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Where can I watch NFL games online?

Kevster89

Kevster89

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
140
1
I go to school at USC and am a Chicago Bears fan. Needless to say, I can't catch much games unless they happen to be on NBC for Sunday Night Football or ESPN for MNF.

I did a little research online and it seems like NFL has an online program much like that of the MLB's MLB.TV to watch out of market games online, after paying a subscription fee of course. However, to the best of my knowledge from what I read, this program is only available for those living outside the US. That is, your IP will disable any video for NFL games if using their program.

I've heard chatter about different websites where people stream live games. Is there anyone that has a found a good, reliable site (or even a program you have to pay for) that will allow one to view NFL games online?

I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem, with many students attending college outside of their home sporting markets and businessmen and women commonly traveling on weekends and therefore unable to make it home to catch their favorite team's Sunday game.

Any advice/info would be appreciated.

As always, thank you Forum users!
 
electroshock

electroshock

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2009
641
0
thegoldenmackid said:
DirecTV offers a service to stream the games. If not, if the game is blacked out the NFL is posting them online later that night.
Click to expand...

The DirecTV NFL Mobile app is pretty nice but pricey. Requires the NFL Sunday Ticket ($300) and a DirecTV subscription (another $80). Ow. Poor wallet. ;)
 
eric/

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
rick snagwell said:
im getting directv installed as we speak right now, 39.99 a month for tons of channels and nfl sunday ticket for free.
Click to expand...

You do know those prices don't last though right?

And what if, instead of paying $39.99 for DirecTV and they get to pick your channels, you could pay that price (or less) and pick all the channels you want to have?

alas, ala-carte cable is just a dream.
 
mscriv

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
eric/ said:
alas, ala-carte cable is just a dream.
Click to expand...

It is most definitely a dream. While desireable to consumers like us that model will not financially support itself. The only way I could ever see it working is some kind of tiered channel system where you get a cetain number of channel picks per tier and price would depend on what you pick and what tiers you want to access. I guess it would kind of be like a "meat and three" cafeteria style restaurant. Unfortunately, I think even if something like this worked it would still not be financially viable or even much cheaper for consumers.
 
eric/

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
mscriv said:
It is most definitely a dream. While desireable to consumers like us that model will not financially support itself. The only way I could ever see it working is some kind of tiered channel system where you get a cetain number of channel picks per tier and price would depend on what you pick and what tiers you want to access. I guess it would kind of be like a "meat and three" cafeteria style restaurant. Unfortunately, I think even if something like this worked it would still not be financially viable or even much cheaper for consumers.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Cable bill is what? $40 per month for, say, 30-40 channels?

I'd gladly just pay $1 per month, or even $2 per month for a channel.
 
B

BrerSam

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2010
39
0
I'm moving from the UK to the USA in 2 weeks and was hoping to watch nfl and ncaa games but after reading this is seems it won't be easy to do?
 
mscriv

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
eric/ said:
I disagree. Cable bill is what? $40 per month for, say, 30-40 channels?

I'd gladly just pay $1 per month, or even $2 per month for a channel.
Click to expand...

That model is not financially viable for the cable provider. At $1 or $2 per month for a single channel they won't be able to support their business and many channels would go under. You picking out 10 channels you like and paying $10 or $20 doesn't even cover the equipment and infrastructure costs. The fiscal survival of the model is based on bundling and packages. It's basic business that there must be a minimum price point to cover expenses and generate profit.

I don't like it any more than you do, but the system isn't built to work any other way at present. Things could change in the future, but ultimately I don't think it would be much cheaper for the consumer.

BrerSam said:
I'm moving from the UK to the USA in 2 weeks and was hoping to watch nfl and ncaa games but after reading this is seems it won't be easy to do?
Click to expand...

You will be able to watch local sports teams on free local broadcast channels. If you want special sports programming like ESPN or out of state/region sports teams then you will have to pay for some kind of cable or satellite programming. Sports are slowly working there way to the net with certain apps, but at present broadcast television is still king for sports.
 
B

BrerSam

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2010
39
0
Thanks, will have to look into it a little more, but weird not everything can be watched online like here, can you watch replays of the game anywhere online?
 
mscriv

mscriv

macrumors 601
Aug 14, 2008
4,923
602
Dallas, Texas
BrerSam said:
Thanks, will have to look into it a little more, but weird not everything can be watched online like here, can you watch replays of the game anywhere online?
Click to expand...

That might be possible, I think I've heard of some people doing this, but I've never looked into it myself. I'm pretty much a live sports guy. I might DVR something so I can skip commercials, but I rarely watch something after the fact.
 
eric/

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
mscriv said:
That model is not financially viable for the cable provider. At $1 or $2 per month for a single channel they won't be able to support their business and many channels would go under. You picking out 10 channels you like and paying $10 or $20 doesn't even cover the equipment and infrastructure costs. The fiscal survival of the model is based on bundling and packages. It's basic business that there must be a minimum price point to cover expenses and generate profit.

I don't like it any more than you do, but the system isn't built to work any other way at present. Things could change in the future, but ultimately I don't think it would be much cheaper for the consumer.
Click to expand...

That doesn't make sense to me. With a basic cable package you're provided with enough channels that you're paying at most $2-3 per channel. If it's not viable, than it's because of artificial market manipulation, not because selling a channel isn't viable.

And those channels that wouldn't survive, well, too bad.
 
2

2020mike

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2012
338
3
Firstrowsports.eu your one stop spot for ALL sports. I use to use it to watch euro soccer last year.
 
The.316

The.316

macrumors 65816
Jul 14, 2010
1,395
164
25100 GR
I live in Greece, and I can watch everything. Here is what you need for the following sports:

NBA - NBA.TV

Last season cost me 90 euros, plus another 50 for the playoffs. I pay for this, and the NFL, because most games start at the middle of the night for me, and with this service, along with the NFL package, you can watch games anytime you want, in HD.

NFL - NFL Season Pass I believe

EXPENSIVE, but worth it. They usually have a monthly pay plan, so if your team sucks, you can just stop paying if you wanted.

NHL - NHL Gamecenter Live

Once again you have to pay, 90 for the season, but its just like the other two services, and the quality is the best.

MLB - MLB.TV

Pay service again, but like the NFL package, you can stop paying after a while.

Those are the pay services. I use firstrowsports often, when I want to watch some golf or soccer. The problem is, most sporting events start in the evening, so unless I stay up to watch a game at 2 or 3am, Im going to miss it. There is probably a cable provider that offers something like ESPN America, but you wont get all the games.
 
M

MichaelLAX

macrumors 6502a
Oct 31, 2011
843
23
Actually given the national telecasts and that the Los Angeles market has no "home team" many of the Chicago Bears games will be telecast in 2012.

For sure telecasts:

Week 2, Thurs, Sep 13 @ Great Bay on NFL Network
Week 4, Mon, Oct 1 @ Dallas ESPN
Week 7, Mon, Oct 22 vs. Detroit ESPN
Week 11, Sun, Nov 11 vs. Houston NBC
Week 12, Mon, Nov 19 @ San Francisco ESPN

PLUS:

Week 3, Sun, Sep 23 vs St Louis (RAMS most likely will be telecast in LA)

and because of the no home team status which allows for one extra national game being telecast on CBS/FOX each week, many of the remaining games may be picked up in Los Angeles, especially if da Bears have a hot season!

I stopped buying the NFL Sunday Ticket for da Bears a few years ago because of all this exposure!
 
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