Watch the Washington Commanders live without cable on the device of your choice, including Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, and more.
Table of Contents
I wrote this Commanders viewing guide based on my first-hand experience using each of these services to watch football. Local fans in the D.C. area can live stream every Commanders game with Fubo, DIRECTV STREAM, YouTube TV, or Hulu + Live TV.
Our top pick for live streaming Washington Commanders games, Fubo, carries FOX 5 DC in 4K, CBS, ABC, ESPN, and NBC in the base package, as well as NBC Sports Washington for streaming Capitals and Wizards games in-market. Commanders fans who also want to stream MASN for Nationals and Orioles games should go with DIRECTV STREAM “Choice.”
Full coverage for local Commanders fans. Watch FOX 5 DC WTTG, CBS, ESPN, NBC, FS1, NBC Sports Washington, and more. | $74.99 / month | 7 Day Free Trial |
Watch FOX 5 DC WTTG, CBS, ESPN, NBC, FS1, and more. | $74.99 / month | Free 5 Day Trial |
Watch Commanders games in-market on WTTG FOX 5 DC. | $35 / month | Explore offers |
Important channels
The most important channels for Commanders fans will be CBS, WTTG-TV FOX 5 DC, 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 Commanders.
NFL coverage for each channel:
- CBS – In-market AFC games / some NFL Playoff games / Super Bowl LVIII
- FOX – In-market NFC Games / some NFL Playoff games
- 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.
| Fubo | DIRECTV STREAM | Paramount+ | Sling Blue | YouTube TV | Hulu + Live TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| $74.99 / month | $74.99 / month | $5.99 / month | $35 / month | $72.99 / month | $69.99 / month |
Note: Sling TV carries FOX and NBC, but only in select markets.
Top picks
For fans in DC, Virginia, and other markets close to the nation’s capitol, these live TV streaming providers will offer the regional and national coverage you need to watch the Commanders online.
Fubo offers full coverage of the Commander’s new season for local fans. Outside of DC metro, the Commander’s Thursday Night Football games will be available on Amazon Prime only.
Pros
- Essential NFL channels. The service carries CBS, ESPN, FOX, and NBC.
- Capitals and Waizards in-market. As a bonus, Fubo streams NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Washington+, which allows sports fans in DC to not only watch the Commanders, but also watch the Wizards (NBA), and the Capitols (NHL).
- College football and basketball. Maryland and UVA football fans can also stream their team’s entire season on Fubo.
Cons
- Only 1,000 hours of DVR storage
- Lacks TNT and TBS
- Lacks MASN. Note that Fubo is missing MASN, so DC area MLB fans won’t be able to stream the Orioles and Nationals on Fubo.
Read our Fubo TV review.
DC is one of the markets where Sling TV offers both FOX and NBC.
Pros
- Watch FOX and NBC from DC market. This means a lot of Commanders regular season games will be available on Sling Blue, and if the team plays on Sunday Night Football, Sling will have the game as well.
- Upgrade for ESPN. Upgrade to Sling Orange & Blue to watch ESPN and Monday Night Football.
- Budget friendly. 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 more budget friendly option.
Cons
- Major gaps in coverage
- Lacks CBS
- No DC pro sports. Lacks NBC Sports Washington and MASN
Read our Sling TV review.
DIRECTV STREAM carries the channels to watch the Commanders play live without cable. For local fans in DC, the platform offers full coverage from the preseason through the Super Bowl.
Pros
- Full Commanders coverage from DC. Full local Commanders coverage from DC and Northern VA
- Watch all DC pro teams in-market. For an added monthly price, DIRECTV STREAM “Choice” also carries NBC Sports Washington, and MASN for Orioles and Nationals games in-market.
- Excellent college sports coverage. With DTV Choice, college sports fans in the DC area can watch all of their teams, including UVA, Maryland, VA Tech, and more.
Cons
- Lacks 4K option
- User interface lags behind competition
- Short free trial
Read our DirecTV Stream review.
Hulu + Live TV is another excellent option for Commanders fans, which offers full coverage from the preseason through the playoffs.
Pros
- User interface improved. Hulu has done a nice job with their dashboard and user experience. I have noticed marked improvement in the last year.
- Full local Commanders coverage. For local fans in DC, Hulu + Live TV offers full coverage of the season, including the marquee national games, playoffs, and Super Bowl.
- NBC Sports Washington. Hulu + Live TV also carries NBC Sports Washington, and NBC Sports Washington+.
- Order UFC PPV. I am a Hulu + Live TV user mainly because of how easy it has been to order UFC PPV events directly from the Hulu app with the ESPN+ bundle. If you are an MMA fan in addition to a Commanders fan, Hulu is the best bet. Note that there have been some major glitches with the UFC PPV experience on Hulu lately.
