As an NFL fan, few things beat settling into your favorite spot on Sunday to cheer on your team. But what happens when the game you want disappears from your local broadcast lineup?
Suddenly you‘re scrambling to find a way to tune in. And down some sketchy internet rabbit holes lies a maze of streaming sites making big promises.
How do you know your best bet?
That‘s why I put together this definitive guide. I‘ll walk you through the web‘s top five for catching NFL action online, according to diehard fans on Reddit.
You‘ll discover:
- Why Reddit was the one-stop NFL streaming shop (and what changed)
- Smart alternatives to access every game this season
- Exactly how legal free streaming sites are (hint: murky at best)
- Recommendations fitting every budget and viewing preference
Here‘s what you need to know to save yourself the penalty flags when picking your platform this football season.
Reddit Used to Rule NFL Streams (Until the Ban Hammer Dropped)
Reddit serves over 52 million users dishing daily about everything from beauty tips to retro video games [1].
Within Reddit, smaller communities exist around specific topics, known as subreddits. Under each lives a scrollable feed of posts.
Given football‘s enormous popularity across North America, various subreddits became dedicated homes for fans connecting over NFL action.
Here users exchanged opinions alongside another hot commodity — stream links.
At one point, r/nflstreams attracted over 400,000 members swapping links to live and on-demand football.
As you can guess, these streams violated broadcasting rights. Eventually, Reddit brought the ban hammer down.
But once the cat was out of the bag, fans migrated elsewhere to keep the free streams rolling.
The Perils of Streaming Outside the Law
Without Reddit‘s community guardrails, unregulated sites pose a few serious risks:
Legal Action
- Accessing unauthorized NFL streams breaks copyright law. You could receive threatening legal letters demanding compensation.
Security & Privacy Threats
Free streaming sites often lack protections against malicious ads, links, and software threatening you and your devices.
Without encryption, your streaming activity and personal data stays visible for prying eyes.
Shady Quality
- Streams tend to lag, pixelate, or cut out unexpectedly more often than legal options.
Savvier solutions exist…
Now that you know the turf, let‘s explore smarter and safer ways to tap into NFL games without headaches.
Sunday Ticket — Following Your Out-of-Town Team
Sunday Ticket started as a satellite subscription on DirecTV to view NFL matchups normally blacked out in your area.
This year the service switched homes exclusively to YouTube TV — the internet cable alternative.
I‘ll outline exactly what you get and how much it costs.
Stream Any Out-of-Market Sunday Game
The main draw of Sunday Ticket lies in lifting local blackout restrictions for Sunday afternoon games:
- Catch your favorite teams regardless of where you live
- Track up to 8 games at once with multi-view
- Pause, rewind, and replay games on-demand
This makes it clutch for watching hometown teams if you move or follow an out-of-town friend‘s team.
All the Bells & Whistles
Beyond the basic games, Sunday Ticket stuffs premium perks into its offerings:
NFL RedZone – Always feared missing big plays while watching one game? RedZone hops around to the biggest moments and scoring drives from all games in near real-time.
Live Individual/Team Stats – Key for fantasy football fans. Drive smarter waiver wire pickups and substitutions seeing yards gained, field goals, and scoring plays as they happen.
Condensed Games – Canal through entire games in under 30 minutes. Great for catching up quick.
Mobile Streaming – Watch any Sunday Ticket game on smartphones and tablets outside of home.
What It Will Cost You
How Sunday Ticket fits into your budget depends whether you‘re already paying for YouTube TV, YouTube‘s replacement for cable TV at $64.99 per month [2].
Here‘s the breakdown:
| Bill If… | Sunday Ticket Cost | Total Price |
|---|---|---|
| Existing YouTube TV Subscriber | $29.99/month | $94.98/month |
| Non-YouTube TV Subscriber | $99.00/month | $99.00/month |
You can also pay $73 extra per season for NFL RedZone access either way.
Considering a normal cable bill runs $100+/month anyways, the additional cost feels justified when you realize all the football available at your fingertips.
