Watch Pat Fitzgerald and the Northwestern football team live without cable on CBS, FOX, NBC, and Big Ten Network.
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College football fans in Chicago can watch Northwestern football games live without cable on several live TV streaming services, including DIRECTV STREAM, Fubo, Hulu, and YouTube TV. Our tip pick for Northwestern fans in Chicago is fuboTV. With fuboTV, Wildcat fans get access to every Big Ten football game, but also in-market Chicago pro sports on NBC Sports Chicago and Marquee Sports Network. For a good budget option in the Chicago market, try Sling TV Blue + Sports Extra for access to FOX, NBC, Big Ten Network, and FS1.
Watch WFLD FOX 32 Chicago, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ABC, NBC Sports Chicago, Marquee Sports Network, and more. | $74.99 / month | 7 Day Free Trial |
Watch WFLD FOX 32 Chicago, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ABC, NBC Sports Chicago, Marquee Sports | $99.99 / month | 5 Day Free Trial |
Good budget option that gets NU fans access to FOX, NBC, Big Ten Network, and FS1. | $46 / month | Explore offers |
Watch CBS, NBC, FOX, and Big Ten Network in the base package. | $69.99 / month | Sign Up for Hulu |
How to watch today’s Northwestern football game
Looking for a specific Northwestern football game? We list the upcoming Northwestern TV schedule, as well as the live TV streaming providers that carry each game, in the easy to use table below.
The most important channels for Northwestern football fans
Under the terms of the Big Ten’s new TV deal, which starts this season, Northwestern games will air on CBS, FOX, NBC, Peacock, FS1, and Big Ten Network.
FS1 and Big Ten Network, as properties owned by FOX and the Big Ten respectively, will feature less sought after Big Ten matchups while FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff airs the week’s premier Big Ten game. Important Big Ten matchups will also air on CBS and NBC. FOX has the TV rights to broadcast the Big Ten Championship game.
| DIRECTV STREAM – Choice | Fubo | Hulu + Live TV | Sling TV Blue + Sports Extra | YouTube TV | |
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| $99.99 / month | $74.99 / month | $69.99 / month | $46 / month | $72.99 / month |
Live streaming Northwestern football: our top picks
fuboTV is a slam dunk for Northwestern football fans. First, the service gets you all the channels you need for watching Big Ten Football, so that base is covered. But as an added bonus, fuboTV carries NBC Sports Chicago and the Marquee Sports Network in its base package.
NBC Sports Chicago airs the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks regular season games for local fans in the Chicago area. The Marquee Sports Network is the home of Cubs baseball.
fuboTV’s benefits don’t stop at MLB, NBA, and NHL games. The platform is rated as our top choice for live streaming Chicago Bears games. Not only is fuboTV the best option for streaming Northwestern games, it is also the best live TV streaming service for Chicago sports.
Read our fuboTV sports review.
Hulu + Live TV gets you all the channels you need to live stream Northwestern Football. We like that Hulu carries the Big Ten Network and NBC Sports Chicago in its base package. Unfortunately, Hulu + Live TV does not currently offer the Marquee Sports Network for Cubs games.
You can stream the Chicago Bears and the NFL, including Monday Night Football, on Hulu.
Read our Hulu + Live TV sports review.
Northwestern fans can watch those beautiful purple uniforms run out of the tunnel on YouTube TV, and you may even be able to get the games in 4K. YouTube TV carries the Big Ten Network and NBC Sports Chicago in its base package, but sorry Cubs fans, YouTube TV doesn’t offer Marquee Sports Network programming.
You can stream the Chicago Bears and the NFL, including Monday Night Football, on YouTube TV.
Read our YouTube TV sports review.
Although it lacks Chicago RSNs, Sling TV Blue offers a lot of value for watching Big Ten football in the Chicago market.
Chicago is one of the markets that gets FOX, NBC, and FS1 on Sling TV Blue. Add the Sports Extra package to get Big Ten Network and Northwestern fans have almost all of their Big Ten Football bases covered, with CBS and Peacock the only potential gaps in coverage.
New for 2023, NBC will host a prime-time Big Ten Football matchup branded Big Ten Saturday Night Football on NBC. These prime-time games will be carried on local NBC affiliates nationwide, but will also live-stream on Peacock.
In addition, 8 Big Ten football games each season will be carried exclusively by Peacock, which is a move similar to the deal NBC made with MLB for Sunday Morning Baseball. It’s likely that Peacock will try to have one of the 8 games be an Ohio State or Michigan game to draw eyeballs to the app, but we are betting Northwestern will appear in one of these games as well.