Stream NFC Championship: 3 Ways to Watch the Game Live Online (Cheaper Than Cable)

That NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers was heartbreaking to watch as my Lions came up short in their quest for a first-ever Super Bowl appearance. Despite leading for much of the game, we ultimately fell to the 49ers, who earned their spot in Super Bowl LVIII.

In a hurry? The NFC Championship will take place Sunday, January 28th, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 pm. The game will be televised live on Fox and Fox Sports 1 (FS1). These three streaming services have you covered:

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Matchups for the second round of the playoffs (Divisional) depend on the seeds of the teams that win their opening-round games. The top seed coming off of its bye will play the lowest remaining seed at home. The other game will feature the next highest seed playing at home against the next lowest seed.

For example, if the second, third, and fourth seeds win in the first round, the number one seed would play the fourth seed while the second seed would play the third seed.

Whichever teams win their conference semifinal games in the divisional round will meet to determine who represents the NFC in the Super Bowl. As always, the highest remaining seed will play host to the lowest remaining seed.

NFC Championship Game Schedule

The next NFC Championship is scheduled to be played on January 28 at 6:30 pm EST. The game will take place at the home stadium of the highest remaining seed in the conference. And it will be televised on Fox.

We will update all this information as it becomes available.

• Date: Sunday, January 28, 2024
• Kickoff Time: 6:30 pm
• Stadium: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
• Channel: Fox
• Announcers: Kevin Burkhardt (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (analysis), Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi (sideline)
• Teams: Detroit Lions (31) vs San Francisco 49ers (34)
• Last Year’s Result: San Francisco 49ers (7) at Philadelphia Eages (31)

NFC Championship History

As with the AFC, the NFC held its first championship games at the end of the 1970 season — on January 3rd. It was the result of the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1966. This was in the days of the 14-game season and a simpler playoff structure.

The first two NFC Championship games featured the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys won both those games.

The location of the NFC Championship game was originally at a random (usually neutral) location. But this changed in the 1975 season to be at the home stadium of the top-seed team in the matchup.

Since the 1984 season, the winner of the NFC Championship receives the George Halas Trophy. The San Francisco 49ers were the first to lift it. They went on to win Super Bowl XIX under the leadership of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.

Three teams have appeared in the NFC Championship game more than 10 times:

• 18: San Francisco 49ers (7-11)
• 14: Dallas Cowboys (8-6)
• 11: Los Angeles Rams (5-6)

Two teams have gone undefeated in the NFL Championship: the Seattle Seahawks with 3 wins and the New York Giants with 5 wins.

Streaming Services to Watch the NFC Championship

Most of the major streaming services offer Fox and Fox Sports, so watching the NFC Championship (and the Super Bowl) as a cord-cutter is easy. If you also want to watch the AFC Championship game, you will need CBS. That’s a bit harder to get.

Fubo

For $79.99/month, you can gain access to the base Fubo (formerly FuboTV) streaming package, which comes with Fox, CBS, and NBC. It also features a broad range of 150+ live TV channels, unlimited cloud DVR, and the ability to stream on up to 10 devices at once.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

For more information, see our Fubo review.

DIRECTV STREAM

The DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment package is $86.99/month and comes with Fox, CBS, and NBC. If you are a fan of MLB, NBA, and NHL, DIRECTV STREAM offers the best selection of regional sports networks (RSNs) in the industry. But for that, you need to upgrade to the Choice plan for $114.99/month.

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free Trial

Get the details in our DIRECTV STREAM review.

Hulu + Live TV

Hulu + Live TV is $82.99/month and offers live feeds of local channels such as Fox and CBS. It also comes with the Hulu on-demand library, Disney+, and ESPN+ as its base. You can record its 85+ live TV channels with unlimited cloud DVR (9 months storage). And you can watch on up to two devices at once.

Get Hulu + Live TV Free

See our Hulu + Live TV review for more information.

Other Ways to Watch

There are other ways to stream the NFL playoffs. These include both general streaming services and network-specific ones. Of course, you don’t need to stream at all.

Antenna

The Super Bowl, championships, and most of the other playoff games are broadcast over the air (OTA) and so can be seen with a simple antenna. Find out all you need to know in these articles:

• HDTV Without Cable
• Connect Multiple TVs to Your Antenna.

Sling TV

Sling TV offers NBC and Fox with its Sling Blue plan for just $40.00/month. You would still miss out on the AFC Championship and Super Bowl LVIII. But you could make up for this by signing up for Paramount+ for $7.99/month (see below). Or you could integrate Sling with an antenna. See our Sling TV review for details.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV provides a service that is similar to Hulu with all the network affiliates for $82.99/month. Our YouTube TV review has more information.

Fox Sports App

Fox Sports provides an app that you can use to watch live sporting events and commentary from Fox. The catch is that most of the content, especially the live events, is only for subscribers of a TV provider. Any of the streaming services above that carry Fox Sports 1 will work.

Paramount+

Paramount+ is a streaming service that showcases football games that air on CBS. It won’t allow you to watch the NFC Championship game, but it will fill holes in other streaming services’ channel lineups. For more, see our Paramount+ review.

Peacock

Similar to Paramount+, Peacock offers NBC content. This, admittedly, is not as relevant this year. Only two wild card games and one game of the Divisional Round were televised on NBC, and the Super Bowl won’t be on NBC again until 2026. For more information on NBC Sports on Peacock, see our full review.

Streaming Devices and TVs for the NFC Championship

You can watch the NFC Championship on most streaming devices. The three main streaming services we’ve highlighted above support:

• Amazon Fire TV
• Android mobile devices
• Apple TV
• Chromecast
• iOS mobile devices
• Roku
• Samsung smart TVs

Fubo and Hulu also support smart TVs by LG, Vizio, and devices based on Android TV. They also support the Xbox One gaming system. Hulu supports the PlayStation as well.

Our streaming reviews have complete lists of supported devices.

2024 NFC Championship Game Analysis

The San Francisco 49ers return to the NFL Championship game hoping to make up for last year’s devastating loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Joining them are the Detroit Lions in their first appearance since 1991.

Despite a disappointing performance in the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers are expected to beat the Lions by a touchdown in this game. It is expected to be a high-scoring game with an over/under of 51 points.

The 49ers have had one of the best passing and rushing offenses in the league. The Lions have an excellent rushing defense but they have struggled mightily against the pass.

The Lions are arguably as good on offense as the Niners — especially their passing game under quarterback Matthew Stafford. And that may be the 49ers’ Achilles’ heel since they continue to struggle against the pass.

Wrapping Up

The NFC Championship determines who represents the conference in the Super Bowl, which determines the recipient of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This year, the NFC Conference Championship game will be broadcast on Fox and take place at 6:30 pm on Jan 28th.

Fox is typically available on live TV streaming services. It may also be possible to watch the game for free with an antenna.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.

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