The Super Bowl is one of the most iconic and lucrative sporting events in the U.S. It attracts viewers from all over the globe, and few occasions garner as much interest from commercial advertisers. Some people tune in for the football, others watch for the commercials. Then there is the halftime show, which has become must-see TV for pop-culture aficionados.

The Super Bowl ranks as the country’s most-watched event every year, and NFL games usually make up a third of the 100 most-watched primetime programs in any given year.

While TV viewership remains high, Super Bowl LIII in February 2019 marked a new development. The event smashed record Streaming figures with a 31% increase over 2018. Viewers watched 560 million hours of live coverage in 2019, up 9% from 2017.

Fans are now able to catch the action using various devices thanks to streaming services. According to 2019 Super Bowl broadcaster, CBS, the event was watched across 7.5 million unique devices, 20% more than the year before.

The Super Bowl schedule

Super Bowl LIV will be held in Miami on February 2, 2020. The road to reach it began back in September, with 32 NFL teams competing in four divisions in the American Football Conference (AFC) and four divisions in the National Football Conference (NFC). Regular season results decide the makeup of the playoffs, which begin the first weekend of January.

The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament with 12 teams — six from each conference. It comprises the four division champions, who are seeded one through four based on their winning percentage over the regular season. They are joined by two additional teams with the best remaining winning percentage in each conference. They become the fifth and sixth seeds.

The playoff schedule is as follows:

January 4 and 5, 2020: Wild Card Weekend

• The AFC 3rd seed (New England Patriots) hosts the AFC 6th seed (Tennessee Titans)
• The AFC 4th seed (Houston Texans) hosts the AFC 5th seed (Buffalo Bills)
• The NFC 3rd seed (New Orleans Saints) hosts the NFC 6th seed (Minnesota Vikings)
• The NFC 4th seed (Philadelphia Eagles) hosts the NFC 5th seed (Seattle Seahawks)

January 11 and 12, 2020: Divisional Round

• The AFC 1st seed (Baltimore Ravens) hosts the AFC’s lowest-seeded remaining Wild Card Weekend winner
• The AFC 2nd seed (Kansas City Chiefs) hosts the AFC’s highest-seeded remaining Wild Card Weekend winner
• The NFC 1st seed (San Francisco 49ers) hosts the NFC’s lowest-seeded remaining Wild Card Weekend winner
• The NFC 2nd seed (Green Bay Packers) hosts the NFC’s highest-seeded remaining Wild Card Weekend winner

January 19, 2020: Conference Championships

• The highest remaining AFC seed hosts the lowest remaining AFC seed
• The highest remaining NFC seed hosts the lowest remaining NFC seed

January 26, 2020: Pro Bowl – Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL

• The AFC vs. NFC exhibition match. Teams made up of the season’s best players compete for bragging rights (and the bigger paycheck that goes to the winners)

February 2, 2020: Super Bowl LIV – Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL

• The AFC champion faces the NFC champion to decide the Super Bowl winner

Channels showing the Super Bowl

Super Bowl broadcasts move between CBS, FOX and NBC on a three-year cycle. FOX has exclusive rights to broadcast Super Bowl LIV, and the channel is available over the air (via a digital antenna), through paid TV packages, on FOXsports.com or on the provider’s mobile apps.

How to stream the Super Bowl

In addition to broadcasting through its TV network, FOX will also make free streams of the Super Bowl available. Viewers can catch the coverage online in several places, including:

• The FOX website at FOXsports.com
• Via the FOX Sports mobile app
• Through the FOX NOW mobile app

Sports fans can also get in on the excitement through streaming services that provide access to FOX. These include:

• fuboTV – FOX is included in fuboTV’s extensive sports and live TV streaming service, which starts at $55/mo.
• Hulu + Live TV – Hulu gives viewers access to FOX with its basic package at  $55/mo.
• YouTube TV – YouTube TV subscribers can stream FOX with their $49.99/mo. plan 

Sports fans and pop-culture lovers can watch this year’s Super Bowl on smartphones, tablets, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices with these providers. Other viewing options include Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, PlayStation 4, Roku and Xbox One.

FOX plans to broadcast the Super Bowl in both 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR). Viewers will also be able to enjoy the FOX NFL Kickoff Show, the Super Bowl Pregame Show and the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show live in UHD and HDR.

The bottom line

The Super Bowl is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, and this year’s extravaganza promises to deliver more of the same hard-hitting action, creative commercials and must-see half-time musical entertainment. Cable cutters have several options when it comes to catching the game and its surrounding festivities. 

For all the latest news on how to watch or stream your favorite events, bookmark our Resource Center or stay connected to our experts on Facebook and Twitter. 

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