How to watch Super Bowl 2024
We have finally arrived at Super Bowl Sunday. The biggest game of the year for the biggest sport in the United states. The championship game for the NFL season that started the previous fall. And we’ll be perfectly honest here: The hardest part about watching the Super Bowl is figuring out what the Roman numerals mean. (Spoiler: Super Bowl LVIII is Super Bowl 58.)
The easy part? Knowing what time is Super Bowl LVIII is going to start.
It is much easier to explain how to watch Super Bowl 2024. This year, the game — today at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas — is on CBS, which means it’s available pretty much anywhere. Cable. Satellite. Streaming. Broadcast. Anywhere that typically has TV coverage should have the Super Bowl.
Who’s playing in Super Bowl LVIII?
The playoffs have all come down to this. The Kansas City Chiefs will represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVIII, having dispatched the Baltimore Ravens in a lopsided conference championship game. And they’ll take on the San Francisco 49ers, who dashed the hopes of Detroit with a fairly epic second-half comeback, in the process denying the Lions of what would have been their first Super Bowl appearance.
The two teams — along with their fans — have had two weeks to prepare the Super Bowl 2024. That gives plenty of time for the players to rest up. But get ready — it’s a Chiefs-Niners world, we’re all just living in it.
What time is the Super Bowl?
This part’s easy. Super Bowl LVIII is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (That’s 3:30 p.m. local time in Vegas.) But given that Las Vegas never actually goes to bed — and also given that this is the biggest sporting event in the country — coverage starts well before the game.
On Super Bowl Sunday itself, pregame coverage starts on CBS at 3 p.m., and post-game coverage should land by 10 p.m. (Assuming things don’t run long.) That’s in addition to all the coverage that all the other places that have sports online and on TV. And it’s also in addition to all the other coverage that’ll be on CBS and other Paramount-owned properties.
And all the other sports channels and networks that aren’t CBS or Paramount will have their own coverage, too. Just turn on a TV. Right now. You’ll find Super Bowl shows.
In other words, strap in. It’s going to be a busy ride.
Did Taylor Swift make it to Las Vegas?
Of course! (Was there ever any doubt?) If you’re somehow wondering why in the world we’re even asking this question, it’s because Swift is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. But she also had a series of shows in Tokyo, halfway around the world.
We do live in a world in which air travel remains available to billionaires, and so Swift basically finished her last show in Japan, hopped on a plane (not at all the way us mere mortals do, however), and high-tailed it back to North America.
In other words, the game can now be played.
Is Super Bowl LVIII in 4K and HDR?
Yes, Super Bowl LVIII will be available in 4K resolution on CBS. Repeat: You will be able to watch Super Bowl 2024 in 4K resolution. On CBS. That’s a big deal because CBS hasn’t been as quick to stream 4K content as the other providers. But this time, it’s doing so. And if you’re watching in at least 1080p resolution (and you almost certainly will be), you’ll also be getting things in full HDR.
CBS also says that the pre-game, Super Bowl halftime show, and post-game coverage will be available in 4K resolution and in HDR.
Welcome to the future, CBS. It’s about time.
How to stream Super Bowl 2024 if you don’t have cable
At some point, we’ll have to come to terms with the fact that there just isn’t that big a difference between cable and streaming anymore. Bits and bytes are bytes and bits, no matter how they come into your home. That said, because the Super Bowl is on CBS, and CBS is a broadcast channel, it’s available in any number of ways.
Generally speaking, there are no bad ways to stream the Super Bowl. (And if you need an excuse for a new set, you can say we told you to buy a new TV for the Super Bowl.)
Watch the Super Bowl for free with an antenna
If you’re looking to spend the least amount of money over the long term, this is one of our favorite ways to do it. An over-the-air antenna plucks broadcast signals from the air — yes, the same as when your parents or grandparents were little — and decodes them onto your television. It’s a one-time cost, and the content is free, whether it’s CBS (home of the Super Bowl this year), ABC, NBC, or Fox. Or any of the sub-channels they make available.
The basic rule of thumb here is that you want your antenna to be up as high as you can get it, and outside, if possible. From there, you can plug it directly into your TV, or use a box like Tablo to make that over-the-air signal available to multiple devices in your home.
Otherwise? All you pay for is the hardware. The content is free.
Watch Super Bowl LVIII on YouTube TV
YouTube TV is the most popular live streaming service in the U.S., which means it’ll be the way many folks watch the Super Bowl. Simple enough — CBS should be included in your YouTube TV lineup. (The same goes for Nickelodeon, which will have its kid-friendly version of the broadcast.)
The only real caveat here is whether you want to try to watch the game in the aforementioned 4K resolution. YouTube TV can handle that, and CBS has said it will supply the 4K stream to the streaming services. That presumably means YouTube TV is atop that list. But YouTube TV’s 4K service is an add-on. If you’ve yet to try it, the Super Bowl is the perfect time to take things for a spin.
Another reason to consider YouTube TV is that it is currently the only service in Las Vegas that allows you to flip a switch to lower the latency between what’s on the screen and what’s happening in real time. The broadcast delay feature is available now. If you have a decent connection at home, you should definitely check it out.
Watch Super Bowl LVIII on Fubo
Fubo isn’t the next-biggest streaming service. In fact, it’s the smallest in the U.S. when it comes to options with comparable channels. But it has one thing YouTube TV doesn’t — 4K content without an additional fee. And yes, Fubo has already confirmed that it’ll have the Super Bowl in 4K resolution.
That’s the reason to care about Fubo in terms of the Super Bowl. The rest of the time? It’s a strong contender, though a recent price increase does make it slightly more expensive than its competition. But it has several add-ons— specifically sports-related add-ons — that get you channels you can’t find anywhere else.
Watch Super Bowl LVIII on Paramount+
If, for some reason, you have a subscription to Paramount+ but don’t have one of the live services — you’re still covered. As it’s done throughout the regular season, Paramount+ will have the final NFL game of the season.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that you won’t have an option to watch in 4K resolution this way.
That shouldn’t be a deal-breaker though. We’ve long said that we prefer a good 1080p stream over a compressed 4K stream. (What you’ll get on the linear streaming services is upscaled, too.) And Paramount+ has confirmed to us that its still will be 1080p with HDR, utilizing the Wide Color Gamut space. That should be ore than OK for most folks.
Paramount+ also will get the wealth of pre-game content available on CBS and its sister channels.
Watch Super Bowl 2024 with a VPN
For those outside the U.S. who still want to watch Super Bowl 2024 (or if you’re from the U.S. but are overseas during the game — or for whatever other reason), a VPN may be in order.
Here’s the deal: Live streaming services typically are meant to be used in one country. But if you find yourself in another at kickoff, a VPN can make it look like you’re still at home. A virtual private network routes all of your internet traffic through a server in a specific country. So if you’re from the U.S. but are working for the week in, say, Ireland, you’ll just fire up your VPN to connect to things back at home. It’ll be like you never left.
There’s a catch — you need to be able to trust your VPN provider because all of your traffic (encrypted and unencrypted alike) will be transiting that provider. For that, we’ve long been fans of ExpressVPN. It’s easy enough to use, has access to all the servers in all the countries you could possibly use, and the price is right.
