Picture the scene; it's 3:57am on Monday the 12th of February. I'm in my bedroom, my wife's fast asleep and my phone is buzzing. I look down and see that a video call incoming from Tom of CraftySports. Why is Tom calling me at such a time? Well, only moments before, Patrick Mahomes found Mecole Hardman in the endzone with 3 seconds to go in overtime and the Chiefs go back-to-back as Super Bowl Champions.
In that moment, neither of us thought about how that was the last NFL play we'd see for months. Until the next morning. 285 games went by so fast, it felt like only a couple of days before that Tom & I were texting all night about how good Jahmyr Gibbs looked, and how bad the Chiefs receivers were on opening night as my Lions just squeaked out a 21-20 win over the Chiefs for the 2023 kickoff.
It's always sad when you realise how quick the NFL season goes and even worse when you realise how far away it is. For the first couple of months, at least we have the combine, the official end/start of the season calendar and all of the free agency madness that takes place, the combine, draft and schedule release but none of it quite compares to the first time you watch a ball get snapped in a season.
Well, we did it. We're very nearly there. The 2024 season is around the corner and UK fans have every single snap at their finger tips yet again with 285 more games available to us. Here's how you can watch the NFL this season.
The NFL Week
Those of you who've watched for years will already be familiar with the NFL week and how games are split but for those of you who aren't, the NFL has 5 primary game slots each week over Thursday, Sunday & Monday. Towards the end of the season (after the college football season ends), those slots expand to Saturdays. Those slots are:
Thursday Night Football. GMT Kickoff: 1:15am on the Friday morning.*
Sunday Early. GMT Kickoff: 6:00pm.
Sunday Middle. GMT Kickoff: 9:05-9:25pm. Primarily for West Coast teams at home.
Sunday Night Football. GMT Kickoff: 1:20am.*
Monday Night Football. GMT Kickoff: 1:15am on the Monday morning.*
*= is considered a primetime slot due to being in the evening and the only game on at that time
Some weeks will be slightly different, but we'll get onto that in a second.
Where to watch
All 285 games this season will be shown in the UK in one way or another.
Currently DAZN, Sky Sports, ITV, Channel 5 & Netflix (yes, Netflix) have the rights to at least 1 game each in the UK. Each platform has a slightly different schedule, so be wary that there isn't a single 'one size fits all' where every single game is available live.
DAZN: the home of NFL GamePass, DAZN will show all (bar 36) live games on the platform. Every week, all apart from 2 games are available LIVE.
Sky Sports: Sky Sports will have 1 game per-'slot' as mentioned above. The Sunday early & Sunday middle games shown on Sky each week are the 2 games that will be unavailable live on DAZN each week, otherwise known as 'blackouts'.
ITV: ITV have taken over the BBC's old coverage of the NFL as of the 2023 season. They host the weekly roundup show as well as broadcasting the Super Bowl LIVE. They even have British commentary.
Channel 5: Monday Night Football is FREE to watch. Every week throughout the regular season, you can watch the Monday Night Football matchup on 'terrestrial' tv. Throughout 2023, C5s coverage was hosted by Kirsten Watson, who was joined by former All-Pro Running Back and Jaguars LEGEND, Maurice Jones-Drew as well as Around the NFL's Gregg Rosenthal. They will also have a 30 minute Sunday morning NFL show.
Netflix: you heard me. Netflx. The gloabl giant is firmly planting itself into the live game with both of the NFLs Christmas Day games internationally. We have no idea how this is going to affect other services such as Sky & DAZN, who would usually have these games on but we'll have to wait and see for the timebeing. Plan for both games to still be available on those platforms for now, though.
By Game Slot
If it makes it a little easier for you, here's where you can watch by game slot.
TNF: Sky Sports, DAZN
SE: Sky Sports, DAZN (except the game shown on Sky Sports)
SM: Sky Sports, DAZN (except the game shown on Sky Sports)
SNF: Sky Sports, DAZN
MNF: Sky Sports, DAZN, Channel 5
XMAS: Netflix (Sky Sports, DAZN unconfirmed)
SUPER BOWL: Sky Sports, DAZN, ITV
So, there you have it. All 285 games available to UK based fans one way or another, including 19 free-to-air games too (18x MNF on Channel 5, 1x Super Bowl on ITV).
If I'm perfectly honest with you, I just get GamePass - now DAZN - every year. As much as I don't like 36 games being taken from me, the rarity of the Lions being picked to be a 'blackout' game on Sky Sports meant that with one subscription, I had ALL Detroit Lions games live. However, that may change going forward. If you are a fan of a 'big' team, then you might want to consider both Sky & DAZN if you can afford it as you may find you'll need it if you want all games.
Follow me on social media: @lionsguyfletch
Comments