Welcome to Wisconsin week! A night after the Milwaukee Brewers captured the first World Series title in their history, the Green Bay Packers host the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field for Thursday Night Football.
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Winners of three of their last four games, the Packers are 4-3 on the year but still find themselves in the basement of the NFC North — yet squarely in the mix in the Wild Card race. With a record of just 3-3, the Panthers sit in first place in the lackluster NFC South. Tonight’s outcome could have a lasting impact on the NFC playoff picture at the end of the season.
The Panthers and Packers kick off tonight at 8:15 p.m. ET (5:15 p.m. PT). The game will stream nationally on Prime Video and free on Twitch. Fans in North Carolina and Wisconsin can watch on a local TV station, but the rest of the country will need to stream it on Prime Video or Twitch.
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How to watch Panthers vs. Packers on TNF
Tonight’s game will stream nationally on Prime Video, giving NFL fans more incentive than free two-day shipping to sign up for an Amazon Prime account, which costs $15 a month or $139 a year. You can also subscribe only to Prime Video for $9 a month.
If you don’t pay for either of Amazon’s services, you can watch free on Prime Video’s Twitch channel. (Twitch is also owned by Amazon.)
You can also use NFL Plus, the league’s $7-a-month streaming service (or $15 a month with Red Zone included), to stream the game without subscribing to Prime or Prime Video. Note that NFL Plus viewing is limited to watching on just a phone or tablet, not on a computer or TV.
Amazon
Thursday Night Football for $9 a month
Prime Video
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Expert Take
You can watch tonight’s game and the rest of the Thursday Night Football slate this season on Prime Video. For millions of Amazon Prime subscribers, the Prime Video channel is already included at no extra cost. But if you’re not an Amazon Prime subscriber, it might be worth it to shell out the $9 a month for the stand-alone Prime Video service, not only for football but also its impressive selection of shows and movies. Read our Prime Video review.
Can I watch tonight’s game on local TV?
Yes, Panthers and Packers fans in the local markets of each team will be able to watch the game on an over-the-air station. For this game, that’s ABC 9 (WSOC) in Charlotte, NBC 26 (WGBA) in Green Bay and Fox 6 (WITI) in Milwaukee, according to 506 Sports.
There are two ways to watch local channels on your TV without cable or satellite TV. The first is with a live TV streaming service. The second is with an over-the-air antenna if you live in an area with good reception. Not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries NBC or Fox in your area.
DirecTV Stream
NFL channels for $45 per month
DirecTV MySports
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Expert Take
DirecTV’s MySports skinny bundle is the cheapest way to get ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC and Fox for NFL football. But if you want to add the RedZone channel, you’ll need to pick one of DirecTV’s pricier plans; it’s not available as an add-on with the MySports bundle.
The discounted rate of $45 per month is available for the first six months and covers the entire NFL regular season and playoffs, but is for new subscribers only. The standard cost for the MySports bundle is $65 a month. You can use DirecTV’s channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live. Read our DirecTV MySports review.
Fubo
NFL channels for $56 per month
Fubo Sports
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Expert Take
Fubo’s Sports skinny bundle costs $65 per month ($55 for the first month) and includes local networks for football — as well as ESPN for Monday Night Football. Similar to DirecTV, you cannot add RedZone to Fubo’s Sports plan, only with one of its more comprehensive and expensive packages.
Click here to see which local channels you get in your region with Fubo. Read our Fubo review.
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NFL channels for $83 a month
YouTube TV
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Expert Take
For $83 a month (discounted to $60 for the first three months for new subscribers), you’ll get all the major football channels, and RedZone is available for an extra $11 per month. YouTube TV also features multiview to watch up to four games at once. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
With YouTube TV, you can also subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket. But note that Sunday Ticket doesn’t include local games. You can only watch Sunday afternoon games that aren’t being broadcast on CBS or Fox in your area. If you want to watch all the football on Sundays, you’ll need Sunday Ticket plus a YouTube TV subscription (or just get Sunday Ticket and then use an antenna for local games).
To get the full experience of your local games, NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone, you’ll need the YouTube TV base plan ($83 a month), Sunday Ticket ($240 for returning subscribers or $378 for new subscribers for the season) and the Sports Plus add-on ($11 a month). Read our YouTube TV review.
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NFL channels for $90 per month
Hulu Plus Live TV
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Expert Take
Hulu Plus Live TV doesn’t offer a skinny bundle, and the standard plan is pricey at $90 a month. It includes the local networks for NFL fans but not in every area. On its live news page, you can enter your ZIP code under the “Can I watch local news in my area?” question at the bottom of the page to see which local channels you get. Read our Hulu Plus Live TV review.
All the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.