Okay, so let’s talk about this NFL coverage map thing. I’ve been trying to figure out how to watch my favorite team without cable, and it’s been a real headache. First off, I had to understand what a “coverage map” even is. Turns out, it’s a map that shows you which NFL games are being broadcast in your area. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong!
I started by looking into this thing called NFL+. Apparently, it’s the NFL’s own streaming service. They offer two options, NFL+ and NFL+ Premium. It sounded promising, but then I read that it mostly covers local and primetime games. This was a bummer.
Then I learned that most playoff games, the Super Bowl, and the Pro Bowl are on national TV, but that still didn’t solve my problem for the regular season games. I saw that the scheduling during the preseason is more relaxed with most games based on local time, which is a bit helpful, I guess. I realized that there wasn’t a Thursday Night Football game on Thursday, January 2, on Amazon Prime Video.
So, I dug deeper. I found out that each week, different networks like CBS and Fox have the rights to broadcast certain games. And to make things more complicated, which game you get depends on where you live! It’s like a puzzle!
I spent hours searching for the “Week 14 coverage map”, “Week 16 coverage map” and “Week 18 coverage map” just to see examples of these maps. Each map is divided into different colored areas, and each color represents a specific game. It was overwhelming, to say the least.
My Attempts to Use the Coverage Map
- First, I tried to find the coverage map for the current week on the NFL website, but it felt like I was going in circles.
- Then, I found some websites that post the maps, but even then, I had to figure out which region I was in. It is not easy!
- Finally, I managed to match my location to the right color on the map and figured out which game was supposed to be on in my area.
Honestly, it was way more complicated than it should be. I mean, I just want to watch some football! Why does it have to be such a treasure hunt to find out which game is on TV?
I also looked at NFL Sunday Ticket as an option, but that’s a whole other can of worms. Plus, I saw some people talking about it on social media, and there were mixed reviews.
In the end, I did manage to watch the game I wanted, but it took way more effort than I expected. I even tried to use some guides on how to navigate these maps. This whole NFL coverage map thing is a real pain. I wish they would just make it simpler for fans to watch the games they want.