Cons
- Lacks MASN for Orioles and Nationals games
- No 4K sports option
Read our full review to learn more about the ESPN+ bundle.
Local Commanders fans can get complete coverage of the season on YouTube TV.
Pros
- Full local Commanders coverage
- Free trial available
- 4K. Excellent 4K upgrade at competitive price
- Excellent sports features. I enjoy watching football on YouTube TV because of innovative features like Stats View and Key Plays.
- New home of NFL Sunday Ticket. YouTube TV is also the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket, which means the app is must-have for Commanders fans who want to watch the team out-of-state.
- NBC Sports Washington. YouTube TV also carries NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Washington+, which gives pro sports fans in DC access to Wizards and Capitals games
Cons
- Google account required to signup
- Lacks MASN
Read our full YouTube TV review.
If you are a a local fans and are looking for the best way to stream Commanders games on your phone, look no further than NFL+.
Pros
- NFL+ offers full local coverage for Commanders fans for just $40 per season
- Free trial available
- Watch the biggest game, from MNF to the Super Bowl
Out-of-market
If you don’t live in the DC area, you will be considered an out-of-market fan, and the best bet for watching Commanders games will be NFL Sunday Ticket.
YouTube TV holds the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket and has made the NFL’s out-of-market package easy to live-stream (gone are last season’s satellite dish rules).
Note: Sunday Ticket is an additional fee ($349) over the YouTube TV base subscription, or $449 as a standalone purchase.
Commanders player to watch – #94
When watching Commanders games this season, keep an eye on #94, DT Daron Payne. Payne was designated as the Commanders franchise player in the offseason, and just signed a 4 year, $90 million dollar deal. Payne is a former high 4-star recruit who played in the trenches for Alabama football before joining the ranks of elite NFL lineman.
FAQ
This will vary by opponent from week to week. However, if you study this map of regional TV coverage on FOX for the early games in week 3 of the 2021 season, you see that in addition to WTTG, FOX affiliates across Virginia are usually in-market for Commanders games. These FOX affiliates will reliably carry Commanders games:
Richmond (WRLH)
Roanoke (WFXR)
Norfolk (WVBT)
Because there is competition with a number of NFL franchises on the east coast, the in-market territory for Commanders games won’t be as expansive as you see with the Broncos or Chiefs.
No, you cannot watch regular season Washington Commanders games on NBC Sports Washington (NBCSW). NBCSW carries Wizards and Capitals games, but not Commanders games.
No, you cannot watch the Washington Commanders on MASN. MASN is the regional sports network that broadcasts Orioles and Nationals regular season games to in-market fans in the mid-atlantic region of the country.
If you are in-market for the game, or if the Commanders are on national TV, you can watch the game for free by signing up for a live TV streaming service in a free trial. See our live TV streaming services page for the latest free trials.
How to Watch the Washington Commanders on a Roku Device
Time needed: 15 minutes
Watching the Washington Commanders on a Roku device is easy. All of the live TV streaming services we list above support most Roku devices, including our top pick, DIRECTV STREAM. Here are the steps to take to watch the Commanders on Roku.
- Signup for a live TV streaming service on your laptop or mobile phone.
Visit your preferred streaming service’s website, and either create an account, or signup. Signup for DIRECTV STREAM, here. Write down your login credentials on a piece of paper.
- Go to your Roku TV and grab the remote. Press the Home button on your Roku remote.
Look for “streaming channels” on the home screen and find your live TV streaming service.
- Find the “Streaming Channels” option on the left sidebar of the Roku home screen.
This option will help you search for, and find, your live TV streaming app. Press “ok” when you have found your streaming app.
- Pressing “ok” will highlight the streaming service you have chosen. Here is an example with YouTube TV.
- Use the “Add Channel” option to add your live TV streaming service app to your Roku library.
You will see the icon and option to “Add Channel” when you select the streaming service. You can also add channels to Roku from a web browser by visiting the Roku channel store.
- Open the live TV streaming service app and follow the prompts to login.
Login to the streaming service app on Roku.
- Find the channel the Commanders game is on
We list the channel, start time, and streaming options above.
- Make sure you are in the viewing territory for this Commanders game.
Use a site like 506 Sports to confirm you are in the viewing territory for this game. This step doesn’t apply if the Commanders are playing on Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, or Thursday Night Football, as these are national TV games. If you aren’t in the viewing territory, you can watch the game by adding NFL Sunday Ticket.TV to a DIRECTV STREAM subscription.
- Watch the game
If you are in-market for the game, or if the game is on national TV, finding the channel the game is on on your live TV streaming service is all you need to do to start live streaming the game! Finding the channel lineup is easy and intuitive on most streaming services, with fuboTV being the easiest to navigate in our opinion.
