American Football is finally back for the highly anticipated 2024/25 season and for fans there are more ways to stream NFL live and on-demand than ever before, some of which are free.
If you’re in Britain, you’ll likely get a better deal on watching America’s biggest sport on TV and online, despite caveats like blackouts on the official NFL Game Pass streaming service.
American viewers typically have to jump between different broadcasters and providers to watch all the games, while British fans have a fairly simple set of choices. We will explain them all, don’t worry.
The Kansas City Chiefs won the most recent Super Bowl (for the second time in a row) and are one of the favorites to get there again, but so do plenty of other top teams, including the 49ers, Ravens, Bengals and others. There could be a surprise like the Jets, if Aaron Rodgers can stay healthy, or even the unofficial British team, the Jaguars.
But whatever happens, and to quote Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora, “The NFL never disappoints.”
Live stream on NFL Game Pass with DAZN
NFL Game Pass is the sport’s official online streaming service in Britain – a bit like Netflix only for American football. It allows you to watch matches live or on-demand throughout the season and is available on the web or via various devices with the app.
Game Pass is once again hosted by DAZN after moving last season (but you don’t need a DAZN subscription). It’s a global sports streaming service and only limited in the US and China, so it’s not just a UK service.
In 2024 it’s more of the same, but the big news is that game downloads are back. Game Pass’s popular feature over the years means you can download games (full or highlights) for offline viewing, perfect for on-the-go.
Games include the US broadcast for halftime commentary and analysis. There are also NFL shows like Hard Knocks and A Football Life available as part of the service.
DAZN is available on a range of devices with apps for Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
The good news is that a free subscription is offered if highlights, game previews, NFL Network content, and the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine are enough for you.
Otherwise you’ll have to pay for the Season Pro subscription, which costs £159.99/€179.99 for the season, or you can pay 12 monthly payments of £15.99/€17.99.
Alternatively, you can get Weekly Pro for £14.99/€17.99, but it will cost you more if you watch the whole season.
Anyway, your regular season and postseason games, as well as the Super Bowl, live RedZone and much more:
- NFL Draft Rounds 1-7 Live
- Highlights from last season and full match replays
- NFL originals and programs, including Hard Knocks
One of the big caveats here is that not every game will be available live, as broadcast blackout rules apply. Essentially, Sky Sports will prioritize certain games so you won’t be able to watch them on Game Pass until 24 hours later.
DAZN says this will apply to two Sunday matches per week (kick-offs at 6pm and 9pm), but the following matches will not be affected by a blackout:
- All matches on Monday, Thursday and Sunday evenings
- All US Thanksgiving Day Games (Thursday, November 28)
- All Playoff matches
- Super Bowl LIX
- Any post-season games
Blackouts are really the only downside, as you can use Game Pass abroad without the need for a VPN, as long as you’re not in the US or China.
NFL Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube
New this year is the ability to watch Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video or YouTube as an add-on channel subscription.
It will still cost you €159.99 for the season or €29.99 per month (cancellable whenever you want), but keep in mind that you still won’t be able to use the DAZN app.
Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video is available in the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. It’s only available for £29.99 per month. You can cancel it at any time.
Watch NFL on Sky Sports
As you may have guessed, Sky is as usual the main place to watch NFL on television in Britain.
Nowadays the broadcaster even has a dedicated Sky Sports NFL channel (Sky 407 / Virgin Media 507). Some games will also be shown on Main Event and Action channels.
It is now common for Sky Sports to show five live matches a week, with three Sunday matches and Thursday and Monday evening football. Typically, more than 100 matches are shown on Sky Sports each season.
Subscribers also get access to NFL RedZone for all the big plays and touchdowns, as well as plenty of other content:
- Monday and Thursday evening football
- Selected matches on Sunday evening
- Live NFL Red Zone
- Fantasy live
- Good morning football
- Total access
- Hard knocks
Air sports
Air sports
Air sports
So if you are a Sky customer at Air sportssimply tune in to the NFL Channel (or alternatives) when games are happening to watch them live (see the schedule above to see which games are happening). You can also watch via Heaven go.
However, Sky has other ways to watch if you don’t want to be a full satellite customer. You can watch Now (formerly Now TV) on a wide range of devices, including smartphones and consoles, with a Now Sports membership (formerly called Sky Sports Pass).
