How to Watch NFL Games Online Legally: The Complete Guide

andrew | September 10, 2011 | 0 Comments More

Are you looking for ways to watch NFL Games legally on your computer? We’ve compiled all the available ways to legimately watch NFL Games online. Some products are on the pricey side, but some are available for free.

UPDATED (12/21/2011): Includes live streaming of NBC playoff schedule and Super Bowl.

Sunday Night Football

The NFL’s Sunday Night Football schedule has consistently provided premiere NFL games since NBC took over. Flex scheduling at the end of the season allows SNF to show games with playoff implications even when the originally scheduled games turn out to be less than stellar. Every Sunday Night NFL Game is available free online via Sunday Night Football Extra at NBCSports.com. SNF Extra features picture in picture with additional exclusive online camera angles, “HD Quality,” and DVR controls.

Watch Sunday Night Football Live Online

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Monday Night Football

Yes, it is actually possible for some people to watch Monday Night Football live online on WatchESPN.com. Unfortunately, those people are limited to subscribers of TV service from Time Warner, Bright House Networks, or Verizon FIOS. (Verizon Broadband customers are not included even though they have access to ESPN3) It’s “free” for those subscribers, but of course, you have to already being paying for ESPN via your TV provider to also get access online.

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NFL Sunday Ticket

UPDATE (9/12/2011): Early reviews of these DirecTV services have been pretty bad. Keep this in mind if you are thinking about purchasing.

NFL Sunday Ticket is offered only by DirecTV and gives you access to every Sunday Afternoon NFL game, with the exception of games already broadcast locally in your area. Once again this season, DirecTV has rather quietly offered the NFL Sunday Ticket online to non-DirecTV subscribers who cannot purchase DirecTV for one reason or another. (condo rules, line of site issues, etc.) The package, named NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go, is available to current DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers for an additional $50, but can be purchased without DirecTV for $350 for the season. (Yeah, it’s not cheap). With this package you’ll also get the additional bonus being able to watch games on certain mobile devices through the NFL Sunday Ticket app.

Do you have a Playstation 3? If so, you can also subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket through your PS3 for $339.95.

Go here to order the NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go Online without DirecTV or here to add Sunday Ticket To-Go if you are already a subscriber.

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Thursday Night Football on NFL Network

Ok, these NFL Network Thursday night games are sort of available to watch online at NFL.com. You don’t get the full telecast, but rather frequent “live look-ins.” This means they show some of the game and when they hit a commercial break, the broadcast get thrown back to the studio crew who “breaks down” the recent action and further discusses the game. Eventually they take you back to the broadcast, but it could be 10 or more minutes later and after you’ve missed a chunk of the game. In a nutshell, it’s not an ideal way to watch, but hey, at least it’s something. On a positive note, they usually stay on the game during the last few minutes of the 4th quarter so you can watch the end rather than leaving you hanging. There are 7 Thursday Night NFL Network games this year and one Saturday night game on December 17th.

Watch Thursday Night Football at NFL.com/Live

**Thursday Night games don’t begin until Week 10 – Thursday November, 10th.

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NFL Wild Card, Super Bowl, and Pro Bowl

Beginning this year, post-season NFL games broadcast by NBC will be streamed live online at NBCSports.com and NFL.com. This lineup will include two Wild Card games, the Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl 46. The online viewer is to be modeled after Sunday Night Football Extra and will provide many if not all of the same features.

Outside the US & Mexico

If you live outside the United States, Mexico, and US territories, you are eligible to purchase NFL Game Pass and watch every NFL Game live online. The prices start around $150 for a basic subscription, but may vary depending on your country or region. The good people at NFLDownUnder.com have put together a very nice review of Game Pass if you are searching for a little more information into how it all works.

For more information see the NFL Game Pass FAQ, or order NFL Game Pass here from NFL.com.

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NFL Games On Demand

If you don’t mind waiting until the day after to watch games, you can see every NFL regular season game in high quality streaming video with NFL Game Rewind. With Game Rewind, you get DVR controls, access to a complete archive of every game from 2009-2011 and the ability to watch up to four games at one time. The package will cost you $39.99 for the entire season. All games are available by 6am the next day, except for night games which are available by noon. Check out our review of NFL Game Rewind for more details.

You can subscribe to Game Rewind at NFL.com.

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Overview

We are almost to the point where every NFL game is available to legally watch live online. As far as we’re concerned, that day can’t come soon enough. We also should mention that you prefer to listen to every NFL game live online, you can do so with order NFL Audio Pass from NFL.com($29.99 / season).