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Nicknamed “America’s team,” the Dallas Cowboys are an iconic NFL franchise that plays in the NFC East Division. It seems the Cowboys are always in the playoff mix, and yet, the memories of the 1990s Troy Aikman and Michael Irving Super Bowls are fading further into the past. Can the always talented Cowboys ride star players Ezekiel Elliot and Dak Prescott to a championship?
Football fans all over the country will want to tune in to find out, and the good news is it is easy to watch the Cowboys without a cable TV contract. In this post, I will walk through the best options for watching the Cowboys online.
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The Cowboys are on TV a lot
Most regular season NFL games are broadcast by region.
Fans in Detroit get Detroit Lions games. Fans in NYC get the Jets or Giants, and so on. This means that fans close to their favorite team, known as “in-market” fans get to watch their local NFL games every Sunday, and fans that live further away, when they are motivated to follow all the regular season action, need to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket to get “out-of-market” games.
The exceptions to this rule are national broadcasts, like Monday Night Football, and popular teams that are often broadcast to large sections of the country. Reviewing coverage maps from 506 Sports teaches us just how often the Cowboys fit into both of these categories. The Cowboys appear on an average of 5 primetime national games every season, but they also play in quite a few games that are what I call “hybrid national games” where the game is on for huge sections of the country. A good example is the Cowboys late kickoff in week 2 of the 2021 NFL season against the Chargers. The 506 Sports map shows that Dallas was on for the entire country, save Tennessee and the Pacific Northwest.
Why do I mention this?
The most important channels for Cowboy Fans
The most important channels for Cowboy fans will be CBS, FOX, ESPN, and NBC, and of all these, FOX, the channel with rights for most NFC games through 2033, will be the most important for watching the Cowboys.
NFL coverage for each channel:
- CBS – In-market AFC games / some NFL Playoff games
- FOX – In-market NFC Games / some NFL Playoff games / 2023 Super Bowl
- ESPN – Monday Night Football / some NFL Playoff games
- NBC – Sunday Night Football / some NFL playoff games
The table below documents the live TV streaming providers that carry the most important channels for watching the NFL.
| fuboTV | DIRECTV STREAM | Paramount+ | Hulu + Live TV | Sling Orange & Blue | YouTube TV | |
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| $69.99 / month | $69.99 / month | $4.99 / month | $69.99 / month | $50 / month | $64.99 / month |
Note: Sling TV carries FOX and NBC, but only in select markets.
How to watch this week’s Cowboys game
The best options for local Cowboys fans
If you live near Dallas, you will be able to watch the Cowboys with any of these live TV streaming providers.
Fubo TV – best choice
| Watch the Cowboys | Top Channels | 4k | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC, beIN Sports, CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, NFL Network | $69.99 / month |
Fubo TV carries FOX, CBS, ESPN, and NBC, all the channels you need for watching America’s team every Sunday.
Read our full Fubo TV review.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android (5.0+), Android TV, Apple TV (4th Generation+), Chrome browser, Chromecast (2nd Generation+), Edge Browser, Google TV, iOS (13+), LG Smart TV (2018+), Roku, Safari browser, Samsung Smart TV (2015+), Vizio SmartCast TV (2016+), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Unsupported Devices
Nintendo, Oculus, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, TiVo Stream, Xfinity
Sling TV – budget pick
Sling TV Blue will not get you access to ESPN, so Monday Night Football is out, but in Dallas, fans get the local FOX and NBC affiliate with a Sling TV Blue membership. CBS can be added with a special air antenna.
Even though Sling Blue doesn’t offer total NFL coverage, we recommend it here because, with the cost of streaming services rising, some fans will want a budget option.
