How to Watch the Super Bowl Without Cable

The Super Bowl is back, baby, and there's no reason at all to use cable to watch it. When the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers go head to head, you and your friends can enjoy the Super Bowl without cable — and even watch the Super Bowl for free, if you want. Below, we'll lay out everything you need to know about your cable-free Super Bowl experience, from the date, time, and channel information to tips about streaming services and free over-the-air TV.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to stream the Super Bowl:

	Price	Channels	Free Trial
#1	$5.99 – $85.96	68 – 88	7 or 30 days	See Offer
#2	$54.99 – $86.96	100+	7 days	See Offer

When is the Super Bowl? What channel is the Super Bowl on?

Super Bowl LV kicks off Sunday, February 7. CBS has the broadcast this time around.

What: Super Bowl LV, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Date: Sunday, Feburary 7, 2021
Time: 6:30pm
Channel: CBS

How to watch the Super Bowl online and over the air without cable

The Super Bowl is always aired on a major network (this year, it's CBS), and major networks have affiliates all over the country. That gives us a great option for watching the Super Bowl for without cable for free: over-the-air TV, which costs you nothing other than the one-time expense of buying an antenna.

But that's not the only way to watch the Super Bowl without cable. There are also multichannel live TV streaming services, or “skinny bundles,” which offer cable-like bundles of live TV channels that stream over the internet (yes, just like Netflix or Disney+ — only with live TV). The “skinny bundle” nickname comes from the slimmed-down channel bundles that these services boast. With fewer channels on their payrolls, they're free to charge less for a nothing-but-the-best package of channels — and their selection usually includes the major networks that broadcast the Super Bowl each year. The skinny bundles we'll list in a moment all offer free trials, too, so you can check them out risk-free over Super Bowl weekend.

There's one catch with the skinny bundles: not all of the major network affiliates across the country have signed on just yet, so the availability of live ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox streams will vary by region. You can check availability through tools on the services' sites, or you can just sign up for a free trial and check. Just make sure you do it before the day of your party. Remember, this year you want CBS!

Ready to look at your options in more depth? Below, we'll list the skinny bundle first, then talk about free over-the-air TV, and finally wrap up with other apps worth mentioning.

Hulu's take on the live TV streaming service is an impressive offering. Hulu + Live TV's great bundle of channels includes a live stream of all four major networks, so you can use Hulu + Live TV to watch the Super Bowl this year and every year. Hulu + Live TV has a free trial offer available to new subscribers, which you can check out via the link in this section.

fuboTV is a skinny bundle built with sports in mind. Once a soccer-only service, fuboTV is now a great way to watch American football, too. You can read our review of fuboTV here, but you don't have to take our word for it — check things out for yourself by signing up for the week-long free trial using the link in this section.

AT&T TV Now

AT&T TV Now is the skinny bundle service from AT&T. It was formerly known as DirecTV Now. This is a good service by any name, and it offers a live stream of CBS, which makes it perfect for watching this year's Super Bowl.

YouTube TV

Google's live TV streaming service, YouTube TV, is another strong option for Super Bowl streaming. YouTube TV offers local feeds of major networks in lots of markets, and there is plenty of other sports coverage available on other channels.

Free over-the-air TV

Live TV streaming services are a great way to watch the Super Bowl without cable, but they all cost money once their free trials run out. Not so with free over-the-air TV! Yes, you can still use an antenna to watch TV for free. And since the major networks that broadcast the Super Bowl each year have affiliates all across the country, there's a good chance you can watch the Super Bowl without cable for free this year. You'll just have to find out how close you are to the broadcast towers that matter to you (this year, CBS is the one to pay special attention to — that's the channel that the 2019-2020 Super Bowl is on, of course). Get an antenna that is powerful enough to pick up the signal, hook it up, and then go into your TV's settings and scan for channels. Do it all right, and you should be able to watch the Super Bowl without cable for free. For more on free over-the-air TV, check out our coverage and tips here on CordCutting.com — you can start with the link in this section.

Since this year's Super Bowl is on CBS, you'll also be able to catch all of the action on CBS All Access. This is an all-CBS streaming service full of on-demand CBS content and (in select markets) a live stream of your local CBS station. CBS All Access has a free trial, meaning you could use it to stream Super Bowl LV for free.

The Yahoo Sports App

The Yahoo Sports App is a great option for mobile views. It's totally free, and it also includes a nice perk for these lonely days without Super Bowl parties: A chat feature lets you communicate with pals who are also on the app.

The NFL App

The NFL's own mobile app is one of your best options for watching the Super Bowl for free online. If you have a fancy new iPhone 12 and 5G coverage from Verizon, then your NFL app experience will be augmented with extra camera angles and analysis.

ESPN.com and ESPN Apps (Spanish)

ESPN is another great source for Super Bowl streaming, but only if you're willing to watch the broadcast in Spanish — ESPN has the rights to the Spanish-language broadcast, but not the English-language one. You won't need ESPN+ to access the broadcast, but football fans may like the extra content that comes with a subscription. You may want to grab an ESPN+ free trial while you're in the app!

Can I Watch the Super Bowl on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, or Chromecast?

Okay, so you can plug in an antenna and watch the Super Bowl without cable on your TV – or you can get a Super Bowl live stream and watch the Super Bowl without cable online. But what if you want to get that Super Bowl live stream onto your TV?

We addressed some apps individually above, but we saved the multichannel live TV streaming services for this spot. Let's run through how you can watch each of Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV.

Roku users are in luck: Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV each have apps for Roku.

Fire TV users can choose between Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV.

Apple TV users have all of the skinny bundle options: Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV.

Android TV users can get Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, and YouTube TV.

Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV all support Chromecast devices via other apps.

You can also watch Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, AT&T TV Now, and YouTube TV on your computer (through in-browser apps) or on your mobile device (using each services' apps for Android and iOS devices).

Gamers will find that Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV work well on Xbox One. Hulu + Live TV is also available on PlayStation 4.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that you can turn your free-over-the-air TV Super Bowl experience into a Super Bowl live stream, if you so desire. By using an antenna and either a) an OTA DVR like Tablo or b) a PC TV tuner and Plex, you can make over-the-air content available on multiple devices as streaming content. Using this method, you can receive the signal through your antenna but then use supported apps to stream the Super Bowl without cable on streaming devices like the ones mentioned above.