I had to resist titling this post "How to watch the Super Bowl,"
because the vast majority of people watching Sunday night's game will be
planted in front of a TV tuned to CBS. Maybe you'll be at a party, or
perhaps you're planning to just watch everything at home from your own
couch. In that case, there's really no mystery; to watch the Super Bowl
and all of its insanely expensive commercials, just click over to CBS.
If you don't have cable, an antenna should do the trick just fine.
But inevitably some people
won't be watching on TV. And maybe
you don't feel like dropping by a random sports bar just to spectate. If
you're stuck experiencing Super Bowl 50 on a small screen (laptop,
tablet, or smartphone), you've at least got numerous options. Let's
start with the most limited of them.
Watching on a smartphone (Verizon exclusive)
Verizon Wireless customers — myself included — frequently complain
about paying higher bills than most other mobile customers. But in the
case of football, being a Verizon subscriber pays off. The company has
an exclusivity agreement with the NFL, making it the only wireless
provider whose customers can stream live games — including the Super
Bowl. If you're on Verizon, just download the Go90 app (
iOS / Android) before kickoff (scheduled for 6:30PM ET) and you should be all set. And, net neutrality be damned, it won't even count against your data plan!
You can also watch via the NFL Mobile app (
iOS / Android),
but again, this is strictly limited to Verizon customers. If you're on
another carrier, your best bet is probably a less-than-official
Periscope stream. But that'll probably end up being a game of "hop
between streams" as the takedown requests start rolling in.
Watching on a tablet
Verizon's exclusivity pact only applies to smartphones! Phew. So if
you're on an iPad or Android tablet, you can install the CBS Sports app
to watch Super Bowl 50. You might also be able to load up the live CBS
stream directly from the CBS website in Safari or Chrome, for that
matter.
No cable account required.
Watching on a PC or Mac
This one's easy, too: just go to CBSSports.com on your desktop
browser to view the big game as it happens. If you're on Windows 10,
there's a dedicated CBS Sports app you can download — but it's not
required. And again,you don't need a cable subscription to stream the
Super Bowl, a trend that's become the norm in recent years. This is one
event where networks are willing to loosen the cuffs so they can boast
about massive viewership numbers come Monday morning. Best of all, you'll be seeing the commercials along with everybody watching on cable.
Watching on a game console or set-top box
Okay so maybe you do want to watch on your big, fancy TV, but you
don't have cable or an antenna hooked up. In that case, there are ways
for
other boxes to stream the game. Super Bowl 50 can be streamed
with Roku, Xbox One, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Google's
Chromecast. No matter which of these products you've got, there's a CBS
Sports app available for it. Make sure it's downloaded and installed
before the Broncos and Panthers take the field, and you should be good
to enjoy the year's biggest football clash on your living room's big
screen.
Watching outside the United States
Things aren't
quite so straightforward if you're trying to watch the Super Bowl off US shores.
The BBC will have live coverage of
this "American Football" spectacular on BBC Two and the BBC Red Button
beginning at 22:50 GMT, so that's your easiest path if it's available to
you. Sky customers who subscribe to sports channels can stream
via the Sky Go app.
And if all else fails and you don't mind burning some money on a single
game, you can subscribe to NFL GamePass for £34.99. That's pretty
expensive though, and I imagine people will be hunting down illegal
streams before blowing that much cash — if you're even interested in
football to begin with.
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