These start at £14.99 for a one-off daily membership (24 hours), but you’ll probably be better off getting the 12-month savings membership if you plan on watching a lot of games. It costs £26 per month and includes a 7-day free trial of Now Boost.
The other option is a monthly, cancelable time subscription at £34.99 per month.
Note that you’ll need Now Boost (normally £6 per month) to watch in Full HD quality, along with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The number of devices you can stream on simultaneously is also reduced to three (normally one).
View all Now passes here.
Which NFL games are on British TV?
Every week we update which games you can watch on TV, between Sky and Channel 5, with start times and channels. Don’t forget that many games in Britain take place in the middle of the night.
Sun 8 Sep
- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Atlanta Falcons – 6pm – Sky Sports NFL/Action
- Dallas Cowboys @ Cleveland Browns – 9:25 pm – Sky Sports NFL/Action
Mon 9 Sep
- Los Angeles Rams @ Detroit Lions – 1.20am – Sky Sports NFL
Tue Sep 10
- New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers – 1.15am – Sky Sports NFL/Main Event, Channel 5
Watch NFL on Channel 5
Anyone who has been following the NFL from Britain for a while will remember it watch games on Channel 5.
After a hiatus since 2009, the channel returned to action for the 20/21 season and has continued to show regular season games since then.
The only problem is that they are all Monday Night Football matches, which here in the UK means you have to put the kettle or coffee pot on at 1am on a Tuesday morning. However, Channel 5 is a free-to-air channel, so if you have the resources, it’s possible to record the game and watch it at a more convenient time.
You can also watch End Zone, the network’s Sunday morning NFL show that starts at 10:30 a.m. and brings you “the latest NFL American football action” from Cori Yarckin and his team.
Watch NFL on ITV
Now, in the final year of a three-year contract, you’ll get to see some NFL on ITV, although not much. If you don’t watch via antenna or satellite, you can use ITVX for streaming.
Following a random pre-season game broadcast, the channel will show two of the games hosted in London, as well as the Super Bowl.
Once again, a weekly highlights show will air on Friday evenings (normally at 11.30pm), hosted by Jason Bell, Osi Umenyiora and Craig Doyle.
You can also watch previous seasons of Hard Knocks, Undiscovered and A Football Life.
Where can you watch NFL in the US without cable?
This guide is mainly focused on Britain, but if you’re in the land of the free, watching NFL can be a little tricky as it’s shown on many channels including Fox Sports, NBC, CBS, ESPN, ABC , NFL Network and, most recently, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
It may be too difficult and expensive to have them all to catch every game, but you do have a few nicer options.
NFL+ is the official streaming service (called Game Pass in the UK), offering live local and primetime games (regular, postseason and Super Bowl) on your phone or tablet. Replays are available if you have the NFL+ Premium subscription, which includes Red Zone.
The service starts at $6.99 per month and you can take advantage of a 7-day free trial.
There are more options than ever, including SlingTV and YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV and, for the first time, games on Peacock via NBCUniversal. Read more in our full guide on our sister site, TechHive.
Alternatively, the easiest and cheapest way to get NFL games on any TV is with a digital antenna. If you’re near a metropolitan area, CBS, Fox, NBC, and CBS show games every Sunday, and you can watch them for free, but of course without the modern gadgets like recording or pausing.
Watch NFL abroad with a VPN
Services like Sky Go and ITVX are geographically restricted outside the UK, but that doesn’t mean you can’t watch the NFL when you’re abroad.
All you have to do is download and use a VPN service such as NordVPN that masks your IP address and makes it appear to the app as if you are actually in Great Britain.
Simply log in, select a UK server and then browse Sky’s services in your web browser and watch whatever takes your fancy.
Of course, you can also use the same trick to appear to be surfing from the US and access US services – but either way you’ll find it easier and cheaper to watch the sport from Britain.
Read our guide to what a VPN is and what the best VPNs are.
NFL International Games 2024
Here are the confirmed details for the next set of international matches.
- September 6 – Green Bay Packers vs Philadelphia Eagles – Corinthians Arena (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
- October 6 – Minnesota Vikings vs New York Jets – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London)
- October 13 – Chicago Bears vs Jacksonville Jaguars – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (London)
- October 20 – Jacksonville Jaguars vs New England Patriots – Wembley Stadium (London)
- November 10 – Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants – Allianz Arena (Munich, Germany)
