How to Watch the NFL in Canada 2024? [Live Stream and Cable]

The NFL is no longer just an American game. Over the last two decades, it has seen major growth on a global scale. There are even games played in Europe, with stops in London and Berlin every year, bringing live NFL action to rabid fans across the continent of Europe.

The game has also grown exponentially in Canada. As a matter of fact, there are millions of Canadians who aim to watch NFL games and bet on the NFL each year. It begs the question of how to watch the NFL in Canada. There are a multitude of ways to do so, whether through your cable or satellite provider or by streaming online. Read on to learn how to watch NFL in Canada and stream NFL games in Canada.

How to Stream NFL Games in Canada

Not everyone is willing to shell out for a cable or satellite television package. The good news is that thanks to the internet, it is possible to stream games to your phone, laptop, television, and any other internet-capable device.

But how do you stream NFL games in Canada? The best – and most legal – way to do so is by signing up for DAZN Canada’s NFL Game Pass. When it comes to learning how to stream NFL games in Canada, it is the only legal way to go (there are “other” ways of how to stream NFL games in Canada, but that’s a route we won’t touch on in this space).

DAZN’s Game Pass offers access to every regular season NFL game. That includes Monday, Thursday, and Sunday Night primetime games. It also includes every playoff game, both live and on-demand. This is because Game Pass is essentially the streaming version of NFL Sunday Ticket, offered through cable and satellite providers across the country.

The best part of learning how to stream NFL games in Canada is that it is simple to do. DAZN is available on a wide array of devices and web browsers. Mobile devices for both iOS and Android are supported. Television and streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Apple TV, Smart TV, and Google Chromecast are easily accessible as well. And that’s not even counting the compatibility of gaming consoles like the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

TSN+ Streaming

Another option for those hoping to learn how to watch NFL in Canada is the TSN+ streaming option. As a digital streaming service, it is available for $80 annually or $8 per month, which includes a free preview to check out the various features of the platform.

Those who subscribe get one exclusive streaming-only NFL game every week, as well as enhanced NFL feeds that provide data-driven infographics and content. It also provides access to NFL Redzone (through TSN.ca) as well as the TSN app.

Paramount Plus

Since NFL games are still broadcast on CBS or on other networks using the CBS feed from the United States, Paramount+ has become another option for those looking to stream NFL games. There are a couple of different plans available, each with specific benefits.

The base package, known as the Essentials package, is priced at just $5.99/month. It provides access to games, which include commercials. The alternative is Paramount+ with Showtime, available at a monthly rate of $11.99.

There is one major caveat to having Paramount+. Local CBS broadcasts happening in your area can wind up determining which games you have access to. The Essentials package can wind up being the best value while giving you access to plenty of great NFL action.

Canadian Networks Offering NFL Broadcasts Past and Present

The simplest explanation for how to watch the NFL in Canada is through your cable or satellite provider. Several different companies are currently operating across the nation, with more than a few national providers.

Many of those providers offer the NFL Sunday Ticket, the only way to watch out-of-market games for residents of the United States as well as those located in Canada. Broadcast rights have bounced around throughout the years, with more than a few prominent names in the cable and satellite industry having NFL rights.

Citytv Television

For much of the early 2000s, Craig Media (which included Citytv stations) had the rights to broadcast Monday Night Football. The full rights moved to Citytv for the final year of MNF on ABC, ultimately moving to TSN for the start of the 2006 season.

Citytv Vancouver, following a sale to Rogers, began to carry the late afternoon slate of NFL games beginning in 2007 under the Rogers Sportsnet banner. In 2008, Citytv stations carried those late afternoon games while Sportsnet would carry a different game than the ones offered on Citytv. The Toronto Citytv station would also air Buffalo Bills preseason games, including the ones that were played at Rogers Centre/Sky Dome.

The rights would move over to TSN and CTV beginning in 2014 since Rogers acquired exclusive national rights for the NHL.

CTV Television Network

Beginning with the 2007 season, CTV acquired broadcast rights for the early-afternoon slate of Sunday NFL games, all of the NFL playoffs, as well as the Super Bowl. This is substantial not only because of the growth of CTV into a cable giant in Canada but also because it ended a long partnership between the NFL and the Global Television Network.

TSN, which is owned by CTV, produces broadcasts that run in tandem with Fox and CBS, both of whom hold television rights to NFL games in the United States. CTV continues to hold rights to NFL broadcasts, though there have been some major changes with the advent of streaming across Canada.

DAZN

DAZN has become a major player when it comes to streaming NFL games in Canada. As more and more customers moved away from cable and satellite television, there was a growing need for streaming access to the NFL product. DAZN stepped in to fill that need.

