Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin their 2022 NFL season on Sunday.
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Want to follow your fantasy team with RedZone? That’s available on all three services as part of an add-on. If you’re a YouTube TV subscriber, you can add the per month Sports Plus add-on by clicking on your profile and going to Settings, then the Membership tab. FuboTV subscribers can go into My Profile and choose Manage Add-ons to get its -per-month Sports Plus with NFL RedZone offering. And Hulu users can now add RedZone for per month with its Sports add-on.
For one more season, NFL Sunday Ticket is still largely limited to DirecTV satellite subscribers. While that is expected to change in 2023, those who live in buildings that can’t add a satellite dish can already get a streaming version to watch football starting at 4 for its To Go package for the season, or 6 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. Both packages have a one-week free trial.
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What are my streaming options for NFL games in 2022?
While all three are largely similar, we like YouTube TV for its superior DVR — unlimited storage compared with 30 hours on FuboTV and 50 hours on Hulu. We also like YouTube TV because it gives you an option to stream in 4K for an extra a month. FuboTV does, too, with its -a-month Elite plan. Keep in mind that only Fox and NBC offer 4K NFL broadcasts; CBS and ESPN do not.
You can also add RedZone through the company’s per month Sports Extra add-on.
As in previous seasons, Monday Night Football games will be on ESPN. In addition, NFL Network will show three international games played in London and Munich this season.
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Sling TV’s Orange and Blue plan for 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 per month with the Sports Extra add-on.
An antenna is another option for getting CBS. And as we mentioned above, an over-the-air antenna connected to your TV provides another option, no streaming or monthly fee required, as long as you have good reception.
And then there is ESPN Plus, which will have an exclusive game in Week 8 when the Broncos take on the Jaguars in London.
The 2022 NFL season is underway. After Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills took care of the defending champion Los Angeles Rams in the season opener Thursday, most of the rest of the league will start their 2022 campaigns on Sunday. Among the highlights are an AFC North divisional game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on CBS, and an NFC North divisional battle between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at 4:25 p.m. ET (1:25 p.m. PT) on Fox.
Best for everything: YouTube TV ($65)
Lastly, there’s NFL RedZone, a channel that springs to life each fall and shows live NFL action during the Sunday afternoon games. It pops in and out of the live games and attempts to show each touchdown scored in each game. RedZone is available as an add-on on four of the five major live TV streaming services — all but DirecTV Stream.
Here’s what you need to know to watch and stream the opening game and our recommendations for the best ways to watch the rest of the 2022 NFL season, including RedZone, week in and week out without cable.
Note: This version of Sling TV does not include ESPN. For that, you’ll need to switch to the similarly priced Orange plan or go for the combined per month Orange and Blue bundle. With the combined plan, RedZone is an extra per month.
Sunday’s fun concludes with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys at 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 p.m. PT) on NBC.
The problem here, however, is that even if you’re eligible, it doesn’t include local games. You can only watch Sunday games that aren’t being broadcast on CBS, Fox or NBC in your area. They also won’t be helpful come playoff time — as you’ll need your local stations and ESPN to catch all those games. At per month each, YouTube TV checks all the NFL boxes. Local channels CBS, NBC and Fox are included in many markets, and ESPN and the NFL Network are also included so you can watch Sundays and Monday nights. The next best options are FuboTV and Hulu Plus Live TV; both offer the same channels as YouTube TV for NFL fans, but for a month.
Although the first Thursday night game was on NBC, the rest of the games for Thursday Night Football will be shown on Amazon Prime Video. Unlike last season, Prime Video is now the exclusive home to Thursday Night Football and the games are no longer available on Fox or NFL Network (though the games will be available on TV in teams’ local markets).
The cheapest way to stream NFL RedZone
Those looking for CBS games will be able to stream them on Paramount Plus with its per month Premium tier. You can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
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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 for you to be able to get RedZone as an add-on. If you choose the latter, the Sports Extra add-on is per month as you will also get additional channels like the SEC Network, ACC Network and PAC 12 Network.
All five of the live TV streaming services carry ESPN and Fox, and all but Sling TV carry CBS. All but DirecTV Stream carry NFL Network. For the games on CBS and Fox, keep in mind that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries CBS and Fox in your area.
Budget alternative for NFC fans in big cities: Sling Blue ($35) or an antenna ($20 one-time)
DirecTV Stream offers the main broadcast channels for NFL games, but it starts at per month and lacks NFL Network and RedZone.
A frequent fan-favorite method of following all the NFL action on Sundays, RedZone is a way to catch every big play around the league. The cheapest road to RedZone is to get Sling TV Blue for per month and add the per month Sports Extra add-on.
Paying for cable is the easiest solution but not the cheapest. For cord-cutters looking to save some money, NFL football streaming options can get a bit complicated, with games played across three different days and nights each week on different channels and streaming services.
Those looking to save some cash might want to check out Sling Blue for 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.
Budget alternatives for AFC fans: Paramount Plus (or an antenna)
Thursday Night games, starting with Week 2, will be available only on Amazon Prime Video. For millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, the Prime Video channel is already included at no extra cost. But if you’re not a subscriber, it might be worth it to shell out the a month for the stand-alone TV service fee.
Both YouTube TV and FuboTV allow three people to watch at once (Hulu allows 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.
Sling TV’s -a-month Blue plan includes NBC, Fox and the NFL Network. Enter your address here to see which local channels are available where you live. NFL RedZone is also available for an extra per month.
Thursday Night Football: Amazon Prime Video
If you mainly plan to watch on a phone, you can also check out RedZone Mobile, which is in the NFL app. This is a separate subscription from NFL Plus and runs for the season (which breaks down to around .78 per month for the roughly four-and-a-half months of regular season football). While this is one of the cheapest ways to get RedZone, be aware that — similar to NFL Plus — you will not be able to AirPlay or Chromecast it onto a larger screen and will need to watch on your phone.
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What about Sunday Ticket?
NFL RedZone shows every touchdown scored during the Sunday afternoon games each week.
The first eight games on Amazon Prime Video’s exclusive Thursday Night Football coverage for the 2022 NFL season.
Our pick from the last two years remains our go-to choice in 2022.
There are some apps that offer CBS’ slate of Sunday AFC games live, including Paramount Plus’ Premium tier for 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.
Wait, there’s one more streaming service to consider this year. The NFL is launching a new streaming service for watching games on your phone or tablet — no casting to your TV. In past years, you could do this for free with the Yahoo Sports app, but now you’ll need to pay a month or for the season for the NFL Plus app. With it, you’ll be able to watch every local game on Sunday and the national games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights as well as the playoffs and Super Bowl — again, only on your phone or tablet.
For a month, you’ll get all the major football channels with YouTube TV. Plus, RedZone is available for an extra per month. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
