Fox is streaming the Super Bowl for free

  • CNN
  • January 16, 2025
New York

CNN

 — 

The Super Bowl has always been free to watch with an antenna, but for the first time, it's streaming for free too.

Fox, which is airing the February 9 game, announced that it's also streaming Super Bowl LIX on Tubi, a free, ad-supported app that it owns. Simulcasting the most-watched TV event of the year will shine a spotlight on the service that largely airs reruns and budget movies but has become attractive to younger, cord-cutting viewers.

Streaming the Super Bowl had previously been locked behind a password, requiring an account with subscription-based services owned by networks like Paramount+ and Peacock, a cable log-in to watch it on the Fox Sports app or a pricey subscription for bundled services like Fubo, DirecTV Stream or YouTube TV. Of course, the big game airs for free on local affiliates with an antenna.

Fox is likely betting that viewers will stick around and keep using Tubi after the Super Bowl ends. Last year's game was on CBS-owned Paramount+, which touted it as the "most streamed" Super Bowl in history and the app having a "record-setting audience," but it didn't disclose specific numbers.

Fox bought Tubi in 2020 for $440 million and recently said it will bring in $1 billion in revenue. Monthly active users have ballooned to 97 million, an increase of 25% compared to a year prior, and Tubi is the second-most watched free streaming app after Roku Channel, towering over rival Pluto TV, according to Nielsen measurements.

In addition to the Super Bowl, Fox is also airing a pregame show called "Tubi Red Carpet at Super Bowl LIX," covering the "celebrity, fashion and culture behind America's biggest sports event" live from New Orleans, according to a press release.