Nineteen weeks of regular season NFL games later, and we still don’t know who’ll be in Super Bowl LVIII. This Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers play the Lions for the NFC championship, and the Kansas City Chiefs face the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC, with the respective victors meeting two weeks later for the big game. On Sunday, February 11, at 6:30 p.m. EST, Super Bowl kickoff happens at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and we’ll see who wins it all.
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Unless you watch the game — which is being broadcast by CBS — over the air (OTA) with an antenna, the best and cheapest way to watch the Super Bowl will be with a live TV streaming service.
Besides CBS, the game will also stream live on Paramount+. As a Star Trek fan, I already subscribe to Paramount+, but if you’re not sure, you can sign up for a free one-week trial period. And, for a truly different sort of Super Bowl broadcast, Nickelodeon will host a “slime-filled, family-friendly” version of the game. If you want to watch the big game en Español, Univision will air Super Bowl LVIII in Spanish.
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The game will also be available in 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) OTA and on a few other streaming networks. That said, while the video will be better than what you’re used to seeing from your bog-standard Sunday broadcast, the 4K is actually being upscaled from 1080p HDR, so it won’t be as sharp as it theoretically could be. (In related news, don’t invest in an 8K TV anytime soon — unless you really must have cutting-edge TV technology. There’s little enough 4K content out there, and there’s almost none in 8K.)
Below you’ll find all the rest of your Super Bowl streaming options.
Where to stream Super Bowl 2024
Paramount+ is not technically a live TV streaming service: It’s CBS’s combination live shows and video-on-demand streaming service. This year it’s also hosting the AFC Championship game and the Super Bowl. Paramount+ offers the cheapest way to stream both games with its $5.99 per month or $59.99 a year Paramount+ Essential plan. On top of that, you can get a free month of the service if you sign up for either of its plans by entering the promo code “Superbowl” at checkout.
One caveat: You’ll only be able to watch the game in HDTV HDR, not 4K. The service also doesn’t have any DVR features. Still, you can’t beat the price.
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 your local CBS station and Univision on even its cheapest package: the $69.99 Entertainment package.
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DirecTV Stream’s other packages offer additional channels, with prices from $105 to $150 per month. For a limited time, you can get the Choice package, with more than 105 channels, for $83.99/month for your first two months instead of $108.99. Unfortunately, DirecTV does not offer 4K streaming at this time.
In addition, DirecTV Stream includes generous unlimited Cloud DVR storage. At home, you can watch the game, or any other show, on up to 20 streaming devices at once on your home network. Away from home, you can share your stream with three other devices.
FuboTV is best known for its sports coverage. But it’s not just sports. It’s also a full-fledged streaming service with all the usual networks, including the ones that matter for the game — CBS and Univision.
FuboTV’s starter plan, Pro, has 183 channels and comes with 1,000 hours of cloud DVR storage. You can stream to up to 10 screens at once on your home network and three screens at once away from home for $74.99 a month. One big plus about FuboTV is that it offers 4K streaming as part of its base package.
FuboTV’s other packages — Elite, $89.99, and Premier, $99.99 — include additional channels.
This service also encourages new users to sign up for the big game with a free seven-day trial. FuboTV is convinced that once you’ve tried their service, you’ll stick.
Hulu with Live TV offers CBS on all its packages. The least expensive option is Live TV Only for $76.99 a month. However, Univision is not available on any Hulu offering, not even its Español add-on.
You could get one of the service’s bundles with Disney+ and ESPN+, albeit all with ads bundled. For $79.99 a month, that’s a good deal. Or if, like me, you can’t stand ads, you can pay $89.99 and avoid most of the ad spots.
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With any of these packages, you can stream two sessions at once. 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.
Another nice plus is you can store an unlimited number of videos in your cloud DVR archive for up to nine months. One thing you can’t do, however, is watch or store the Super Bowl in 4K. While you can watch many Hulu shows, such as Only Murders in the Building, Kindred, and Reboot, in 4K, live TV shows, including the Super Bowl, aren’t available in 4K.
With over 100 channels, YouTube TV offers more of the most-popular channels than its competitors. By CNET’s count, out of the top 100 networks, YouTube TV offers the most channels, 78, of any streaming service.
It also enables you to watch your local ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and NBC channels in most areas. That means, of course, you can easily watch the Super Bowl on the service with its lowest-priced plan, the YouTube TV Base Plan, for $72.99 a month. YouTube TV is also currently offering this service for $62.99 a month for your initial three months.
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If you’re a Spanish speaker, you’ll need the $34.99-a-month Spanish Plan. You can also subscribe to this plan without getting the YouTube TV Base Plan.
YouTube TV also has unlimited cloud storage, and you get six accounts to share with your household. For this, you’ll pay $54.99 for your first three months and then $64.99 monthly. You can use this service on three screens at once. For Super Bowl watchers, you can also watch the game in 4K, but to get that resolution, you must pay an additional $20 for 4K Plus.
Enjoy the game, my friends!
Super Bowl streaming options, compared
| Monthly subscription cost | CBS Included with base plan? | Unvision included with base plan? | 4K Available? | |
| Paramount+ | $6 | Yes. | No. | No. |
| DirecTV Stream | $70 | Yes. | Yes. | No. |
| FuboTV | $75 | Yes. | Yes. | Yes, with Elite Plan or better. |
| Hulu with Live TV | $77 | Yes. | Yes. | No. |
| YouTube TV | $73* | Yes. | No, It is available on the $25 Spanish Plan. | Yes, with the $10 4K Plus plan. |
* A lower-cost trial is available.
If you don’t have cable, satellite, or OTA, you’ll need a live TV-streaming service that offers CBS to get the big game.
Your choices include DirecTV Stream, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, and YouTube TV.
There is one other option this year: CBS’s inexpensive Paramount+ service.
Regardless of how you watch the game, you’ll need at least an 8Mbps or better internet connection. Faster is always better. If your service provides streams in 4K, you’ll want a speedy 16 Mbps or faster connection.
The game will begin on Sunday, February 11 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern TIme.
Usher, the famous American pop singer and dancer, returns for his second Super Bowl halftime appearance.
The least expensive way to watch the game is with an antenna. For now, the Super Bowl is still on broadcast television, but this might not be the case going forward.
The NFL Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs on January 13 was only available on NBC’s Peacock. While ordinary viewers groused about this, the NFL loved it. I don’t think we’ll see the Super Bowl become a pay-for-view event in the next few years, but it will come.
If you can’t watch it with an antenna, and you don’t have — or want — to subscribe to a streaming service, there is one other cheap way to do it: get the game on CBS’s Paramount+ streaming service. For $5.99 per month, it’s not a bad deal at all. The one fly in the soup is that you won’t be able to watch the game in 4K.
Finally, make sure your streaming service supports your local CBS station. Before putting your money down, make certain that the service will deliver the game. Sure, most 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 a local CBS station.
To watch the Super Bowl in 4K, your least expensive choice is FuboTV’s Elite Plan or better, which bundles in 4K. Your only other option is YouTube TV, but you’ll pay an extra $10 for 4K.
Sorry, no can do. Maybe next year.
No, you can’t. Sling TV’s a la carte channels do not include CBS.
