The San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings close out Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season when they square off in the late game of the Monday Night Football doubleheader. The game kicks off at 7:20 p.m. PT, which means a really late night for east coasters. Thankfully I'll be in Santa Clara for the game, so it will only be a moderately late night for me.
The return of football means we are back for our regular "how to watch the 49ers" series. We have viewers who do not get cable, live around the world, or otherwise will not be watching the game on regular American ESPN. And so I like to try and help people locate the game with the best, legal option possible.
The folks at 506sports.com provide maps to help us with broadcast coverage in America, but that is not an issue this week with ESPN providing national coverage. If you don't have ESPN in the US, or will be away from your TV during the game, there are some online options available. For those with ESPN, but not in front of a TV, there is the WatchESPN stream. You cannot watch this on a mobile device, but it is available on your desktop, XBox, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Roku, or on the WatchESPN application on Windows 8, iPads and Android tablets.
If you do not have ESPN, there is a new service called Sling TV. They provide streaming, and are one of the few options that includes ESPN. It is $20 a month and includes ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, TNT, TBS and other channels. It is one way to try and cut the cord to some extent.
And finally, we have viewing options for our international readers. Monday Night Football gets extensive broadcasting around the world, so you should be able to find it. I'll post some that I know of, but feel free to add in your own.
Canada: TSN, RDS (A Rouge Point).
United Kingdom: Sky Sports and NFL Game Pass (per NFL UK).
Armed Forces Network-Europe: The game will air on AFN Sports
Far East: Our friends at All Sports Network TV will broadcast the game live Tuesday morning, 10:20 a.m. Hong Kong time. It will re-air that night at 8:30 p.m. Hong Kong time. The broadcast will appear throughout Southeast Asia. Check out their map if you live out there.
Sweden: I believe it will air on Viasat Sport
Australia: ESPN Australia at 12:15 p.m. Sydney time
Austria: I believe Sport1US will air it