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WhatToWatch

Entertainment

Michael Balderston

How to watch the 2023 NFL preseason

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New York Jets' Garrett Wilson catches a ball

As the calendar flips to August, NFL football is back! OK, it's just the NFL preseason, but for diehard fans this is the first NFL football action we've gotten since the final whistle blew on Super Bowl LVII in February. As the road to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas begins, we've got all the info you need on how to watch the 2023 NFL preseason right here.

The 2023 NFL preseason kicks off on August 3 and is followed up by three full weeks of game action featuring all 32 teams. However, watching NFL preseason games isn’t like tuning in to the NFL on CBS or the NFL on Fox every Sunday.

Read on to find the best ways to watch your favorite team this postseason, whether that be on TV or streaming. Plus, we've got the full schedule and list of games that are going to be available on national TV.

How to watch NFL preseason games on TV

The NFL returns to TV for preseason action with all of the major networks that carry NFL games during the season having at least one national broadcast for a game (the announcing teams need some preseason work, too).

Each of CBS, Fox and NBC are carrying one national game. This means that as long as you have a basic pay-TV subscription (or a TV antenna) then you can watch these three games. The networks are also available on live TV streaming services, with all FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV carrying Fox and NBC, while all but Sling TV have CBS.

ESPN also is getting a national game (airing on Monday night, of course), while NFL Network is going to host a number of national games across the three main weeks of the preseason. ESPN and The NFL Network are premium cable channels, though they available through most cable TV providers. Both NFL Network and ESPN are also available on FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.

There are some games that won't air on national TV, but instead, they'll be available exclusively on local/regional channels for those teams. If that's the case for your team for a given game, then it is best to check your local listings.

If you are not in an area where your favorite team is available on live TV, streaming is going to be the best way to watch these preseason games.

How to stream NFL preseason games

There are a few options to stream 2023 NFL preseason games, with the most prominent being the new NFL Plus streaming service. Subscribers to NFL Plus can watch all out-of-market preseason games live on any supported device; if a game is nationally televised, it'll only be available on a phone or tablet via NFL Plus. As the streams are just for out-of-market games, fans cannot stream their local team via NFL Plus, but NFL Plus Premium subscribers can see full and condensed replays of games on-demand of all games.

NFL Plus is exclusively available in the US, but NFL Game Pass is available internationally, including in the UK and allows fans to watch replays of these games.

Other streaming services offering live access to NFL games are Peacock for the Hall of Fame game on August 3, while Paramount Plus streams local CBS broadcasts of NFL games, so check your local listings if/when any games air on the network. There will also be one NFL preseason game that streams exclusively on Prime Video.