How to Watch 2021 Super Bowl Without Cable
It’s almost February, which means that the greatest football show is just around the corner. However, the Super Bowl LV played during the pandemic will be very different from the 54 Super Bowl games that came before it. The good news is, you don’t need a cable TV subscription to watch the Tampa Bay Pirates fight the Kansas City chiefs on February 7th.
If you have cable TV, this year’s Super Bowl will air on CBS, starting at 6:30 pm ET Sunday, February 7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. For those of us who cut the cord long ago and prefer to stream live streams, here’s how you can watch Super Bowl 2021 and all the related formalities like Media Day.
Broadcast via CBS for free
The CBS family of apps is eligible for this year’s Super Bowl, but thankfully, you can stream the game for free with the regular CBS app on your connected device. CBS All-Access will also feature the game, but requires a subscription. If you would like to watch the game in Spanish, ESPN Deportes will broadcast it for free on TV as well as in their app. There’s also the option to watch the game on Hulu Live or FuboTV – both offer free seven-day trials, but then require a monthly fee.
The NFL will also stream the game on its own app, but you may not need to download this game if you’re not already an avid football fan.
Virtual Media Day
Given the reality of COVID-19, much of the usual hype and entertainment will be missing from the Super Bowl. Typically, media day takes place on the Monday before the game, which means that if we lived under normal conditions, the media crowd would have pounced on the players and coaches today.
ESPN says it will be a virtual media day of sorts, but it will be much more low-key than usual and will likely resemble a standard press conference. The teams will also not arrive until the Friday before the game. In a typical situation, they are usually in the city court at the team hotel a week before the celebration.
There will still be entertainment
It’s not a Super Bowl without entertaining headlines, but Weeknd is this year’s breaks performer. This will be odd considering the NFL will undoubtedly try to create a standard stadium rock vibe worthy of a superstar, albeit with social distancing in mind.
The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – will play halftime while country singer Eric Church and R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan will sing the National Anthem ahead of the game. The HER singer will also sing ahead of America The Beautiful.
The show will continue even in the grim circumstances at home and abroad. Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is also 43, making his tenth Super Bowl appearance, and commentators will laugh and tremble no matter which service you choose to stream.