We've all been there before. You're out traveling or at a Sunday family get together, when all you really want to be doing is watching football — especially now that a berth in the Super Bowl is on the line.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to keep up with the best NFL action without being parked in front of your couch. Here are your best options for watching the NFL on the go.
What to Know Before You Stream
It's important to know that many online TV services, such as Sling TV and YouTube TV don't allow you to watch NFL games on your phone (save for those on NFL Network) via rights restrictions. As such, your best options for mobile streaming are NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL Mobile and Yahoo's apps, which we detail below.
Yahoo Sports
Outside of DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket, Verizon had been the only way to stream NFL games. But under Verizon's new NFL contract, it's opening up those games beyond its own subscribers. This year's NFL playoffs have been streaming on the Yahoo Sports app (Android, iOS), and that's continuing with the NFC and AFC Championship games today (Jan. 21). Download the Yahoo app, and you'll be able to watch the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the New England Patriots at 3:05 p.m. ET and the Minnesota Vikings square off against the Philadelphia Eagles at 6:40 p.m. ET.
NFL Sunday Ticket
NFL Sunday Ticket isn't cheap, but it's your best option for catching every big Sunday game while you're on the go. Sunday Ticket starts at $69.99 per month for 4 months (or a single payment of $279.96), which gets you every live out-of-market Sunday afternoon game. A $379.96 Max bundle adds in NFL Red Zone and DirecTV Fantasy Zone, and there are discounted packages available for students.
NFL Sunday Ticket apps are available for iOS and Android. Note that Monday night, Sunday night and Thursday night games aren't covered, nor are playoff games.
NFL Mobile
Verizon customers had been able to use the NFL Mobile app (on iOS and Android) to watch all prime-time and local matches, including Thursday and Monday night games, for as little as $1.99 a month. If you are on a different carrier, the free version of the app was limited to things like highlights, scoring updates and stories.
With Verizon expanding coverage of in-market games to Yahoo Sports, AOL and Go90, that's likely to change next season, which will be welcome news to football fans who get their wireless service from another carrier.
Cable Subscribers
If you are a cable subscriber, you can also use the NBC Sports (iOS and Android), Fox Sports Go (iOS and Android) or the Watch ESPN (iOS and Android) apps to stream live games to your phone. All you need to do is download the apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and log in with credentials from your cable provider.
