Despite the rise of cord-cutting and online streaming, the Super Bowl is still largely watched by Americans on TV. In fact, it’s the biggest viewing event in the United States—last year’s game on NBC drew 114 million viewers, making it the most-watched television broadcast in American history.
Only 1.3 million people streamed the game last year, in comparison. Still, that was a streaming record. And with all of the options available this year, Super Bowl 50 will likely tally even more streamers.
Super Bowl 50 begins today (Feb. 7) at 6:30pm ET at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Here’s how to watch Cam Newton’s Carolina Panthers take on Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos, in every which way possible—for free:
How to watch in the US
CBS will broadcast the game on TV, which you can access with any pay-TV subscription or an HD antenna. If you’re a PlayStation Vue or Comcast Stream subscriber, you also get CBS. ESPN Deportes will televise the Spanish-language broadcast.
But, if you plan to stream the game, here are your options, by device:
- On your PC: The game will be streamed on CBSSports.com. You don’t need a pay-TV subscription—it’s available for free to everyone in the US. Like NBC last year, CBS is touting its effort to make the game available everywhere.
- On your tablet: The stream on CBSSports.com will be available on tablets too. If your tablet runs on iOS, Android, or Windows, you’ll be able to stream the game through the CBS Sports app as well.
- On your Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, or Roku: These devices can stream the game through the CBS Sports app. Several reports say that CBS is working with Amazon to get the game on Amazon Fire TV devices.
- On your phone: Here’s where things get limited. Verizon has exclusive rights to mobile streaming for the Super Bowl, meaning only Verizon Wireless customers will be able to watch on their phones through the NFL Mobile app. Make sure you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network, though, otherwise your data will suffer.
If you’re just watching for the commercials and the halftime show, don’t fret. All of the options above will stream those things too.
How to watch outside the US
If you want to watch the American broadcast, you can use VPN software to pretend you’re located in the US, and use any of the options above. Otherwise, here’s what you can do:
- United Kingdom: BBC has the TV broadcast. It will also stream the game online, on the BBC iPlayer, and on the BBC Sport app. Sky customers can also watch on Sky Sports or on the Sky Go app.
- Canada: CTV will broadcast the game. It’ll also stream on the CTV Go app (available on iOS, Android, and Windows devices). This may be the last year that Canada will be able to substitute its own ads into the broadcast, instead of the American ones. Canadian regulators ruled that Bell Media—which owns the broadcast rights to the Super Bowl through 2019—must stop substituting in Canadian commercials during the broadcast on American channels. So, next year, Canadians will be able to watch the American commercials during the broadcast on Fox.
- Elsewhere: The game will be broadcast on Foxtel and Seven Network in Australia, Sat. 1 in Germany, and W9 in France. Here’s a (partial) list of where it’ll be broadcast in some other countries. You can also stream the game on NFL Game Pass, but it’ll cost you (paywall).