How to Watch NFL in the UK: Sky Sports, NFL Game Pass & Free on 5

NFL (American Football) is back for another season and for 2025, the choices for watching and streaming it in the UK are bigger and better than ever.

Thanks to Channel 5’s expanded coverage, you can watch on Sundays for free, while Sky Sports has also upped its NFL offering with almost 50% more games.

Then you also have plenty of other options from the official NFL Game Pass on DAZN as well as Amazon Prime Video and YouTube add-ons, depending on what level of coverage you want and what devices you want to watch on.

While it’s a lot less complicated than watching in the USA, you’ll still need to make some choices on streaming in the UK with each service having different features and prices.

We’ll guide you through them all here so you can watch all the NFL you desire, whether you want to watch via Sky on TV or stream via Game Pass on your phone or tablet.

What NFL games are on UK TV?

Below you’ll find all the details for the different broadcasters and streaming services where you can watch NFL in the UK. Each week, plenty of games will be shown on TV, including free-to-air, and streaming services.

We’ll update you on the teams, kick-off times and channels here, apart from Game Pass, which shows every game apart from 2 blackouts per week (details below).

Note that many games are around 1am, which technically means they are the next day compared to the US for the date.

Week 1 games

Sat 6 Sep

• Chiefs vs Chargers – 1am – YouTube

Sun 7 Sep

• Buccaneers vs Falcons – 6pm – Sky Sports
• Steelers vs Jets – 6pm – Sky Sports (blackout)
• Giants vs Commanders – 6pm – Channel 5
• 49ers vs Seahawks – 9:05pm – Sky Sports
• Lions vs Packers – 9:25pm – Sky Sports, Channel 5 Action
• Texans vs Rams – 9:25pm – Sky Sports (blackout)

Mon 8 Sep

• Ravens vs Bills – 1:20am – Sky Sports

Tue 9 Sep

• Vikings vs Bears – 1:15am – Sky Sports

Live stream on NFL Game Pass with DAZN 

The NFL Game Pass is the sport’s official online streaming service in the UK – a bit like Netflix just for American football. It allows you to watch games live or on-demand throughout the season and is available on the web or via various devices with the app.  

Game Pass now has a regular home on DAZN after moving a couple of seasons ago (but you don’t need a DAZN plan). It’s a global sports streaming service and only restricted in the USA and China so it’s not just a UK service. 

It’s more of the same in 2025, so games include the US broadcast for commentary and half-time analysis. There are also NFL shows such as Hard Knocks and A Football Life available as part of the service, games are available to download and watch offline.

DAZN is available on a range of devices with apps for Android, iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The free plan appears to be gone and a Season Pro Ultimate option is the new premium subscription. This gets you the same as the Season Pro option with a selection of exclusive features:

• Multiview – up to 4 games at once
• Stream on 5 devices in 2 locations at once
• HDR & Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound (select games)
• Alternative feeds, including ManningCast, Prime Vision and Slimetime
• 20% one-time code for NFL Shop
• Exclusive ballot for international NFL tickets

You can pay for Season Pro and Season Pro Ultimate annually, monthly or weekly (with a slightly different name) so here are the prices:

• Weekly Pro – £15.99 per week
• Weekly Pro Ultimate – £17.99 per week
• Season Pro – £17.99 per month
• Season Pro Ultimate – £19.99 per month
• Season Pro annual – £169.99
• Season Pro Ultimate annual – £189.99

Either way, you get regular season and postseason games as well as the Super Bowl, live RedZone and loads more:  

• NFL Draft rounds 1-7 live  
• Previous season highlights and full game replays   
• NFL originals & programs including Hard Knocks  

What are NFL Blackout games?

One of the big caveats for Game Pass is that not every game will be available live, as there are broadcasting blackout rules that apply. Essentially, Sky Sports has priority for certain games so you can only watch them on Game Pass 24 hours later.  

DAZN says this will apply to two Sunday games each week (one 6pm and one 9pm kickoff), but the following games won’t be affected by blackout:  

• All Monday, Thursday, and Sunday night games   
• All U.S. Thanksgiving Day games (Thursday 27 November)   
• All Playoff games   
• Super Bowl LIX  
• Any postseason games 

Blackouts are really the only downside as you can use Game Pass abroad without the need for a VPN, as long as you’re not in the US or China.

How to watch NFL for free (Channel 5)

If getting Game Pass or other options below are all too expensive, there’s great news for UK NFL fans because Channel 5 has expanded its coverage of the sport.

For a few years now, Channel 5 has been showing free-to-air games, but just on Monday nights, which meant watching at 1am or recording onto a DVR.

A new multi-year deal means you’ll now be able to watch NFL games on Sundays via Channel 5. This will consist of 6pm and 9pm kickoffs, though it’s worth noting that Sky Sports gets priority pick on those slots and the later kickoff will be on 5 Action, which is digital only.

