How to Watch the Green Bay Packers Without Cable
For years, heart wrenching defeats, lost sleep, and Sunday beer tabs weren’t the only cost of being a Green Bay Packers fan; expensive cable bills hurt the most. Exclusive deals between sports teams and cable providers made it extremely difficult for NFL fans to sever their ties with cable without sacrificing their viewing quality and reliability.
With the rise of streaming services, streaming the Green Bay Packers without cable is not only cheaper and more reliable than ever, you actually have a few options to choose from.
This article will outline the pros and cons of the different streaming services that will allow you to watch the Green Bay Packers games without cable. Similar to Netflix, these services are all subscription based non-contract services that can be cancelled at any time. They come in pre-set packages of channels that include sports networks as well as many other popular live cable channels that the non-sports fans in the house can enjoy.
Although you won’t get nearly as many channels as you likely get with your cable subscription, are all those extra channels worth the $200+ a month you’re paying?
What TV Stations are the Packers Games On?
In order to watch the Packers games without cable, the first thing we need to know is which channels the Packers play on. Since each streaming service offers different packages of channels, we want to make sure we’re choosing the cheapest option that actually offers the correct channels. You don’t want to pay for a Pu Pu Platter if you only want the Crab Rangoon’s!
According to the 2019 Packers schedule (below), in order to stream all of the Packers games we’ll need a streaming service that offers the following stations:
- NBC
- FOX
- CBS
- ESPN
- NFL Network (duplicated on FOX)
If you opt for a streaming service that’s missing one of the channels, you’ll have to either miss out on the game or find an alternate way to stream it for the night. For example, fuboTV, one of the streaming services we’ll outline, doesn’t have ESPN. Although it might be a better overall service for your family, you won’t be able to stream the Week 6 or Week 16 games without ESPN.
Week 1 (Thursday, Sept. 5): at Chicago Bears, 8:20 p.m. EST (NBC)
Week 2 (Sunday, Sept. 15): vs. Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 3 (Sunday, Sept. 22): vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 4 (Thursday, Sept. 26): vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 p.m. EST (FOX and NFL Network)
Week 5 (Sunday, Oct. 6): at Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 6 (Monday, Oct. 14): vs. Detroit Lions, 8:15 p.m. EST (ESPN)
Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 20): vs. Oakland Raiders, 1 p.m. EST (CBS)
Week 8 (Sunday, Oct. 27): at Kansas City Chiefs, 8:20 p.m. EST (NBC)
Week 9 (Sunday, Nov. 3): at Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m. EST (CBS)
Week 10 (Sunday, Nov. 10): vs. Carolina Panthers, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 11: BYE
Week 12 (Sunday, Nov. 24): at San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 13 (Sunday, Dec. 1): at New York Giants, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 14 (Sunday, Dec. 8): vs. Washington Redskins, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 15 (Sunday, Dec. 15): vs. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Week 16 (Monday, Dec. 23): at Minnesota Vikings, 8:15 p.m. EST (ESPN)
Week 17 (Sunday, Dec. 29): at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. EST (FOX)
Watch Green Bay Packers on Hulu with Live TV
For the 2019 season Hulu with Live TV gets our recommendation as the best way to watch the Green Bay Packers without cable. If you’re not familiar with streaming services, hearing that Hulu offers live streams of your favorite football team might come as a surprise. You’re likely familiar with Hulu’s massive on-demand streaming service that offers some of the most popular TV shows slightly after they’ve aired live. What you may not know is that Hulu offers another streaming service called Hulu with Live TV that gives you access to live cable channels in addition to their on-demand library.
Out of the required channels mentioned above, the only channel that Hulu with Live TV doesn’t include is the NFL Network. However, the only Packers game airing on the NFL Network for the 2019 season is against the Eagles in week 4. Thankfully, this game is also being broadcast on FOX, a network that Hulu with Live TV does offer.
In addition to CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN, Hulu with Live TV will give you access to more than 60 total live TV channels including the Food Network, FX, National Geographic, USA, and plenty more. The image below shows their current channel lineup at our Boston location. If you’re interested in Hulu with Live TV, please make sure to visit their local channel page to confirm channel availability in your area as it may differ from the image!
No hidden fees, equipment rentals, or installation appointments. Hulu + Live TV starts at $44.99/month after your free trial. Cancel anytime.
