Super Bowl LVI kicks off on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT). That leaves you about three days to figure out how to stream the game online if you don’t have live TV or can’t watch at your favorite local drinking spot due to the still cresting omicron wave.
Luckily, this year you won’t have to resort to illegal bootleg streams, cobbling together an antenna setup, or begging your friends and family for their cable passwords to watch the game. This year, CBS is making it easier than ever to stream the game on a variety of devices for free.
And when I say free, I mean really free. Anyone can watch the stream, even if you don’t have a cable or streaming service subscription. In fact, depending on which device you watch on, all you need to do is load up a website and press play once the game is live.
Best of all, CBS’s official stream will match what airs on TV, including every moment of the Bengals versus Rams matchup, the entire half-time show, and every Super Bowl commercial. While streaming quality depends on the strength of your internet connection, and the game probably won’t look as good as the HDTV broadcast, chances are CBS’s offering will be more reliable than illegal streams—and more importantly, free of malware-ridden ads. (To ensure you’re getting the best-possible watch experience, connect your devices to your internet router via an ethernet cable, instead of wifi.)
The only other reason folks may look for a bootleg stream is if they’re region blocked by their ISP. If that happens, install a reliable VPN and connect to a proxy server to mask your IP address and get around the region locks.
How to stream Super Bowl LVI for free
There are a few ways to watch the 2022 Super Bowl this year, and the best option will depend on which devices you have access to.
Web browser
Your web browser is the most direct way to watch. Just go to CBSSports.com on the day of the game and press play on the video stream once it’s live. This stream should work on all major web browsers available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and even mobile devices.
If you want to watch on your TV this way, simply connect your computer to your TV via an HDMI cable and switch over to the correct video source on your TV—but make sure you test this ahead of time to ensure you have the proper cables on game day.
CBS Sports app
The other option is to install the CBS Sports app on your device(s) and watch there. The CBS Sports app is available for:
Install the app via the links above or through your device’s app store. The stream won’t be available until the day of the game, but it’s a good idea to install and load the app to make sure it works properly, and confirm your devices are properly connected via HDMI or screencasting if you plan to watch on an external TV or monitor.
[Vox]
