Streaming NFL games

moondog80

heart is two sizes two small
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
8,091
Apologies in advance if this is covered elsewhere…

I’m installing some TVs in my basement ; we have Verizon cable but there are no easily accessible cable ports nearby. If I forego a cable hookup, what is the easiest/cheapest way to watch the NFL (and sports in general)? Am
I best off just snaking a cable wire through (or along) the wall?
 

Bergs

funky and cold
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2005
21,612
Apologies in advance if this is covered elsewhere…

I’m installing some TVs in my basement ; we have Verizon cable but there are no easily accessible cable ports nearby. If I forego a cable hookup, what is the easiest/cheapest way to watch the NFL (and sports in general)? Am
I best off just snaking a cable wire through (or along) the wall?
I have Sunday Ticket through an firestick, and a good digital antenna should get you local games.

But all that said, if you're paying for cable anyway, I'd snake a cable down there.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
SoSH Member
Mar 24, 2008
7,202
Apologies in advance if this is covered elsewhere…

I’m installing some TVs in my basement ; we have Verizon cable but there are no easily accessible cable ports nearby. If I forego a cable hookup, what is the easiest/cheapest way to watch the NFL (and sports in general)? Am
I best off just snaking a cable wire through (or along) the wall?
The new FiOS cable boxes can have one work via coax and the rest work over WiFi.
 

ehaz

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 30, 2007
4,948
I use Sunday Ticket (via Xbox) + YouTubeTV for local stuff. I've been getting automatically renewed for Sunday Ticket every year and my account was set up via my law school email so for some reason I still get the much more affordable student rate. If you have college aged kids/nephews/cousins/etc use their email to set-up Sunday Ticket and save ~$200 a season.
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Apologies in advance if this is covered elsewhere…

I’m installing some TVs in my basement ; we have Verizon cable but there are no easily accessible cable ports nearby. If I forego a cable hookup, what is the easiest/cheapest way to watch the NFL (and sports in general)? Am
I best off just snaking a cable wire through (or along) the wall?
Look into either Fubo or YouTube TV and you don't have to worry about cable wire. I made the switch to Fubo this spring and I love it. I get both local CBS/Fox games plus RedZone for NFL. For college, I have all the major networks plus the conference networks too(ACCN, SECN, Pac12, ESPNU, Stadium).
 

Van Everyman

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2009
26,992
Newton
I have Sunday Ticket through an firestick, and a good digital antenna should get you local games.

But all that said, if you're paying for cable anyway, I'd snake a cable down there.
So is DirectTV still making you put a satellite dish on your house? How do you get the Amazon Fire setup?
 

SuperManny

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
757
Washington, DC
I get "Sorry, your address is not eligible" probably because my house has a DirecTV dish on the roof from back when I used to have their service
 

CodPiece XL

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 4, 2007
2,422
Scottsdale, AZ.
I'm not in the NEP market but I use NLGamepass. https://www.nflgamepass.com/en

It's as close to Sunday Ticket as you can get.

NFL GamePass does not allow streaming of "live" games in the U.S . So I just make them think I'm in a country that does

I pay $20 a year for a smart DNS Proxy ( in my case I just choose the UK but there's about 400 I can choose from) we enjoy streaming British TV services, so it's a sunk cost anyway. I prefer using a DNS because there's no impact on internet speed like you get with a VPN. It takes seconds to set up. And you can't argue with $20 a year.

I have the NFL Gamepass App on mutiple Apple TVs dotted around the house. Once you sign up for Gamepass you can pay for the entire season, which is around $200 or in my case I pay weekly which is around $20 ( that's a rough conversion because my credit card is charged in pounds) . So if I know the Pats are on national TV I don't pay for that week. Or if I'm out of the U.S and won't get a chance to watch the game live I don't bother. I'll quite happily pay $20 to sit at home and watch Pats games when not on National TV. Probably just paying $200 for the entire season is a better deal since the Pats this season aren't exactly prime time.

I think there's a free week trial of Gamepass. And there's a free trial of the SmartDNS proxy service if you want to try it out. But remember, when setting up the Gamepass account make sure you've manipulated things to show you're IP is not in the U.S. And as I said, I love the DNS service because it's pretty seamless.
 

