Best ways to watch NFL games without missing any action?

General
1

I’m trying to figure out the best way to watch NFL games this season without cable. I’m confused by all the streaming services, local blackout rules, and which platforms actually show out-of-market games. I don’t want to miss my favorite team’s games and I’d like to know the most reliable and affordable options other fans are using.

2

Short version first, then details.

To get “almost everything” without cable in 2024:

  1. Sunday afternoon out of market games
    • Service: NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube or YouTube TV
    • What you get: All Sunday afternoon out of market games on CBS and FOX
    • What you miss: Games aired in your local market still follow local rules, so those match your local CBS or FOX
    • Notes: No preseason, no playoffs, no Super Bowl

  2. Local Sunday afternoon games
    • Services that carry local CBS and FOX:
    – YouTube TV
    – Hulu + Live TV
    – Fubo
    – DirecTV Stream
    • Cheapest move: Check which of these have your local CBS and FOX by ZIP on their sites, then pick the one with best promo.
    • If you only care about one team in your home market, you do not need Sunday Ticket, you need local broadcast access.

  3. Sunday night games
    • Channel: NBC
    • Streams:
    – Peacock (has Sunday Night Football, plus one or two exclusive games)
    – Any live TV service that carries NBC in your area

  4. Monday night games
    • Channel: ESPN, some on ABC
    • Streams:
    – YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, DirecTV Stream (for ESPN / ABC)
    – ESPN app if you authenticate with one of those services

  5. Thursday night games
    • Channel: Amazon Prime Video
    • Streams:
    – Prime Video (TNF exclusive most weeks)
    • You need Prime for those. Local markets still get a broadcast on a local station, but stream-wise, Prime is the main one.

  6. Playoffs and Super Bowl
    • AFC and NFC playoff games: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN/ABC depending on round
    • Super Bowl rotates between CBS, FOX, NBC
    • Any live TV streaming package with those networks works.
    • Check which service carries all four in your ZIP.

  7. NFL Network and RedZone
    • NFL Network: carries some international games and shoulder content
    • RedZone: great if you want no huddles, nonstop scoring plays
    • Bundle options:
    – YouTube TV Sports Plus
    – Hulu + Live TV sports add-on
    – Fubo sports add-on
    • If your goal is “no action missed”, RedZone is huge for Sundays.

  8. Total “no cable” setup that covers almost everything
    This is what I run:

    • YouTube TV
    – Local CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC
    – ESPN
    – Option to add RedZone
    • Sunday Ticket add-on on YouTube TV
    – All out of market Sunday afternoon games
    • Prime Video
    – Thursday Night Football
    • Peacock
    – Sunday Night Football stream, plus occasional exclusive games

    With that, you see:
    • Every Sunday afternoon game, either live or on RedZone
    • TNF, SNF, MNF
    • Local games and national windows
    • Playoffs and Super Bowl

  9. If you want to spend less
    Option A, you care about your local team only:
    • Pick the cheapest live TV service that has your local CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, ESPN
    • Add Prime Video
    • Skip Sunday Ticket

    Option B, you are a neutral fan who wants lots of action, not every single snap:
    • RedZone via a cheap live TV option that includes it
    • Prime Video
    • Peacock for SNF
    This misses some full games but gives you tons of action.

  10. Blackout basics, quick and dirty
    • Local games still show on local stations if they are sold out, which they almost always are now.
    • Sunday Ticket does not override local broadcasts. Your local team on CBS or FOX is blacked out on Sunday Ticket in your market.
    • Primetime games on NBC, ESPN, Amazon are national except for the few streaming exclusives, which still preserve local markets on broadcast.

  11. Practical checklist for you

  1. Look up which streaming services have CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC in your exact ZIP.
  2. Decide if you care more about:
    – Your local team, or
    – Out of market games and fantasy action.
  3. If local team: live TV streaming + Prime + Peacock.
  4. If out of market: same as above plus Sunday Ticket + RedZone.

If you drop your team and city, folks here can tell you exactly which mix is best and where you can cut costs.

3

You’re not crazy for being confused. The NFL basically turned “watching football” into a part-time research job.

I mostly agree with @kakeru’s breakdown, but I’d look at it from how you actually watch instead of starting from the services.

Think about which of these describes you:

1. “I want every snap of my team, don’t care much about others”

Skip Sunday Ticket unless your team is not in your local market.

Core setup:

  • A live TV streaming service that has in your ZIP:
    • CBS
    • FOX
    • NBC
    • ESPN / ABC
  • Plus:
    • Prime Video (Thursday night)
    • Peacock (for SNF and random exclusives)

Then you’re getting:

  • All local Sunday games on CBS/FOX
  • SNF on NBC/Peacock
  • MNF on ESPN/ABC
  • TNF on Prime
  • Playoffs & Super Bowl via those same local channels

People overbuy Sunday Ticket thinking it’s “every game.” It’s not. You cannot use it to dodge your local broadcasts. Your home team game on CBS/FOX will be blacked out on Sunday Ticket in your market. That part trips a ton of people up.

2. “I want wall-to-wall action, don’t care about watching every down of one team”

Here I slightly disagree with @kakeru: I’d argue RedZone is more important than Sunday Ticket if your main goal is “no action missed.”

Cheaper “action monster” setup:

  • One live TV streaming service that has:
    • RedZone add-on
    • Your locals (CBS/FOX/NBC/ABC) and ESPN
  • Plus:
    • Prime Video
    • Peacock

What this gives you:

  • RedZone: every scoring chance, big play, almost no dead time
  • One or two “main” games you actually focus on via CBS/FOX
  • All the national windows (SNF, MNF, TNF)
  • Playoffs & SB

You technically “miss” some snaps, but in terms of interesting football, it’s the densest experience.

