Stuck in the office without a TV? Power out? Well, thanks to NBC and Verizon you may still be able to watch the Super Bowl after all.
NBC, which will be broadcasting the big game, will also be streaming the Super Bowl live. Can NBC handle the load? Well, NBC did a pretty good job with streaming the Beijing Olympics, so I suspect they’ll be up to the challenge. The Super Bowl stream will also be available via the NFL Network’s Web site.
In both cases, the stream will be shown in Microsoft Silverlight, so you’ll be be able to watch the show with almost any PC or device. The Super Bowl stream will be free.
Unfortunately, the Super Bowl will not be available outside of the U.S. You can, however, try to dodge around that pesky requirement by using a proxy server or VPN (Virtual Private Network) that make it appear as if you’re watching from the U.S. Unfortunately, most of these services have limited bandwidth and the National Football League (NFL) is, shall we say, more than a little protective of their video content, so I wouldn’t try virtually sneaking into the game. You may get into trouble and it’s unlikely to work well.
What if your power is out? Well, if you have a Verizon phone with a data and video plan, you can still watch the game. It won’t be cheap though. You’ll need the NFL Mobile Premium app. It comes for free with a 4G LTE plan. If you’re on 3G it’ll cost you at least $10 per month or $3 for the day. You can also expect to use up most of your data plan’s monthly allotment. I strongly suspect that, 4G or 3G, you’re likely to have trouble watching the broadcast due to both technologies’ known problems with delivering the needed bandwidth for live action video.
Want to just see the ads? You can find most of the Super Bowl ads already via The Washington Post. They’ll also be available later on YouTube and Hulu.
Last, but not least, if American football isn’t to your taste, there’s always the Animal Network’s Puppy Bowl VIII. Go doggies! Yea puppies!
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