DAZN is the exclusive rightsholder to NFL Game Pass, powered by the NFL Sunday Ticket. It is the only way that Canadians can stream the Sunday Ticket service (it is otherwise available through cable and satellite providers), one of the most popular ways to watch NFL action.

DAZN offers every preseason game, all regular season games – including Monday, Thursday, and Sunday Night games), playoff games, and the super popular NFL RedZone Channel. The latter features live cut-ins to action from across the league throughout the afternoon.

DAZN also provides streams of NFL Network. The NFL’s channel offers advanced coverage of major NFL offseason events like the NFL Scouting Combine and NFL Draft. Users can also access archived playoff games and Super Bowls through the streaming service.

Prime Video

Prime Video earned a lot of notoriety by earning exclusive broadcast rights to Thursday Night Football in the United States prior to the 2022 season. From 2017 to 2021, however, it had a non-exclusive global streaming deal for the program across Canada.

Those rights are now limited to the U.S., so Thursday Night Football broadcasts are now carried by DAZN and Bell Media (RDS, TSN, CTV2), both of which use the Amazon-produced feed. This is another option for watching the best football teams in the world play against each other, including the New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs and more.

Global Television Network and Reseau des Sports

For many years, Global Television Network was the broadcaster of both Sunday afternoon and playoff games for the NFL across Canada. They would simulcast the major U.S. broadcasts from the day, like CBS, ABC, and Fox. That changed when the partnership ended with CTV’s 2007 bid to acquire the NFL broadcasting rights.

Reseau des Sports (RDS) is the French-language version of NFL coverage offered by Bell Media. In much the same way as it does with other sporting events from America, RDS will offer dubbed versions of the game broadcasts from the United States.

TSN

TSN is essentially Canada’s version of ESPN. The network airs original ESPN programming, including Monday Night Football and Sunday NFL Countdown, the former of which has become an American staple with more than 40 years on the air.

Beginning with the 2007 NFL season, TSN produces telecasts on Sunday afternoons for CTV. That said, the feed is generally taken from Fox or CBS, both of whom have rights to AFC and NFC games in the afternoon slate of NFL games (non-primetime).

Sportsnet

From 2005 to 2013, Sunday NFL action (not counting Sunday Night Football) would air on Sportsnet. Late games would be split across the West and Pacific feeds, as well as the East and Ontario feeds. Games that weren’t shown in opposite regions wound being carried by Citytv (Rogers-owned) stations in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. Sportsnet also had rights to Thanksgiving Day games and Thursday Night Football from 2009 to 2016.

Bell Media Here to Stay

Bell Media has been a giant in Canadian broadcasting and the internet over the last two decades. Because of that, they finalized a multi-year extension prior to the start of the 2022 season. Bell Media will be able to broadcast preseason, regular season, and playoff games, including the Super Bowl. Additionally, the network will handle special events like the NFL Draft.

Bell will provide coverage for the NFL across CTV, CTV2, TSN, and the French-language RDS. Bell will also have digital offerings on the company’s digital platforms, plus options through RDS Direct and TSN Direct (both of which are subscription streaming services). TSN Edge will provide exclusive betting and fantasy content related to the league as well.

Part of the renewal includes NFL RedZone, which had been an exclusive with DAZN. Some Monday night games will also be added to the slate going forward. Bell has had a relationship with the NFL since 1987, with an official partnership coming via CTV in 2007.

NFL Sunday Ticket

In the United States, viewers could watch out-of-market games through DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket. The service was available to subscribers of the satellite platform as well as those who wished to purchase the NFL product exclusively.

If you’re wondering how to watch NFL in Canada, one of the best ways is through the Sunday Ticket. It is being offered through a litany of cable and satellite providers on non-exclusive terms through Shaw Direct, Bell Satellite TV, Cogeco, Eastlink, Access Communications, Shaw Communications, Videotron, and Rogers Cable.

Unlike the United States, there is no exclusivity in Canada. This has mostly to do with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which regulates the various networks and organizations across the country.

Does Canada Have an NFL Team?

As it stands, Canada has no participants in the NFL. The Canadian Football League (CFL) is the primary football team in the country, though its popularity is largely dwarfed by the ever-growing NFL. There have been talks of adding a team to Toronto, one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, not just Canada.

For a few years in the mid-2000s, there was some flirtation between Toronto and the Buffalo Bills. The Bills would often play a preseason or regular season game in Toronto’s home stadium, SkyDome/Rogers Centre. The ravenous Bills faithful would flock from not only all over Canada but Buffalo as well since it is just a short distance from the Canada/U.S. border.

With ownership questions and the need for a new stadium on the horizon, there were rumours that the Bills could permanently relocate to the Great White North. When Penn State alum Terry Pegula stepped up and bought the team, it ended any speculation and promised to keep football in the very passionate city.