The easiest ways to watch the Super Bowl without cable

In just two weeks, America will take part in an annual tradition like no other. Two great football teams will compete for glory, while roughly two-thirds of the people at watch parties around the country will be more interested in snacks and commercials.

That’s right, Super Bowl LIV is almost upon us. The NFL got its conference championships out of the way over the weekend, leaving the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers as the only teams left in the mix. The Chiefs are playing for their first championship in 50 years, while the 49ers are trying to rack up their sixth since 1981. The game is on Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

You’re going to want to watch this, but we understand you might not have cable. Fear not, as there are more ways to watch the Super Bowl without paying much (or anything at all) than ever before. 

Before you put together history’s most decadent cheese plate, here are the easiest ways to make sure the people at your Super Bowl party actually have something to watch.

Cheap, old-fashioned, and futureproof: The antenna

The first thing you need to know about the Super Bowl if you’re hosting a watch party is where you can watch it. The NFL has three broadcast partners for games (excluding Monday Night Football) in CBS, NBC, and Fox. Since the league doesn’t play favorites for its championship game, the Super Bowl is on a rotation between those networks, landing on Fox this year.

That means you’ll get Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call, but more importantly, you don’t actually need cable at all to watch the game. It’s broadcast over the air, so you can buy a cheap antenna and catch the game with no strings attached.

Indoor antennas can be had for $30 or less and even a modern 4K TV should have the necessary ports to make it work. As always, make sure to Google whether your TV’s make and model work well with antennas. TCL, for example, has a helpful guide on setting them up with their line of Roku TVs.

If you get an antenna, it’ll more than likely pick up Fox, considering that’s one of the most prominent over-the-air networks. The FCC has a signal map, just in case. This is definitely the old-school option, but if you can get a good signal, you’ll be set for the Super Bowl for years. 

Futuristic and potentially free: Streaming services

Image: Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

If you don’t feel like buying hardware and relying on older technology, step into the future and use a streaming service. 

Fox has its own streaming app called Fox Sports GO. It’s on most devices where you can stream things. The only problem is you need a cable or satellite login to actually watch anything! I realize you probably don’t have one if you’re reading this, so it’s probably not that useful for you. That said, if you can finagle a cable login out of someone you know, Fox Sports GO has high streaming quality and is easy to use.

With that out of the way, let’s focus on possibly free ways to (legally) stream the Super Bowl. There are a bunch of streaming services that act as cable replacements, like YouTube TV, Sling, Hulu with Live TV, and fuboTV. They all cost around $40-75 per month, but they all offer free trials. Isn’t that nice?

All the services I listed above only offer trials between five and seven days, so you should activate it the Friday or Saturday before the Super Bowl at the earliest. Before you do that, make sure the service in question supports Fox; their website should have a way to check which channels are available in your market. Some of them, like Sling, limit access to local, over-the-air networks.

YouTube TV is generally reliable in this regard and offers a five-day free trial. If you haven’t already exhausted a free trial with that particular service, that might be your best bet.

It’s going to be hard to find a better way to watch the Super Bowl without shelling out for cable or satellite service. This game is an enthralling clash of styles, with an aerial circus taking on the football equivalent of a Mack truck. Don’t miss it.