Your guide to watching football this season

It’s been a minute, but football is finally back. That means more Tom Brady in his 708th season (kidding), more Pat Mahomes wizardry, and perhaps — if we’re lucky — a smile or two from Nick Saban. It also means a fresh start for your favorite team(s) and players vying to win that elusive championship.

In the screen age, it’s never been easier to stay caught up with all the big-time matchups, whether on the pro or collegiate level. However, with the surge of live TV streaming platforms and the emergence of smart TVs and plugins, it’s become an increasingly daunting task to sift through the tech and the deals. What channels should you subscribe to? Should you ditch cable for services like Sling? Are smart TVs or setup boxes the way to go?

All valid questions. And we’ve got answers. Here’s what you need to know heading into the 2019 NFL and college football seasons to optimize your viewing experience — and not put a massive dent in your wallet.

If you’re an Odell Beckham Jr. fanatic but live in New York (sorry Giants fan), you’ll want to know where and how to catch Browns games. Likewise, if you’ve found yourself living far from the Crimsom Tide, you’ll need to know where you can watch ‘Bama games. Peep the channels below to ensure you’re not missing any of the action.

NFL RedZone: The service that provides whip-around coverage of all Sunday afternoon games. For the uninitiated, RedZone jumps from contest to contest, highlighting teams on the verge of scoring. The action is always at its peak, and it’s ideal for fantasy football fiends.

FOX: CBS’s main competitor between the hours of 1 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. EST on Sundays, FOX will televise the most NFL games during the 2019 season — 111, to be exact. They’ll also host Thursday Night Football games (outside of Week 1) and Super Bowl LIV. So you can be locked into your favorite squads and won’t have to scramble to catch the biggest sporting event of the year. Win-win.

CBS: The network television staple is set to air over 100 NFL games in 2019 during its typical 1 p.m. EST and 4:05 p.m. EST Sunday time slots. In addition to watching your favorite local teams on a weekly basis, you’ll bear witness to the clairvoyant powers of Tony Romo — the G.O.A.T. color commentator — firsthand.

NBC: Cap off the best day of the week with Sunday Night Football on NBC. There are a plethora of terrific games slated, none better than Week 8 when Aaron Rodgers and the Packers battle Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs in Kansas City. It’ll be the first time the two former MVP gunslingers square off. Also, the season opener will be on NBC September 5 (a Thursday), when the Packers take on the Bears.

ESPN: The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” is once again on Monday Night Football duties. Must-see matchups include Browns vs. 49ers (Baker vs. Jimmy G) in Week 5, Pats vs. Jets in Week 7, and Chiefs vs. Chargers (can they combine to score 100?) in Week 11.

NFL Network: If your mission is to watch, or at least have the ability to watch, every pro football game this year, you’re going to need the NFL Network. You’ll get 24/7 football talk and games all season with NFL network; seven of their 18 games will be exclusively televised on the channel. The other 11 will simulcast on FOX.

NFL Sunday Ticket: Available only for DirecTV consumers, NFL Sunday Ticket allows you to watch all out-of-market Sunday afternoon matchups produced by FOX and CBS, which you can stream on your TV, computer, smartphone, or gaming console.

NFL Game Pass: It’s the NFL’s quasi-version of NBA League Pass, MLB Extra Innings, etc. By subscribing to the online service, you’ll have access to every single down from scrimmage in 2019 — preseason, regular season, and postseason included. You’ll also be able to rewatch full or condensed versions of any matchups you miss and stream HBO’s Hard Knocks, NFL RedZone, and other football-related programming. Sounds ideal, right? The only downturn is you can’t watch the games live. You’ll have to wait until they end before doing so.

ESPN (and its family channels): Between ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (which simulcasts ABC games as well), ESPN+, and ESPNU, the Disney-owned sports juggernaut will air over 150 games in 2019, including the College Football Playoffs and a number of conference championship games. If you stand for college football generally, and don’t necessarily have a favorite team, these are the networks for you.

SEC Network: The most popular dedicated sports platform with over 70 million subscribers, SECN hosts several contests featuring SEC teams weekly. Although CBS has first pick of the litter, the SEC Network showcases many of the country’s finest teams, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes content and original programming, including SEC Nation — essentially, the Southeastern Conference’s version of College Gameday.

Pac-12 Network: The Pac-12 Network is one of the few networks to be outright owned by the conference (as it recently turned down a deal with ESPN for distribution), which means you get nonstop Pac-12 coverage of the season’s 35 games. The channel’s programming includes a weekly news show dedicated to Pac-12 football, plus The Drive, a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of the leagues’ football programs.

FOX and FS1: This year, FOX and FS1 will televise a number of bouts from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Pac-12 conferences. That includes Michigan vs. Ohio State, the most storied rivalry in CFB, on Saturday, November 30, as well as the Big Ten Championship.

CBS: On Saturdays, CBS hosts the SEC Game of the Week, which touts the biggest matchups the powerhouse conference has to offer. Often potential CFB Playoff previews, teams scheduled to make appearances include Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and more. The “less intriguing” SEC games are saved for the SEC Network (more on that below).

