming package for the most serious NFL fans.

This product from YouTube TV offers a chance to watch every out-of-market NFL football game on Sunday afternoons. Though discounts are offered throughout the year, Sunday Ticket has a full price of $379 for YouTube TV subscribers and $479 for non-subscribers.

Here’s how the league describes the service:

“Consisting of all out-of-market Sunday regular-season NFL games (based on viewer’s location) broadcast on FOX and CBS, NFL Sunday Ticket allows fans in the United States the ability to follow all their favorite teams and players no matter where they live.”

So, going back to our Falcons-Seahawks example from earlier in the article: If you live in Atlanta you know that the Falcons are broadcast on either your local FOX or CBS channel most Sundays. That’s great if you’re a Falcons fan, but pretty crummy if you’re a fan of the Seattle Seahawks living in Atlanta.

NFL Sunday Ticket is a way for that Seahawks fan in Atlanta to watch their favorite team’s game live. And they’ll get all the other out-of-market NFL games on their device as well.

This package does not include Amazon's Thursday Night Football, NBC's Sunday Night Football or ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcasts, so even with the significant financial commitment you're not getting every NFL game each week.

NFL+ Streaming Service

If you're looking to avoid the sticker price on Sunday ticket, NFL+ might be a smart investment.

This service does not give you all of the live games on Sunday afternoons like NFL Sunday Ticket, but the NFL+ Premium subscription gives you much of the access you crave for a fraction of the cost.

NFL+ Premium costs $99 for an annual subscription (or you can pay $14.99 per month). It gives you access to the following:

• Access to game replays (Full, condensed, and all-22 coaches film game replays on any device)
• NFL RedZone Channel (Live "whip-around" coverage of the games on Sunday afternoons)
• NFL Network (24/7 football channel)
• Live Local & Primetime Games on Mobile (Note: You can't stream these on your TV app)
• Live Preseason Games
• Radio broadcasts of all live games

NFL RedZone Channel

If you’re a fantasy football enthusiast, the NFL RedZone Channel is probably your best football-watching investment.

It is a live “whip-around” style broadcast that shows you action from all of the games on Sunday afternoons. With as many as four games on the screen at once and the promise of showing you all the potential scoring plays, this six-hour broadcast is a favorite of many NFL fans.

As mentioned above, you can get this channel as part of an NFL+ Premium subscription. But it is also available in the sports add-on packages for many live TV streaming services, including our top choices YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.

How do you plan to watch NFL games this season? We’d love to hear your strategy in the Clark.com community.

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