TV Answer Man, the Rams are playing on Thursday Night Football and I know Amazon has the contract now so how can we watch the game without having to get Amazon? Will it be on one of our local channels, too? — Marcus, Los Angeles.
Marcus, the 2022 NFL season begins tonight with the Thursday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams at 8 p.m. ET from SoFi Stadium (the former site of the Hollywood Park Race Track) in Inglewood, California.
However, I need to correct myself. It’s actually a Sunday Night Football game on tonight.
What?!
Yes, tonight’s Thursday night game is actually a production of NBC’s Sunday Night Football team. The Rams-Bills game tonight (yes, Thursday night) will be on NBC, not Amazon, which has the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football starting next week (September 15) with the Kansas City Chiefs-Los Angeles Chargers game.
You will not need Amazon tonight to watch the Rams-Bills. Repeating, you will not need Amazon to watch tonight’s game.
I can understand your confusion, however. With sports on so many different channels and services these days, it can be difficult to keep track of who’s playing and where you can watch.
But let me help you with the Bills-Rams game. Here are three ways to watch tonight’s action.
1. NBC — Antenna.
Yes, if you’re a cord-cutter, you don’t need to subscribe to any service to see the game. Just install an indoor or outdoor antenna and you’ll be able to pick up your local NBC signal in most areas. Of course, I say ‘most areas’ because antennas can be unreliable. If you live near a tall building or mountain, or in a remote area, you might have trouble getting the signal.
2. NBC — Pay TV Service
You can watch the old-fashioned (but perhaps the most tried and true) way by subscribing to a pay TV service such as cable or satellite, or a live streamer such as YouTube TV or DIRECTV Stream. Not only will you be able to watch NBC via the pay TV service, you can use your service’s user name and password credentials to stream the game on the NBC Sports app, if you so desire.
3. Peacock — Streaming
Peacock, the NBC-owned streaming service, will also show the game tonight. And the service is now running a special $1.99 a month deal for its Peacock Premium plan. But new customers only.
You can also get the Spanish-language broadcast on Universo. And if you live in the Buffalo or Los Angeles markets, the game will be available on NFL Plus, the new $4.99 a month mobile streaming service from the league.
Marcus, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