Hulu with Live TV
At only $45 a month, Hulu with Live TV is significantly cheaper than most cable subscriptions and comes with so much more. One thing that Hulu offers that its competitors can’t really compare to is access to its massive on-demand library for free. You can stream all of the Packers games live and have thousands of hours of popular content like Handmaids Tale, Lost, Bobs Burgers, the Amazing Race, and more to watch when the games aren’t on. If you’re already subscribed to their on-demand service you can consider Hulu with Live TV an even better deal than it already was since you won’t have to pay for both services.
Being one of the biggest streaming services also means that Hulu with Live TV is compatible with most major streaming devices. You’d be hard pressed to find a streaming device that isn’t supported by Hulu!
Although we can’t recommend Hulu with Live TV enough, we still recommended checking out Hulu with Live TV’s 7 day free trial before committing to a full month. It’ll give you an opportunity to make sure streaming services meet your expectations and that you don’t have any issues setting everything up. Just make sure you have a device to run the service before starting your trial and missing a day or two due to your device shipping!
Stream the Green Bay Packers YouTube TV
Another fantastic cable alternative that comes in slightly behind Hulu to stream the Packers games is YouTube TV. If you’ve been watching any major sports events recently, there’s a good chance you’ve seen high-profile ads for YouTube TV. The platform has the best DVR package in the market, is packed with popular channels, and has the reliability that only comes with being backed by one of the biggest corporations in the world.
YouTube TV is $50 a month, which is a hair more expensive than Hulu but offers the same channels to watch the Packers. Like Hulu, the only Packers game channel you won’t be able to watch is the NFL Network. But, like we said earlier, the week 4 game is also going to be streamed on FOX.
Although we put YouTube TV as second on our list, there are some channels in YouTube TV’s channel line-up that might warrant the price difference and lack of Hulu’s on-demand content. YouTube TV offers over 70 channels including BBC, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, FX, Golf, NBCSN, as well as plenty of other huge and popular networks for sports fans and their families.
The image below shows YouTube TV’s current Sports channel lineup for our Boston location. There are 121 channels currently available for us including locals, family, kids, and news in addition to the sports channels shown below. Please make sure to put in your own zip code to confirm their local channel lineup before you make your purchase.
As we said above, YouTube TV has a legendary DVR. You can record all of your favorite games, news, movies, and TV shows for free and without a limit. As you can imagine, the DVR for live streaming service built by the largest video hosting site on the planet is hard to compete with. Although most sports fans prefer to watch games live, there are times where game times conflict or other obligations require a DVR. Or, if you’d like to watch all of the games again during the off season you’ll have plenty of storage room available!
Before you subscribe to YouTube TV, make sure to take advantage of their 7-day free trial!
Watch Green Bay Packers without Cable on FuboTV
When most people talk about streaming sports without cable, fuboTV is typically one of the first ones mentioned. It’s a fantastic service that has been greatly improved over the past year and is marketed as the ultimate solution for streaming sports. Although not quite as good as Hulu with Live TV for Packers fans, fuboTV is worth a serious consideration for any household that considers sports important.
The biggest reason we had to put fuboTV behind Hulu with Live TV as well as YouTube TV in this guide is because out of our 5 required channels to stream the 2019 Packers games, fuboTV only carries 4 of them. FuboTV doesn’t carry ESPN. As we mentioned above, this means you won’t be able to watch Week 6 or Week 16 with your fuboTV subscription. However, fuboTV does offer NFL Network, NFL Redzone, and other sports heavy stations such as FOX Sports Networks, FX, NBA TV, and some other regional sports/college football networks which might make it worth finding an alternative streaming method for those two weeks.
fuboTV’s Standard package starts a little higher than Hulu with Live TV at
$55 per month, but includes almost 33% more channels. At almost 100 channels with options for larger packages or premium addons, fuboTV feels a lot closer to traditional cable than some of its competitors. If your household watches a large variety of channels fuboTV might be a better option to reduce the impact of switching from cable while still saving you a lot of money.
fuboTV offers the following packages (all of which contain the Packers channels except for fubo Latino):
● Fubo Standard for $54.99 per month
● Fubo Family for $59.99 per month
● Fubo Family Deluxe for $64.99 per month
● Fubo Premium for $73.99 per month
● Fubo Latino $24.99 per month
Since we’re going for the cheapest way to watch the Packers without cable, we only need a subscription to Fubo Standard. For
$55 per month, Fubo Standard comes with the following channels for our Boston location:
As with most streaming services, local channels offered in packages are completely reliant on your location. Although you might see a local station shown that we get at our Boston location, you might not be able to receive it at your house. On the other hand, there might be some popular stations that we can’t watch that are offered for you!