Channel 5’s new look NFL coverage will be hosted by Dermot O’Leary, Sam Quek and Osi Umenyiora with the earlier game featuring a ‘unique’ new format.

Called ‘NFL: Big Game Night’, it will involve teams of friends and family in the studio competing against each other when play stops, each representing a team on the field and they can only score when their team has possession of the ball.

Prizes will include trips to NFL cities and may be good for getting kids into the sport, but could be grating for more experienced fans.

During the 2025 season, Channel 5 will also show the following, all free-to-air:

• International NFL London and Dublin Games
• Thanksgiving Day specials
• Three playoff games
• Super Bowl 2026

If you’re travelling when the game is on, check out our guide for watching Channel 5 from abroad.

NFL Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube 

New for this year is the ability to watch Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video (200+ games) or YouTube (250+ games) as an add-on channel subscription. 

On YouTube, it will cost you £31.99 per month (cancel any time) or £169.99 for the season, but be aware that you can’t use the DAZN app. 

Game Pass on Amazon Prime Video is available in the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, and Brazil . It’s only available at £31.99 per month, cancel any time.

Tip: Only the full season option on YouTube is good value.

Watch NFL on Sky Sports

As you may already know, Sky is the main place to watch NFL on broadcast TV in the UK.

Sky Sports has had a dedicated channel for years now (Sky 407 / Virgin Media 507) and games are often shown on Main Event, too.

A new three-year deal means Sky has expanded its NFL coverage even further resulting in nearly 50% more games.

For starters, Sky has the first choice of what game it shows at 6pm and 9pm kickoffs over Channel 5. Furthermore, those kickoff slots will have a second game on at the same time on another channel such as Sky Sports+ and Mix, giving you more choice.

Some weeks will even see three concurrent games at the 9pm slot.

Touted as a first, Sky Sports will show all the NFL International games in London and Europe, including Ireland and Spain.

Other regular features listed below all remain: 

• Thursday Night Football 
• Sunday Night games
• Monday Night Football 
• Live NFL RedZone
• Three Thanksgiving games
• Every playoff game
• Pro Bowl
• Super Bowl 
• Fantasy Live 
• NFL Network content, including Good Morning Football 
• Content from NFL Films and NBC Sports

So, if you’re a Sky customer with Sky Sports, simply tune into the NFL channel (or alternatives) when games are on to watch them live (see the schedule above to see which games are on). You can also watch via Sky Go. 

However, Sky has other ways of watching if you don’t want to be a full-on satellite customer. You can watch on a wide range of devices, including smartphones and consoles via Now (previously named Now TV) with a Now Sports membership (previously called a Sky Sports Pass). 

These start at £14.99 for a one-off Day Membership (24 hours), but you are likely better off getting the Month Membership, cancel any time, plan at £34.99 per month. 

Note that you’ll need Now Boost (normally £6 per month) to watch in Full HD quality, along with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It also takes the number of devices you can stream on simultaneously to two (normally one). 

Ultra Boost (£9 per month) unlocks 4K Ultra HD quality, Dolby Atmos sound and the ability to stream on three devices at once.

View all the Now passes here.

Where to watch NFL in the US without cable

This guide is mostly UK-focused but if you are in the land of the free, then watching NFL can be a bit of a pain because it’s shown across lots of channels including Fox Sports, NBC, CBS, ESPN, ABC, NFL Network and, more recently, streaming on Amazon Prime Video. 

Having all of those to catch every game might be too difficult and costly but you do have a couple of neater options. 

NFL+ is the official streaming service (called Game Pass in the UK) and provides live local and primetime games (regular, postseason and Super Bowl) on your phone or tablet. Replays are available if you get the NFL+ Premium subscription which includes Red Zone. 

The service starts at $6.99 per month and you can take advantage of a 7-day free trial. 

There are more options than ever including SlingTV and YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV and, for the first time, games on Peacock via NBCUniversal. Find out more in our full guide over on our sister site, PCWorld. 

Alternatively, the simplest and cheapest way to get NFL games on any TV is with a digital antenna. If you’re near a metropolitan area, CBS, Fox, NBC, and CBS show games every Sunday, and you can watch them for free but without any of the modern goodies like recording or pausing, of course.

Watch NFL abroad with a VPN

Services like Sky Go and Channel 5 are geo-restricted outside the UK, but that doesn’t mean you can’t watch the NFL when you’re overseas.

All you need do is download and use VPN service such as NordVPN that will mask your IP address and make it appear to the app that you are in fact in the UK.

Simply log in, select a UK server and you can then browse Sky’s services in your web browser and watch whatever you like.

Of course, you can also use the same trick to appear to browse from the US and access US services – but you will find it easier and cheaper to watch the sport from the UK anyway.

Read our guide to what a VPN is and what the best VPNs are.