Near or far, here’s how to follow all the football action in Atlanta this Sunday.
Super Bowl Sunday is nearly upon us! The dynastic New England Patriots take on the greatest show on turf known as the Los Angeles Rams in an Atlanta-bound showdown featuring the league’s two best teams.
For the uninitiated, the Super Bowl is the championship game for the National Football League (NFL), and the winner will have the honor of being called the best team in football for at least one year. It’s usually filled with a lot of beer, chips, and tons of funny, high-production ads that can be almost as fun as the game itself.
The annual halftime show will have Maroon 5 with special guests Travis Barker and Big Boi. Gladys Knight will do the honors on the National Anthem. Oh, and there will be some pigskin thrown around, probably, with pairs of the hottest quarterbacks and coaches in football — New England’s Tom Brady with Bill Belichick and Jared Goff with Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams — putting their high-powered offenses to the test to see who can score the most points.
The action kicks off February 3 at 6:30 p.m EST. That’s 3:30 p.m. PST, 4:30 p.m. MST, and 5:30 p.m. CST in the US and Canada, and 11:30 p.m. GMT (or 23:30) in the UK. It all goes down inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a state-of-the-art facility that’s mindblowing in person, but also makes for a nice backdrop for those watching on TV.
Looking to watch the big game on your Android phone, TV, or tablet? How about Chromebook, or any other device with a capable web browser? You’re in luck: there are tons of ways to watch, and you probably won’t have to pay a dime.
How to watch the Super Bowl in the United States
In the US, spectators can catch the action right from CBS. There are actually three different ways you can access a free stream:
CBSSports.com will have a live stream up for free.
Anyone can watch free in the CBS Sports app, available on Android phones and tablets, Android TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, Xbox One, Apple TV, and more.
CBS All Access viewers can, of course, watch through that app.
If watching on TV or through the CBS app isn’t possible, you can also tune in via any service which offers live access to CBS Sports. That includes Hulu’s Live TV package and YouTube TV, among others. Most of these services offer free trials too, so if you’re only in it for the big game then you can watch it on Sunday and cancel it on Monday.
Don’t forget that you can also go the old school route and buy an antenna to pick up your local channels. This one-time purchase isn’t quite as sweet as a free trial of an internet TV service in the short term, but the long-term payoff will more than make up for that. Our friends at CordCutters have the best recommendations for over-the-air digital antennas.
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How to watch the Super Bowl in Canada
Our Canadian friends can get in on the fun by way of CTV, TSN 1, or RDS, provided you have one of those channels in your TV package (most folks do). What’s cool about it this year is that Fox is allowed to broadcast a full 1:1 stream to Canada for folks to enjoy, so our friends in the Great White North can join in on the full Super Bowl viewing experience, showy American ads and all.
For Android, the CTV GO app and website will have their streams going, however those who want to stream the CBS version of the broadcast will need to use a VPN to bypass their geographical restrictions and watch the game at the CBS website or in the CBS Sports app.
Another option for Android users in Canada is DAZN, a $20-per-month subscription for a full meal ticket to sports coverage. NFL coverage includes NFL Sunday Ticket, the NFL Network, all offseason coverage, and — you guessed it — Super Bowl 53.
You can snag yourself a free trial to check out the game, and even have enough time left over to see if there’s anything else you like with coverage of MLB, MLS, UEFA, and more. DAZN is available on mobile, TV, and web apps so you have no shortage of ways to keep up.
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How to watch the Super Bowl in the UK
The best way for friends across the pond to keep up with the action on Android is through BBC iPlayer, as BBC will assume the role of providing a digital front seat for those who aren’t willing to pay for Sky Sports. BBC iPlayer is available for Android phones and tablets, and is also available on many smart TV platforms and gaming consoles. Chromecast users will find an easy option to beam the content to their TV, too. Everything starts at 11PM GMT.
Other Countries
If you live in any other country, there is likely an option for you. Be sure to check your local stations to see their exact coverage plans. The NFL also has a handy database of ways to watch sorted by country, so that should also get a quick look.
If you have no other options, you can always use a VPN to watch an American stream. VPNs allow you to reroute your data traffic around the world in an encrypted pipe. It’s usually great for internet privacy, but a nice secondary benefit is being able to use the internet as if you’re in an entirely different country.
Check out our list of preferred VPN service providers, and then use it to trick the internet into thinking you’re browsing from the United States by setting your location appropriately. Once you’ve done that, you could go right to CBS and watch it from the source.
More: Best VPN Services
Who will win?
Championship games are fun, exciting, and — more than any other time — a chance to pick a side and root hard for a winner! Who do you want to win? Who do you think will win? Make your predictions and then prepare for the contest to be decided inside Atlanta’s beautiful Mercedes-Benz Stadium February 3.