Read our Sling TV review.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Chrome browser, Chromecast, Google Nest Hub, Google TV, iOS (11+), LG Smart TV, Mac OS, Oculus, Portal, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, TiVo Stream, Vizio, Windows 10, Xbox Series X|S, Xfinity
Unsupported Devices
Nintendo, Sony, Sony Playstation
DirecTV Stream – best overall Dallas sports option
| Watch the Cowboys | Top Channels | 4k | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, YES Network | $89.99 / month |
DirecTV Stream features all the channels you need to stream Cowboys games. However, as an added bonus, it is the only live TV streaming service that carries Bally Sports Southwest, which is the local RSN for Dallas Sports. If you want to watch the Mavericks (NBA), Rangers (MLB), and Stars (NHL), DirecTV Stream has a lot to offer in-market Dallas sports fans.
Read our DirecTV Stream review.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire TV (2nd Generation+), Amazon Fire TV Cube, Amazon Fire TV Edition Smart TV (2nd Generation+), Android (7.1+), Apple TV (4th Generation+), Chrome browser (68+), Chromecast (2nd Generation+), Chromecast Built-in TV (select models), Edge Browser, iOS (11+), Roku, Safari browser, Samsung Smart TV (2017+)
Unsupported Devices
Android TV, Nintendo, Sony Playstation, XBox, Xfinity
Can I watch the Dallas Cowboys on Hulu + Live TV?
Hulu + Live TV will give Cowboys fans the channels they need to watch the games every Sunday. The ESPN+ bundle opens up an important avenue of additional sports options, including the UFC and out-of-market NHL action.
Read our Hulu + Live TV review.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Android (5.0+), Android TV, Apple TV (4th Generation+), Chrome browser, Chromecast, Chromecast Built-in TV (select models), Edge Browser, iOS (12+), Mac OS, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Roku, Safari browser, Samsung Smart TV (2016+), Vizio SmartCast TV (2016+), Windows 10, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xfinity
Unsupported Devices
Oculus, TiVo Stream
Can I watch the Dallas Cowboys on YouTube TV?
| Watch the Cowboys | Top Channels | 4k | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, FS1, NBC | $64.99 / month |
I’ve written several times on this site about how impressive YouTube TV is as a platform for watching sports, and NFL in particular. The service carries the most important channels for watching NFL action, has a 4K package, and even a mobile feature for fantasy football fans.
The downside is you need a Google account to start using YouTube TV.
Read our YouTube TV review for sports fans.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire TV Cube, Amazon Fire TV Edition Smart TV (2nd Generation+), Amazon Fire TV Stick (2nd Generation+), Android (5.0+), Android TV, Apple TV (4th Generation+), Chrome browser, Chromecast, Chromecast Built-in TV (select models), Google Nest Hub, Google TV, iOS (11+), LG Smart TV (2016+), Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Roku, Safari browser, Samsung Smart TV (2016+), TiVo Stream, Vizio SmartCast TV (2016+), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xfinity
Unsupported Devices
Edge Browser, Nintendo Switch, Oculus, Portal
If you don’t live in Dallas
On the one hand the Cowboys are on TV a lot, so some fans, even out-of-market, may be content with the games they get on national broadcasts, plus the extensive regional coverage the Cowboys enjoy. For the diehards, who want to watch every game at home, NFL Sunday Ticket is the play.
DirecTV Stream + NFL Sunday Ticket
| Watch the Cowboys out-of-market | Top Channels | 4k | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2 | $69.99 / month |
DirecTV Stream will hold the rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, the NFL’s out-of-market solution, for one more year. After the 2022 season, the package becomes a streaming first service. For this year, you still have to show you aren’t eligible for a satellite dish to qualify for NFL Sunday Ticket. If this is you, I’d wait a year to sign-up since this rule is going away with the rise of streaming.
Note: Sunday Ticket is an additional fee ($293.96) over the DirecTV subscription.
Supported Devices
Amazon Fire TV (2nd Generation+), Amazon Fire TV Cube, Amazon Fire TV Edition Smart TV (2nd Generation+), Android (7.1+), Apple TV (4th Generation+), Chrome browser (68+), Chromecast (2nd Generation+), Chromecast Built-in TV (select models), Edge Browser, iOS (11+), Roku, Safari browser, Samsung Smart TV (2017+)
Unsupported Devices
Android TV, Nintendo, Sony Playstation, XBox, Xfinity