Watch NFL RedZone Channel Without the Hefty Commitment
RedZone and its whip-around coverage also comes available through the NFL app.
This offers flexible access to the red zone channel without a spendy Sunday Ticket subscription behind it.
But first, let‘s rewind and see what makes RedZone so popular.
The Only Football Channel You Need
Ever try watching multiple games by constantly changing channels? An annoying exercise in futility.
The RedZone channel creates the ultimate highlights reel by auto-switching between games the moment teams enter the red zone — within 20 yards of scoring.
No panel discussions, commercials or fluff. Just play after play of the game‘s most exciting moments.
RedZone squeezes 10+ live games into one adrenaline-packed broadcast. Don‘t forget the legendary RedZone host Scott Hanson keeping the energy electric:
{{< youtube RF6-tA7Cw-Q >}}
Give your neck a break from endlessly whipping to the TV wondering "what did I miss??"
Price to Pay
Access RedZone as part of the NFL app available on phones, streaming devices, or through Yahoo! Sports.
Here‘s what it costs:
- $34.99 – All regular NFL season
- $9.99 – Single month
The NFL app itself remains 100% free with access to live local and national primetime games.
RedZone kicks the experience into light speed if your budget allows.
When Sunday Ticket Gets Too Steep — Enter Sling TV
Sling TV operates like a budget live cable alternative for cord-cutters.
Their Orange & Blue package combines 45+ channels from ESPN to NBC Sports for $50 per month. This crosses NFL, NBA, MLB, and more off your list without overload or bloat.
As a bonus, they‘re offering 50% off your first month this football season. So give it a test run.
How International Fans Stream NFL Using VPNs
Overseas fans have it tough trying to stream full NFL seasons. Licensing deals limit access causing outright blackouts.
To bypass regional restrictions, global users harness VPNs: Virtual Private Networks.
Here‘s how it works…
Briefly Become Canadian with VPNs
VPNs work by masking your real location. They assign you a new fake location and IP address by routing your traffic through remote servers abroad.
This tricks sites into serving you content available only to specific countries.
For the NFL, fans commonly select VPN locations like Canada and the UK logged into services based there.
ExpressVPN and NordVPN rank as prime choices to explore first.
Once connected to a UK or Canada-based server, visit a platform like DAZN to access live games and full replays with their NFL Game Pass for a monthly fee [3].
Is Location Spoofing With a VPN Legal?
Now when it comes to ethics, this qualifies as a grey zone case.
VPNs themselves simply encrypt data and change IP addresses. Perfectly legal right?
Using them expressly to bypass region restrictions contradicts the NFL‘s broadcasting rights deals in different countries.
Tread carefully, but many fans access games this way without issue. Just be warned occasional crackdowns happen against individual subscribers violating terms of service.
When Free Streams Are Your Only Option
Ideally, paid routes like Sunday Ticket provide the best reliability. But I realize that‘s not possible for all fans.
In those cases, converter sites like SportSurge and NFLBite gather crowd-sourced stream links with no sign-up required.
These free options arose after Reddit‘s NFL stream shutdown left fans wandering.
Expect occasional hiccups from sudden stream takedowns or quality dips. But otherwise they allow unlimited access across devices at $0.
I suggest having multiple backup links ready to swap if needed.
Bottom line — plenty of ways exist now for catching your NFL squad in action.
I wanted to outline thepeaks and pitfalls around different streaming options so you dodge headaches.
For reliability and premium perks, Sunday Ticket now as part of YouTube TV offers a leading solution. Sling TV also deserves a look for budget streaming.
When free matters most, converter platforms like SportSurge collect streaming links for all to enjoy on an inconsistent basis.
Here‘s a quick cheat sheet for picking your NFL streaming platform this upcoming season:
Did I earn your Game Ball for research yet?? Drop any remaining NFL streaming questions in the comments and enjoy kickoff when it arrives!
References:
[1] https://backlinko.com/reddit-users [2] https://tv.youtube.com [3] https://www.dazn.com
