Technology

How to livestream Super Bowl 2018 today

Sports! Justin Timberlake! Kitten Bowl! Puppy Bowl!

Feb 4, 2018, 11:00 AM UTC

A football that reads “52” in Roman numerals sits on the snowy ground in front of the Super Bowl stadium

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday. The New England Patriots are taking on the Philadelphia Eagles today at 3:30 pm PT / 6:30 pm ET on NBC.

Yeah, you read that right. The Patriots are in the Super Bowl for the eighth time since 2001.

From what little I know about professional football, this promises to be a good game. Why do I know that? Because I follow our sister site SB Nation, which has all the odds, coverage and background on the 52nd Super Bowl. So go there now to talk sports.

You’re here to find out how to livestream it. And we have all the details on that, the halftime show and how to watch the real games: The Puppy Bowl and the Kitten Bowl. Let’s get started.

How to livestream Super Bowl 2018

First, the Super Bowl will obviously be shown on broadcast TV. So if you’re looking for a TV experience, just head over to NBC. Pretty easy.

You’ve also got plenty of streaming options. NBC will stream the game for free via its NBC Sports apps and websites.

If you’re paying to stream live TV via services like YouTube, Hulu, Sling and DirecTVNow, you will also likely be able to stream the game there, though that will depend on the deals they’ve worked out with your local NBC station.

You can also stream the game for free on your phone, via the Yahoo Sports app, no matter what carrier you have. That’s the result of a new Verizon-NFL deal; Verizon subscribers can also stream the game on Verizon’s Go90 app and the NFL’s own mobile app.

If you do want to stream the game, here are some tips from our own Peter Kafka about how to make sure you don’t lose the signal right before a Tom Brady touchdown (or sack).

Make sure your broadband is broadband. Sling advises its streaming customers to have an internet connection with speeds of five megabits per second or more — not advertised speeds, real speeds — but you’ll almost certainly want more if you expect a good picture. The FCC now defines broadband as speeds of 25 Mbps or more, and if you don’t have that, chances are you’re probably not the kind of person who would think about streaming the game anyway.
Claim your broadband. You probably know this, too, but if you’re going to stream the game, you should be the only one in your place streaming anything, because you don’t want NBC’s bits to compete with anyone else’s bits. Tell your kids they’ll have to watch Netflix before or after the game. Ask your bored friends who came over to watch the game to refrain from using bandwidth-hogging apps like Snapchat or Instagram — kick them off your Wi-Fi if they insist on staying online.
Think about ditching your Wi-Fi. Moving the stream from your wireless router to your Apple TV creates another way to lose data. “For all the times that people complain about streaming services, so many times it’s about the Wi-Fi in their home,” said streaming TV analyst Dan Rayburn. He suggests solving that by simply plugging your streaming box directly into your router with an ethernet cable.
Fix your Wi-Fi. If you insist on going cordless, you can at least try to improve your signal. This Wi-Fi guide from Comcast has all sorts of advice you would normally never follow, like sticking your router in the middle of a room in the middle of your house. But! You might think about it for a few hours on Sunday.

Convince your neighbors to keep the cord. No matter how much broadband you pay for, you’re ultimately going to end up sharing capacity with your neighbors, whether you like it or not — that’s why you may often see speeds drop in the evening, when more of you are likely to be streaming Netflix or YouTube. So if you live around a lot of other people who are trying to stream stuff on Sunday, you may have a harder time watching the game.

Not here for the football but rather for the halftime show? I hear you. This year, Justin Timberlake is taking (back) the stage.

You may remember his performance with Janet Jackson at the 2013 Super Bowl when he caused an unfortunate wardrobe embarrassment for Jackson. Let’s not do that again, Timberlake.

But wait! There’s more! Before the Super Bowl are two epic games showing the battle of wits and cuteness: The Puppy Bowl and The Kitten Bowl.

I mean, really, who doesn’t want to see adorable puppies and kittens running around on the field chasing a ball? I know I’m here for it.

I mean, look at these guys.

So, animal fans, here’s a rundown of how to watch these fluff balls outmaneuver each other in winning over our hearts.