FuboTV also offers a 7 day free trial to make sure you fully understand what you’re getting. The trial will give you plenty of time to check out the channel lineup, view the stream quality, and ultimately determine if it’ll be your go-to every Sunday for the next 17 weeks.
Stream Green Bay Packers on Sling TV
As much as fuboTV is similar to cable, Sling TV is the complete opposite. Often explained as the most “al la carte” option for streaming services currently available, Sling TV focuses on cheap and hyper focused channel packages that let you build your own service. They offer a couple “base” services that are significantly cheaper than most of its competitors as well as a bunch of small add-on packages that give you a handful of kids stations, outdoor stations, or sports stations based on your package choice.
Like fuboTV, Sling TV is also missing one channel that’s required to watch the Packers without cable. With Sling, you can get ABC, FOX, ESPN, NBC, NFL Network, and NFL RedZone, but you can’t get CBS with Sling TV.
On its own, this means you won’t be able to watch the week 7 or week 9 Packers games with Sling TV. However, CBS is one of the easiest channels to watch without cable. You can purchase a digital antenna and hopefully pick up CBS for free forever (100% legal), or subscribe to CBS All Access for $5 a month. Since both games airing on CBS are so close, $5 is a small price to pay for the only Packers game channel that Sling TV is missing. Plus, CBS All Access gives you access to their on-demand content during the duration of your subscription that you won’t get with an antenna!
In order to start watching the Packers games on Sling TV you first need to subscribe to one of their base packages. Their two packages, Sling Orange and Sling Blue each cost $15 a month but can be combined for a total of $25 a month. Since Sling Orange includes ESPN while Sling Blue includes the NFL Network and local stations, we’ll need the combined package in order to watch the Packers game on Sling.
With over 50 channels in the combined package for only
$25 a month, Sling TV is pretty cheap compared to the previous services we’ve mentioned and extremely cheap compared to traditional cable. Even though it’s cheap, Sling TV isn’t full of low quality channels that no one wants to watch. With channels like AMC, TBS, USA, Comedy Central, A&E, The Food Network, HGTV, and plenty other incredibly popular channels, you’ll start to wonder why you ever paid for over 700 filler channels with cable.
The image below shows the current channel lineup for the Sling Orange and Sling Blue combined package at our Boston location. Please make sure to confirm the channel lineup for your location before subscribing to the service to make sure that you’re getting what you’re expecting.
Stream the Green Bay Packers on NFL Game Pass
Although the three options we outlined above are the cheapest ways to watch the Packers without cable, we like to give our readers as many options as possible. If you’d like to consider NFL Game Pass in lieu of one of the services mentioned above, this sections for you.
● Watch the Packers with NFL Game Pass – NFL Game Pass is the official NFL service that lets you watch out of market games for $75 for a season. The bad news with NFL Game Pass is that since its primary focus is for out of market games, there might be blackouts preventing you from watching your home team play. If you’re a Packers fan living out of state this won’t be an issue, but for local fans we’ll explain how to work a round that.
The easiest way to watch local Packers games on NFL Game Pass is by using a VPN. A VPN is a cheap monthly service reroutes your internet traffic to a different location. If you have a work network with shared files that you access through a portal, you might already be familiar with these. By connecting through a VPN service outside of your area, NFL Game Pass thinks you’re watching an out of market game and won’t black it out.
If you’d like to watch the Packers through Game Pass, our article on How to Watch MASN without Cable explains what a VPN is, which one to get, and how to use it. Although the article focuses on MLB.TV not NFL Game Pass, the same process can be used.
Watch Green Bay Packers Worldwide
If you’re an out of country Green Bay Packers fan we recommend catching the games with NFL Game Pass International. This service will give you 24/7 access to NFL Network’s live stream as well as access to NFL RedZone. International Game Pass also provides access for full replays of games if the time zone gap is too large to stream the game live.
There are some restrictions per country on streaming the NFL games such as being subject to blackouts in Canada. As we mentioned in our Game Pass explanation in the section above, we recommend using a VPN with the service regardless. It’s a small monthly fee ($5 or less per month) that removes a lot of headache while also improving your internet security and privacy.