You may watch it because you’re a football fan. Or for the ads. Or simply because it’s tradition. Regardless of the reason, when the Super Bowl begins on Sunday, you’re going to want to be watching — even if you don’t have cable, or maybe not even a TV.
That’s because just like last year, the event is going to be live streamed online. Super Bowl XLIX is being broadcast by NBC, and the network decided to do away with its usual requirement to sign in with your cable subscription and instead it plans to let everyone watch; cord cutters included.
The basics: Super Bowl XLIX features the New England Patriots facing off against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. The game will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and kickoff will be at 6:30pm ET (3:30pm PT).
NBC.com is streaming the Super Bowl in its entirety on its website, including NBC’s pre-game coverage, the halftime show featuring Katy Perry, as well as post-game coverage. Streaming will begin at noon ET (9am PT), and continue until 10pm ET (7pm PT).
NBC’s Sports Live Extra apps will also stream the action via their tablet apps for iOS, Android and Windows, but NBC doesn’t have the rights to stream to mobile devices, so streaming to iPhones, Android phones and Windows phones won’t work. The apps may ask you to log in with your cable account if you access live video ahead of time, but NBC has promised that this won’t be the case starting at noon ET Sunday.
Verizon subscribers will also be able to watch the Super Bowl on their phones, thanks to the NFL Mobile apps for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. Sorry, subscribers to other carriers need not apply — this one is a Verizon exclusive.
The NFL audio pass offers a live audio feed with commentary for $9.99. The subscription will also allow users to access archived NFL events throughout July.
Foreign-language radio: Audio of the Super Bowl is live streamed with commentary in Spanish, Hungarian, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Mandarin and German. Links to each webcast can be found on the NFL’s website.
Viewers abroad can tune in to a live stream of the Super Bowl via the NFL Game pass, which is available for $54.99 for anyone not residing in the U.S. and Mexico.
Hulu once again has its collection of Super Bowl ads dubbed the Adzone.
YouTube is aggregating and ranking Super Bowl ads as part of its Adblitz.
The Puppy Bowl completes every Super Bowl Sunday like a furry, friendly sidekick. Animal Planet isn’t streaming the cuter bowl live, but it has plenty of videos to tease us already on its website, and visitors of Animal Planet Live can also catch some rare Puppy Bowl training sessions live online.
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