NFL 2024 season: How to watch football games live online, on phones, on TV, and without cable, including some free options

Are you ready for some football?

The good news is that the 2024 National Football League season kicks off today: Thursday, September 5. The Kansas City Chiefs, defending champions, will face off against the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium.

The following day, you can catch the Green Bay Packers taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, exclusively on Peacock.

The bad news? It’s getting complicated to figure out what cable and streaming subscriptions are needed to see the whole season. Let’s look at what we can expect this season and break down your NFL football viewing options.

What’s happening with Super Bowl 2025?

It’s never too early to think of who is going to win it all.

The Chiefs would love to do it for a third time in a row, making history. In fact, quarterback Patrick Mahomes promised to do so at the 2024 Super Bowl victory parade. “We’re going for that three-peat, so don’t get it twisted, we’re doing it. Three times, first time in NFL history, we’re doing it,” he exclaimed.

If you are a gambler, the odds are in their favor at +500, the New York Times reports.

The San Francisco 49ers want redemption from their Super Bowl LVIII loss and come in second at +600.

The next three favorite teams are the Baltimore Ravens at +1000, the Detroit Lions at +1200, and the Philadelphia Eagles +1200.

None of them want to make it easy for the Chiefs. Detroit is gunning for its first Super Bowl appearance ever, which is a big motivating goal.

Breaking down the NFL game broadcasts

Now for the tricky part. You used to be able to simply buy a traditional cable package and call it a day, but with streaming, that’s not the current reality. NFL games typically occur on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays and air on different networks.

This season, the games are spread across a staggering number of networks and streaming services:

• CBS
• Fox
• NBC
• ESPN
• ABC
• ESPN Plus
• Peacock
• Prime Video
• Netflix
• YouTube TV
• NFL Network

Sunday games can be seen on: YouTube TV, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Monday night games are on ESPN and ABC. Prime has Thursday night games.

Meanwhile, there are exceptions to these rules, with some games having an exclusive network.

There’s no place like home for the holidays, especially if there is a game on. Prime has the Black Friday action and Netflix will stream two games on Christmas Day.

How can I watch or stream live NFL games?

Traditional cable subscribers are going to have to add Netflix and Prime to their lives for the full season. For cord-cutters, the best bet is getting a live-TV streaming service that offers bundles.

YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV Stream (some games may be interrupted by the current contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV), Sling TV, and Fubo all carry ESPN, ABC, NBC and Fox.

Sling is the only option that does not carry CBS.

All have free trials except Sling TV. For other free options, don’t forget that you can watch broadcast networks with an over-the-air antenna.

The MVP of the streaming services is YouTube TV because in most markets it has all the local channels plus ESPN and the NFL Network.

There are some other channels and subscriptions to consider. NFL Plus is the football league’s own streaming service. It is reasonably priced at $7 a month or $50 a year. Its biggest flaw is that you have to watch it on a phone or tablet.

NFL Network is a cable channel owned by the football league that is included in many of the plans offered by live-TV streaming services. It will have eight exclusive games.

The NFL RedZone is another NFL-owned cable channel. It is great for Sunday games because it simultaneously covers all the games on CBS and Fox. You don’t have to switch back and forth.

With so many viewing options, fans are sure to get all the football they can handle.