Streaming Downs
Of course there are challenges. Football in the US right now being a big one. There are contracts between the league and the networks. There are black out dates. There are advertising revenues and player endorsements and usage rights and 'express written consent'. Somewhere in there are the fans, but they don't matter as long as they watch and buy.
Given the start of the NFL season and the recent attempts by Tom Wheeler (hallowed be thy name) to change how the cable box works, it seems time to revisit this topic since I last touched on it in June, 2016. Follow along, intrepid explorers, and lets see where my typing fingers take us.
As with all issues in this internet age, the first thing to do when attempting to discuss a problem is to Google it. After all, if I don't, then you will and complain. You'll probably complain anyway, but this way it will be slightly less righteous.
Legal Streams
The first result for "NFL Streaming" is the NFL's website. That is right and good and bought and paid for. The world makes sense. From this we learn that there are two (legal ways) to stream NFL games:
NFL Game Pass costs $99.99 for the season. When you drop the Benjamin after the one week intro, you get... pre-season games live, live play-by-play audio, and replays of games (either in full or 'condensed') once they are over. Oh, and access to games back to 2009, the NFL Films archive.
DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket comes with all DirecTV packages $60/month and up. If you don't have DirectTV and don't want their equipment ('cause you're a smart cordcutter), then it is, wait for it, $60/month. That gives you access to all out-of-market games every Sunday on your TV, computer, phone or tablet.
Aside from those two, the only other legal way to watch the NFL in the US is to get a cable package and watch it the old fashioned way. As many games are now on ESPN, having an off-air antenna isn't enough anymore.
Speaking of ESPN, they do have a streaming service. Unfortunately, like most cable channels, you need to authenticate through your cable provider, which kinda defeats the purpose. If I had cable, then I would not be trying to stream the game!
That takes care of the legal options. Now we're going to step off the less legal options. Which means HAPPY, HAPPY DISCLAIMER TIME!
[Disclaimer: Neither 'The Internet of Schmoid' or any of its (currently non-existent) sponsors condone actively bypassing your country's content usage controls no matter how old fashioned and anti-fan base they may be. Any trouble that you get into as a result of the crap I write here is all on you. Don't say I didn't warn you.]
In that same Google search, the second result was this Reddit Thread. As I'm not writing this post while there are any active games going on, there aren't any active streams posted so I cannot comment on their quality or how the streams are working. No doubt, they are finding ways to spoof regional restrictions and then re-broadcasting the streams through systems like Kodi.
Getting these sub-legal systems to work on a large screen TV, takes a bit of work, but shouldn't be a challenge for anyone who has fiddled with a smarthome system.
Hope that helps all of you Helmet Heads out there. Schmoid out.
Aside from those two, the only other legal way to watch the NFL in the US is to get a cable package and watch it the old fashioned way. As many games are now on ESPN, having an off-air antenna isn't enough anymore.
Speaking of ESPN, they do have a streaming service. Unfortunately, like most cable channels, you need to authenticate through your cable provider, which kinda defeats the purpose. If I had cable, then I would not be trying to stream the game!
(courtesy the good ol' Snip tool)
Other Methods
That takes care of the legal options. Now we're going to step off the less legal options. Which means HAPPY, HAPPY DISCLAIMER TIME!
[Disclaimer: Neither 'The Internet of Schmoid' or any of its (currently non-existent) sponsors condone actively bypassing your country's content usage controls no matter how old fashioned and anti-fan base they may be. Any trouble that you get into as a result of the crap I write here is all on you. Don't say I didn't warn you.]
(courtsey, Kodi)
In that same Google search, the second result was this Reddit Thread. As I'm not writing this post while there are any active games going on, there aren't any active streams posted so I cannot comment on their quality or how the streams are working. No doubt, they are finding ways to spoof regional restrictions and then re-broadcasting the streams through systems like Kodi.
Getting these sub-legal systems to work on a large screen TV, takes a bit of work, but shouldn't be a challenge for anyone who has fiddled with a smarthome system.
Hope that helps all of you Helmet Heads out there. Schmoid out.
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