While I’ve posted on this topic before, the rules and the solutions are evolving. While the NFL remains committed to their deal with DirecTV, the public remains determined to watch the games on line in real time.
The only Americans who are technically allowed to watch NFL’s live streams are those customers who purchase DirecTV’s (DTV) all-access Sunday Ticket package, a deal worth $1 billion to the NFL.
What’s a cord-cutting fan to do? For just a couple of dollars you could digitally pretend to be from somewhere overseas, which would give you access to every single NFL game, live and in high definition, through your Internet connection. And while doing so almost certainly violates the NFL’s terms of service, it might not be otherwise illegal.
That’s the promise of Canadian startup Adfreetime.com, one of a handful of providers to offer what’s called a DNS-switching service.
Kind of strange that some of the big folks like Netflix or the NFL depend only on DNS. Things like the BBC check your actual IP address, meaning you have to use a full blown VPN.
This cord-cutting fan subscribes to NFL Gamerewind for $40 each year. I watch my favorite team on Monday instead of Sunday, and all the commercials and half-time are removed from the broadcast, making the game a lot shorter. All I have to do is avoid social media and sports sites until I watch my game so I won’t know the score. And the social media break is nice, so my free time is doubled.