Almost no one saw this Super Bowl coming: The Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals will go head-to-head on Sunday, Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Curiously, even though it’s the Rams’ home field, they’ll be Super Bowl LVI‘s away team.
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The best video streaming services
There are two kinds of paid streaming services: Video-on-demand (Netflix, Amazon Prime) and live TV (Sling TV, YouTubeTV). Here’s the best of the VOD packages.
But whether you live only a few miles away or you’re flying to LAX from Cincinnati, you may not be able to see the game in person. At an average price of $10,237, Super Bowl LVI is already almost double the amount of last year’s average ticket price. The cheapest — and maybe the best — way to watch the game is with a streaming service.
DirecTV Stream has gone through an amazing number of name changes. In the past, it’s been AT&T TV, AT&T TV Now, and DirecTV Now. Whatever you call it, you’ll get NBC on even its cheapest package: The $69.99 Entertainment package. Of course, $70 for all practical purposes a month still isn’t cheap. Other packages offer more channels, with prices from $84 to $140 per month.
On the plus side, DirecTV Stream now comes with a truly generous unlimited Cloud DVR storage. At home, you can watch the game, or any other show, on up to 20 devices at the same time. Away from home, you can share your stream with three other devices.
Like the name says, FuboTV is all about sports. But it’s not just sports. It’s also a full-fledged streaming service with all the usual stations. Its basic plan, Starter, has 109 channels and comes with 250 hours of video DVR storage. You can stream to up to three screens at once for $64.99 a month.
Hulu with Live TV’s combination of on-demand video and live TV is nice, and it also comes with Disney+ and ESPN+ bundled. For $70 a month, that’s quite cheap. For that, you can also stream two sessions at once and get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage.
If you want more, for $10 a month, you get 200 hours of cloud storage. For another $10 a month, you can play as many streams at once at home. But you’re still limited to three screens when you’re away from home.
Unlike the others, when you subscribe to Peacock you’re sure to get NBC, so you’ll also be certain to get the Super Bowl. It also comes with Peacock and NBC network TV shows and movies on demand. It has a free tier with the usual TV commercials. A Premium plan with fewer commercials will cost you $5 a month, while the ad-free Premium Plus package will run you $10 a month.
However, for the game, you’ll still get the Super Bowl ads. Since those are often great fun in their own right, this is the one time of the year I don’t mind ads. On any plan, you can watch it on three screens. What you can’t do, however, is record any show. Peacock has no cloud DVR service.
Sling TV has an a la carte approach to channels that separates it from its competitors. While the others tend to offer only two to four packages, Sling TV offers two basic packages — Blue and Orange — and a wide variety of packages bundling up to a dozen-related channels.
For the Super Bowl, you need to start your bundling with Blue. This comes with 42 channels for $35 a month and you can stream it on up to three devices. It also includes 50 hours of DVR storage. The better deal, if you want to keep using Sling, is to combine it with Orange. This kicks you up to over 50 channels for $50.
With over 85 channels, it offers more of the most popular channels than its competitors. It also enables you to watch not only your local ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC channels in most areas, but your local PBS stations as well. By CNET’s count, out of the top 100 networks, YouTube TV offers the most — 78 — of any streaming service. This, of course, includes NBC and the Super Bowl. This starts by costing you $55 for your first three months and then $65 monthly. You can use this service on three screens at once.
Enjoy the game, my friends!
Do I need a live TV subscription service to stream the Super Bowl?
To get the big game if you don’t have cable, satellite, or over-the-air (OTA), you’ll need a live TV streaming service that offers NBC.
Your choices are DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV, and Y ouTube TV. You’ll also be able to watch the game on Peacock, NBC’s broadcast and streaming network, and via the NBC or NBC Sports app.
Regardless of how you watch the game, you’ll need at least an 8Mbps or better internet connection. Faster is always better, but the game won’t be in 4K, so you don’t need a really speedy connection.
What is the cheapest way to stream the big game?
The cheapest way to watch the game, unless you can watch it with an antenna, is to install the NBC or NBC Sports app on your smart TV or streaming device. The apps are free. Their only cost is the minute it will take to install one. However, they may require you to log into your cable or satellite TV account, and if you’ve already cut the cord, you could be in trouble. Install the app and check well before Super Bowl Sunday to make sure you’ll be able to watch the game come the day.
Speaking of making certain the major streaming services do offer NBC in most areas. Let me underline this: Most. Before putting your money down make certain that the service supports your local NBC station, 99% of the time you’ll be fine, but you don’t want to explain to your buddies that they can’t watch the game after all if you’re one of the unfortunate few who can’t stream NBC.
Where can I stream the Super Bowl in 4K?
Oddly enough, no matter how you watch it, unlike 2020, you can’t watch the Super Bowl in 4K. Seriously. That’s because NBC, which is broadcasting the game this year, doesn’t have the technology to do it right.
You see NBC doesn’t have the necessary, ultra-high-end cameras such as the $50,000 Sony HDC-4300 camcorder with a $25,000 broadcast zoom lens to broadcast the game in 4K. Those are likely in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Besides, none of NBC’s streaming services — the NBC app, the NBC Sports app, or Peacock — can show 4K or even High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) TV.
If you want to watch pro football in 4K, Fox Sports has been your only choice, and even then 4K NFL football was only available for Fox’s Thursday night games. Maybe next year, when Fox broadcasts Super Bowl LVII, we’ll get to watch the game in its full 4K glory. But, this year, any HDTV will work well for your viewing enjoyment.