Dan Murfman

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 21, 2001
4,186
Pawcatuck
Here’s what I did. My friend has kid at college. I had him signup for Sunday Ticket using his student email. Back in August it was $96. I think it’s $120 now. He gave me the credentials I paid him the $96 plus a case of beer so I’m good for the season.
 

h8mfy

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
336
Orange County, CA
Yeah. A dish is not required if it is not possible. Otherwise it is.

This is so stupid in 2021.
it seems pretty random - when I checked for my house a few years ago, I was deemed eligible for streaming, despite being able to see my neighbor's dish about 15 feet from where I sit while typing this. Now that I'm in, they happily take my $$$, and now that we have 2 teams in LA filling the broadcast slots, and the Pats are deemed a lesser draw, it has been really useful.
 

jodyreeddudley78

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 22, 2007
1,869
orange county NY

RSN Diaspora

molests goats for comedy
SoSH Member
Jul 29, 2005
11,345
Washington, DC
This idea is long over due. I'm honestly shocked it has taken so long to happen. It really, really sucks being an out of towner trying to watch Pats games... Legally any way.
We switched from DirecTV with Sunday Ticket to just streaming Sunday Ticket. My understanding is that there's a couple seconds lag from the live broadcast, but other than the inability to DVR games, I haven't noticed any difference.
 

FisksFinger

New Member
Oct 23, 2013
1,070
Seattle, WA
I'm not in the NEP market but I use NLGamepass. https://www.nflgamepass.com/en

It's as close to Sunday Ticket as you can get.

NFL GamePass does not allow streaming of "live" games in the U.S . So I just make them think I'm in a country that does

I pay $20 a year for a smart DNS Proxy ( in my case I just choose the UK but there's about 400 I can choose from) we enjoy streaming British TV services, so it's a sunk cost anyway. I prefer using a DNS because there's no impact on internet speed like you get with a VPN. It takes seconds to set up. And you can't argue with $20 a year.

I have the NFL Gamepass App on mutiple Apple TVs dotted around the house. Once you sign up for Gamepass you can pay for the entire season, which is around $200 or in my case I pay weekly which is around $20 ( that's a rough conversion because my credit card is charged in pounds) . So if I know the Pats are on national TV I don't pay for that week. Or if I'm out of the U.S and won't get a chance to watch the game live I don't bother. I'll quite happily pay $20 to sit at home and watch Pats games when not on National TV. Probably just paying $200 for the entire season is a better deal since the Pats this season aren't exactly prime time.

I think there's a free week trial of Gamepass. And there's a free trial of the SmartDNS proxy service if you want to try it out. But remember, when setting up the Gamepass account make sure you've manipulated things to show you're IP is not in the U.S. And as I said, I love the DNS service because it's pretty seamless.
Can confirm this works great. I set it up on an old iPad, watching the game from Seattle now.

Thanks for the advice and great write up!
 

johnmd20

mad dog
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 30, 2003
61,996
New York City
We switched from DirecTV with Sunday Ticket to just streaming Sunday Ticket. My understanding is that there's a couple seconds lag from the live broadcast, but other than the inability to DVR games, I haven't noticed any difference.
There is a massive delay for the Sunday Ticket streaming.

edit -it is like a couple of minutes. It's fine if you're not watching red zone or the game thread, but if you are, it's almost useless.
 

CodPiece XL

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 4, 2007
2,422
Scottsdale, AZ.
Can confirm this works great. I set it up on an old iPad, watching the game from Seattle now.

Thanks for the advice and great write up!
I’m not sure what the lag may be but I’m not that worried since I just drink beer in my man cave and don’t game thread . The nice thing is if you go weekly it’s not recurring billing. I just pay the $20 on game day. One last thing, if you do decide to pay, use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees if you have one. Saves a buck and change .
 

FisksFinger

New Member
Oct 23, 2013
1,070
Seattle, WA
I’m not sure what the lag may be but I’m not that worried since I just drink beer in my man cave and don’t game thread . The nice thing is if you go weekly it’s not recurring billing. I just pay the $20 on game day. One last thing, if you do decide to pay, use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees if you have one. Saves a buck and change .
From what I saw, I had to do non-weekly to get the trial. I'll have to check if I can switch to weekly, that's definitely better.

And yeah, lag was fine since I just watched it (with great frustration), and didn't game thread.