Big Ten Network: Owned by FOX, BTN is devoted to all things Big Ten. Via the FOX Sports app, stream over 40 games and 750 hours of programming in 2019, such as an original documentary on the Michigan vs. Michigan State rivalry entitled Divided We Stand.

ACC Network: Launching August 22, ACCN will mirror SECN and BTN in its dedicated coverage model. During the network’s inaugural season, it’s slated to televise 40 football games and several spring contests. While few specifics have been disclosed about shows and original programming, you can bet the defending national champion Clemson Tigers will play a prominent role in both.

This is where the fun begins. There are so many services and platforms that allow you to watch live sports now, which is great. Of course, it can be a bit tricky to find the right medium(s) for you. Here is a full breakdown of the options at your disposal, complete with the benefits and downturns of each.

Live-Streaming Services: Relying on internet connectivity rather than antennas to deliver live sports content, major streaming services are giving cable a run for its money. Pairing say, Sling TV, with a Roku may just make for the most dynamic duo in the sports-consuming game today. More on that later.

There are many benefits of opting for live-streaming services, first and foremost being cost effectiveness. The cheapest plans begin at $25 per month (hello again, Sling) and offer all of the sports channels you could ever want. Prices begin to hike as you select more networks, but the premium packages beat cable more times than not.

One other major advantage of live-streaming platforms is you’ll never have to worry about cords again, and you can watch from any device. But the one negative is streamers don’t always pull in local sports channels. That said, the bonus is that you don’t have to pay for those locals on services like Sling, because you can easily get those for free with an HD antenna.

Smart TVs and Plugins: Containing thousands of downloadable apps and powered by the internet, smart TVs and plugins have changed the way we watch. No cable box or cords are required to stream your favorite channels (you just need a subscription), which you can link to via apps built into the television.

The biggest question is who has an edge over the other, smart TVs or plugins? The short answer is it’s a matter of preference.

Smart TVs tend to offer higher picture quality, with 4K built in. Many also have voice recognition, so you can ask Google when the Eagles are playing this week, or even set your fantasy football lineups. They also contain multiple HDMI ports, allowing you to connect your computer, gaming consoles, and other devices to the TV set.

Meanwhile, purchasing streaming sticks and setup boxes will do significantly less damage to your wallet than investing in a smart TV. You can also take them with you on the road to plug into any TV with an HDMI port and effectively make it smart. Call it a TV education, if you will. The one downside is not all plugins, like Chromecast and Amazon Fire, offer cable connectivity. So, you’ll need to invest in a service like Sling to make sure you’re covered.

Cable: Sure, it’s not exactly the cutting-edge, super tech-forward way to consume live sports content, but there are ample reasons why old-school might be the best school for you.

Aside from boasting a history of reliability, most cable packages come with the major football channels, like FOX, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and more. Many offer premium packages that throw in RedZone, SEC, and Big Ten networks.

Additionally, core providers are leaping into the app space, making streaming from your computer, tablet, smart phones, and other favorite devices possible, thereby cutting at least some of the cords (you’ll still need a cable box).

However, affordability (or lack thereof) remains cable’s greatest Achilles’ heel. The cheapest packages, with the fewest sports channels, start at around $55 per month, which isn’t bad. But if you’re a Duke fan living in Southern California, and therefore would need the ACC Network to keep up with all things Blue Devils, choosing cable will force you to fork over more cash. Premium packages start approaching the hundreds per month. The other downside of cable is annual contracts. You may be stuck in a not-so-ideal plan for a couple of years.

For just $25 per month ($15 during the month of signup), Sling offers its Blue and Orange services, with the ability to subscribe to both or change your subscription at any time without penalty. On Saturdays, Sling Orange grants you access to ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3 (for college football), and on NFL days, NFL Network, FOX, and NBC (the latter two in select areas) are all available with Sling Blue. Pay an additional $10, and you’ll unlock NFL RedZone, the SEC Network, and more with the Sports Extra add-on (we dare you to find a better deal than that).

And Sling is one of the few live streaming services that doesn’t force you to pay for your local channels, which you can easily get with an HD antenna. (They’ll even throw in an HDTV antenna for free when you subscribe and prepay three months.) Sling TV is also the only streaming service that integrates your local over-the-air channels with your OTT channels. Just connect your HD antenna to an AirTV Wi-Fi-enabled network tuner and you can wirelessly stream your locals in and outside your home when viewing Sling from an iOS, Android mobile, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV or Roku device.

There may be a reason why Sling is the #1 live streaming service*: Between its inclusive and affordable services, its ability to pair with most devices, and OG status as the first-ever live and on-demand TV streaming service, Sling offers the best overall value for the consummate football fan. All you need is a streaming device, like a Roku, most of which are Sling TV compatible.

At the end of the day, there are so many which ways to get your football in this season it’s really just a question of how you want to watch. Which games or leagues are you dying to see? What packages work with the technology that you already have? And which package offers the best value? Your best bet is the package with the most expansive coverage across all networks, that easily integrates into your devices, and comes at a great price.

*Based on the number of subscribers publicly reported as of June 30, 2019.