It’s week 2 of the NFL preseason, and if you’re amped up to watch the return of Super Bowl champs the Los Angeles Rams in an intra-Los Angeles game against the Chargers on August 13, 2022 at 10 pm ET, it might be tricky. This game will not air live on NFL Network, though it will be on local TV in the Los Angeles market. But if you don’t have pay TV, or a working antenna, you’ll need to stream.
In the US, there’s no single option that lets you stream every game you’ll want to see this year on any device you want.
But long story short, if this is an in-market game for you, sign up for a Paramount+ Premium plan which costs $9.99 with a 7-day trial period. If this is an out-of-market game for you, the NFL+ streaming service is probably your best bet, and it only costs $4.99 a month after a free trial.
Here’s an explanation:
Why should I use NFL+ to watch the Rams-Chargers preseason game?
Like I said, if this is an out-of-market NFL game for you — meaning you’re not in the Los Angeles area — one way to stream this game for cheap is with NFL+, the NFL’s new streaming service. NFL+ has a base tier for $4.99 a month (with a free 7-day trial period if you haven’t already tried it) that will give you access to this game, and the other out-of-market preseason games, but once the season starts you can only watch on a mobile device like a phone or tablet.
What if I want to stream the Rams-Chargers preseason game from the Los Angeles area?
If this is an in-market game for you, the NFL+ streaming service will not allow you to watch it, but this game will air on a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, meaning it’s available via the Paramount+ $9.99 premium tier. Like many of these services, there’s a 7-day free trial available if you haven’t already used that up.
Should I sign up for a live TV streaming service to watch the Rams-Chargers preseason game?
Since Paramount+ is so much cheaper than most of these, probably not.
At $35 a month — with a limited-time discount rate of $17.50 for your first month — Sling Blue is the cheapest regular live TV streaming service that will let you stream your local network affiliates, which means you will be able to watch this game if you subscribe. There are other live TV streaming services as well, most of which have free trial options, like Vidgo’s “Plus” plan ($59.95 a month), the even more comprehensive YouTube TV ($64.99 a month), FuboTV ($69.99 a month), Hulu with Live TV ($69.99 a month with ads, or $75.99 a month ad-free), or DirecTV Stream with its wildly varying price options.
Assuming you don’t immediately cancel your live TV streaming service after this game is over (which is very much an option) the advantage of subscribing to one of these services is that after you fork over that eye-watering monthly fee for this one game, they’ll keep the gridiron action streaming to your TV for as long as you’re subscribed. They do this by letting you stream your local network affiliates like NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX (though read the fine print to see which of these they do and don’t have), along with channels like ESPN and NFL Network in some cases. YouTube TV in particular might be the clear center of the NFL-streaming universe soon if it scores a deal to allow users access to 13 additional games per week by winning the bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket.
How to stream the Rams-Chargers preseason game in the UK
Whether you’re a British NFL fan, or an American who moved to the UK simply to stream NFL games for much, much less money than you could across the pond, congratulations: NFL Game Pass, which is unavailable in the U.S., is the envy of all American NFL fans stuck on native soil. The Rams-Chargers preseason game is available live to those who pay for the Game Pass “Essential” tier, which costs £42.99 annually, or about £3.58 a month. Unlike preseason games, most games are replays at this tier, and for £150.99 annually (£12.58 a month) you can watch the Rams-Chargers preseason game at the same time as fans in the U.S., and then tune in live from now until the Super Bowl. I just hope you enjoy staying up late.