3. “I want specific out-of-market games every week”

Now Sunday Ticket matters.

Realistic “max coverage” streaming combo:

  • YouTube TV (or similar) for:
    • CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC, ESPN
    • Optional RedZone
  • Sunday Ticket (on YouTube or YTTV) for:
    • All Sunday afternoon out of market games
  • Prime Video
  • Peacock

You’re basically getting:

  • Local CBS/FOX games
  • Every other Sunday afternoon game via Sunday Ticket
  • SNF, MNF, TNF
  • Playoffs & SB

Gaps:

  • No preseason
  • Some weird international/alternate games might land on NFL Network / streaming exclusives
  • A couple random Peacock or ESPN+ style exclusives could still annoy you, depending on the year

There is no single product that literally covers “every snap of every game including playoffs” via streaming. Anyone selling it that way is hand waving over small but real holes.

4. Blackouts in plain english

  • Your local Sunday CBS/FOX games:

    • Must be watched on your local CBS/FOX (or streaming service that carries that local feed)
    • They will not be available to you on Sunday Ticket

  • Primetime (SNF/MNF/TNF):

    • Usually national
    • Amazon TNF: everyone with Prime gets it, plus local teams get a free over-the-air channel in those markets

If you ever think: “I’ll just get Sunday Ticket and not pay for live TV,” you’ll be missing your local team’s games and the networks that do playoffs.

5. If you really hate paying for live TV bundles

You can kinda hack it, but it’s messy:

  • Antenna for local channels (CBS/FOX/NBC/ABC)
  • Prime Video for TNF
  • Peacock for SNF
  • Maybe ESPN+ if/when they fold more NFL into it later
  • RedZone via one of the cheaper services or their seasonal deals (this part changes year to year)

You’ll save money but do more juggling and might miss some ESPN games if you do not have any service that authenticates to the ESPN app.

If you drop your team + city and whether you care more about your team or fantasy/betting/”all the games,” you can narrow it from “15 services” to 2 or 3 pretty fast. Right now you’re trying to solve every use case at once, and that is exactly what the NFL’s TV contracts are designed to punish.

4

If you strip this down to “I don’t want to miss anything” there are really three levers that @sterrenkijker and @kakeru only brushed past: time shifting, picture‑in‑picture, and how many people are watching with you.

I’d build your setup around how you watch, not just what you subscribe to:

1. Use “stacking,” not “one giant bundle”

Instead of hunting for a mythical all‑in‑one service, treat it like this:

  • Core live package for locals + ESPN (pick the cheapest that actually works well at your address)
  • Rotating add‑ons you cancel and re‑add by month:
    • Keep Peacock only during the heavy SNF / exclusive weeks
    • Pause Sunday Ticket after regular season
    • Turn RedZone on in September, off when you only care about playoffs

This rotation cuts a surprising amount of cost without losing games, something both @sterrenkijker and @kakeru kind of glossed over by describing “full season” setups.

2. Time shifting: record more than you watch

Everyone focuses on “live,” but for “don’t miss any action,” cloud DVR is huge:

  • Auto‑record your team every week
  • Auto‑record the national windows (late Sunday, SNF, MNF)
  • Watch one game live, jump to others later with commercial skipping

You won’t literally see every snap live, but you will not miss anything that matters. This is where services with unlimited DVR have a real edge over the ones that cap hours.

3. Multi‑screen is the real “Sunday Ticket”

If you have:

  • A main TV
  • A tablet or laptop
  • Maybe a second TV or monitor

You can do:

  • Game A live on TV
  • RedZone or second game on tablet
  • Box score / fantasy on phone

Honestly, this setup plus a RedZone add‑on gets you closer to “no action missed” than Sunday Ticket alone. On that point I lean closer to @sterrenkijker than @kakeru: RedZone is the better “density of football” tool unless you care about specific out‑of‑market teams.

4. Antenna is underrated

They both mentioned the streaming side, but an old‑school antenna can:

  • Pull in CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC free if you are in range
  • Give you your local Sunday games, SNF, many playoff games and some Super Bowls
  • Act as a backup when streaming craps out on big nights

Pair antenna with a minimal streaming setup for TNF and ESPN games and you cut one of the expensive live‑TV bundles entirely if reception is solid.

5. About the product title “”

Since you mentioned figuring out the “best way” rather than a single app, I’d treat “” (as a concept here) like a flexible piece of the puzzle, not a one‑stop solution.

Pros of using “” in your mix:

  • Lets you consolidate some of the channels or features that would otherwise be spread across multiple apps
  • Often simpler interface than juggling several logins
  • Can be easier for non‑techy people in the house to use so you are not tech support every Sunday

Cons of relying on “” alone:

  • No single bundle has every NFL right; you still need at least Prime Video for TNF and sometimes Peacock or similar for exclusives
  • Prices creep up, especially if you start layering the sports add‑ons you actually need
  • Regional channel availability can be inconsistent by ZIP, so you must check your exact location

Think of “” as “the base layer” and not “the NFL solution,” and it fits more logically with what @sterrenkijker and @kakeru laid out.

6. Competitors & how they framed it

  • @kakeru laid out a very structured “if X then Y” path, great for clarity but a little optimistic on just buying Sunday Ticket + a bundle and being “done.”
  • @sterrenkijker’s angle of starting from viewing habits is closer to how most people actually watch, but I think they underplayed how much money you can save by aggressively rotating services month to month.

If you post your team, city, how many screens you use, and whether you care more about your team or fantasy betting, you can turn all of this into a 2‑service + 1‑add‑on combo instead of a giant mess of subscriptions.