For cable cutters, an improved NFL broadcast strategy this season

For beginners, it will be much easier to watch a lot of games, including those featuring your local team, on your mobile device this season. In the past, only Verizon wireless customers could watch local and prime NFL games on their smartphones and tablets.

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This year, all wireless customers can use NFL Mobile or Yahoo Sports apps to watch all national and national games for free, including local CBS and Fox stations, NBC Sunday Night Football games (and Thursday between Atlanta and Falcons). Eagles), ESPN Monday night football games and Thursday night Thursday night games aired on Fox. (Do not forget that if you are not in WiFi, data charges will apply.)

Beyond that, most Thursday night games will air on Amazon Prime, which costs $ 119 a year, the first being the Sept. 27 game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. Not a member of Amazon Prime? You can watch for free on Twitch, the video game-based streaming service purchased by Amazon for $ 1 billion four years ago.

You can watch Amazon Prime on smartphones, tablets and devices connected to the Net, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, many smart TVs and game consoles.

You can also use these devices to watch live TV services such as DirecTV Now, Fubo TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV and YouTube TV, all of which have added additional local TV channels. cable channels. These broadband television services, which do not require a contract or special equipment, are an option for those who do not want to pay for a traditional pay-TV service.

All of this means that it will be easier for you to watch the NFL games on more devices this season, says Chris Brantner, editor of StreamingObserver.com, which offers a comprehensive visualization guide on his site.

"The NFL is actively trying to understand how to reach not only cord cutters, but also young ropers," he said. "How will they capture the younger fans who have never paid and who will never pay for the cable? Young people who consume content mainly on mobile devices? I think it's also a test to see they can capture these eyeballs. "

If you're a displaced fan of a non-local NFL team – like me, I'm a big fan of Kansas City Chiefs – the only way to watch is on NFL Sunday Ticket, usually only available when you already have a subscription to the DirecTV satellite service.

However, if you live in an area or housing where you can not get DirecTV, you can register online starting at $ 293.96 for the season. College students can also get a discounted ticket (with NFL Red Zone and DirecTV Fantasy Zone) for four payments of $ 24.99.

And if you subscribe to DirecTV Now on any of the seven markets (Los Angeles area, Phoenix, Boston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Hartford or Louisville, Kentucky) and get the Just Right package ($ 55 per month) ) or more, you can add an NFL Sunday Ticket subscription to your live TV package.

And do not forget that if you live in a metropolitan area, you can always use an antenna to get free local games. Visit AntennaWeb, sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association and the National Association of Broadcasters, for antenna recommendations.

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