The 2009 football season officially begins this September; and if you’re like me, you’re not always near a television when the big game is set to start. Or, maybe you’re a fan of a team that doesn’t get much airtime on your local TV networks. Perhaps you don’t have cable and don’t want to pay the high prices for football packages available by satellite. Don’t worry because you can still catch your favorite teams in action via your computer for free. Let me show you several different ways to watch.
My favorite method of finding games to watch and listen to online is FreeFootballRadio.com. Once at the site, you can click on “NFL Teams” to see a list of all the teams and choose the one you would like to watch. Alternatively, you can click on “schedule” for a list of games for each day. Then click on your preferred team. You’ll be given a list of radio stations which broadcast that particular team’s games, and at the bottom of that list, you’ll find links to TV stations which stream the game as well. If there are no TV stations listed, click on the opposing team’s link to check their listings. The advantage to FreeFootballRadio.com is that you can find both radio and TV, and the site is extremely user friendly. Navigation is simple, and the site gives easy to follow directions to find the games and teams in which you’re interested.
Another way to locate stations streaming NFL games is to visit HowToWatchFootball.com Links are not generally posted until the morning of the game and sometimes not until an hour before kick-off, but the list is usually fairly comprehensive. You should be able to find most games here. The site is set up forum style which is not quite as easily navigated, but if you are looking only for TV and not radio, then you might wish to use this one. Also, there are threads with detailed instructions on how to use their services. Preseason game links are available to everyone, but if you want to use this site during the regular season, you’ll need to complete a free registration form.
My P2P is another site which lists streaming television stations that broadcast games. Click here to go directly to the NFL schedule; or, from the home page, click “Live Sports,” then click American Football. Next, choose the schedule you need: weekdays, Saturdays, or Sundays. If there are streams available, they will be listed here.
All three of the above sites require special software in order to load each station. The software is free to download and simple to use. I’ll provide download links to each program here as well as in the resources section of this article. Note that you may wish to explore each program further as they all offer additional TV stations other than the sports channels you’ll use to watch football. The programs are as follows: TVAnts,TVU, and Sopcast. You do not have to download all three, but you’ll be able to get the most stations and therefore have the best chance of being able to watch every game if you do.
Sometimes, you can also find streaming NFL games at Justin.tv. It is not the most reliable place to find live games, but there are usually several replays streaming. So, if you miss an important game, you may want to check here. Just look at the station descriptions to find what you need. Alternatively, you can type Football or NFL in the search box, and it will return only relevant stations. One nice feature of Justin.tv is that it does not require you to install any special software.
A final site that may be useful is ChannelSurfing.net. This site streams with Windows Media Player which comes standard with most computers or can be downloaded from WindowsMediaPlayer.com. When you visit ChannelSurfing.net, simply scroll down the page until you see a listing of all the live broadcasts for the day. You will have to scroll through everything to find NFL, but the site does have streams for many games.
However you choose to catch the games, it promises to be a great season to watch. Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll never have to miss your team again.>
Reference:
- TVAnts,
- TVU,
- Sopcast.
