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Super Bowl: Halftime Show and How To Watch, Stream the Game Live

Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige will perform at halftime before the Rams and Bengals resume play.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Eli Blumenthal Senior Editor
Eli Blumenthal is a senior editor at CNET with a particular focus on covering the latest in the ever-changing worlds of telecom, streaming and sports. He previously worked as a technology reporter at USA Today.
Expertise 5G, mobile networks, wireless carriers, phones, tablets, streaming devices, streaming platforms, mobile and console gaming,
Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Gael Cooper
Eli Blumenthal
Matt Elliott
5 min read
See at Peacock
Peacock
Carries the Super Bowl live
See at YouTube TV
YouTube TV
Carries NBC for $65 a month
See at FuboTV
FuboTV
Carries NBC for $65 a month
See at Hulu with Live TV
Hulu Plus Live TV
Carries NBC for $70 a month
See at DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream
Carries NBC for $70 a month
See at Sling TV
Sling TV Blue
Carries NBC in select markets for $35 a month

The biggest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl LVI is underway at the massive, ultramodern SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. This year's NFL title game features the NFC champion, Los Angeles Rams, against the AFC champion, the Cincinnati Bengals. 

No matter what happens on the field, the halftime show remains one of the most anticipated events the game. Here's what you need to know ahead of the show.

NFL football Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is today.

James Martin/CNET

Who's in the Super Bowl halftime show?

There's going to be more than one main halftime performer this year. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will all perform. They'll have to divide up the time somehow -- only 12 minutes are set aside for the performance. NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, for one, is kind of bummed out about it.

"I'm upset that there's all that greatness packed into 12 minutes," O'Neal told the Hollywood Reporter. "Because I, at least, want to hear three songs from Dre, and three from Snoop, and three from Mary and three from Kendrick. That's like an hour performance, but I guess they're going to have to figure out how to do all that in 12 minutes. But if Dr. Dre's involved, all that funk and all, in 12 minutes, it's probably going to be the best Super Bowl halftime show ever."

What are the big Super Bowl commercials this year?

The elaborate, celebrity-filled Super Bowl commercials are a big reason why some viewers tune. This year you can see Budweiser Clydesdales, Demi Moore and Mila Kunis for AT&T Fiber, Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus for T-Mobile and Jim Carrey as The Cable Guy for Verizon, as well as Super Bowl car commercials featuring BMW, GM, Kia and more. We also expect big TV and movie trailers to drop during the game as well, for films like Jordan Peele's Nope and series like Amazon's Rings of Power.

Which teams are playing in the Super Bowl? 

The Cincinnati Bengals play the Los Angeles Rams in this year's big game. The Bengals will be looking to win their first Super Bowl title, while the Rams will be going for their second championship. 

Should they win, the Rams would become only the second team to win the Super Bowl at home, following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who accomplished the feat last year. 

How do I watch the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl LVI will be broadcast live on NBC. You can also stream the game live on Peacock or the NBC Sports app. The game will be aired in Spanish on NBC sister network Telemundo. 

NBC, CBS and Fox have previously rotated showing the game, with ABC set to rejoin the group in the future. This was supposed to be a CBS year, but back in 2019 NBC and CBS made a deal to trade years so that NBC could show both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in the same month of 2022. 

The Beijing Winter Olympics began Feb. 4 in Beijing, so NBC will carry both the Olympics and the Super Bowl today.

Is the Super Bowl in 4K? 

No, this year's Big Game will not be broadcast in 4K resolution. Although Fox previously made a higher-quality feed available when it last had the game in 2020, as did CBS last year, the 2022 Super Bowl on NBC will be broadcast and streamed in HD. 

Best options for streaming the Super Bowl

Here are our recommendations for the best ways to watch the Super Bowl without cable. Each of the major live TV streaming services offers NBC and a free trial, but it's not a guarantee that each service carries your local NBC station, so check the links below to make sure.

Note that streaming services typically lag 30 seconds or so behind cable and Twitter. And for the best streaming experience, follow our tips to avoid buffering and dropouts during the game.

The below options will work for streaming on a phone, tablet, computer or TV but may cost money. Those who just want to watch on a phone or tablet can watch for free with the Yahoo Sports app

What are my Super Bowl options outside the U.S.?

International viewers should check their local listings to determine the best local option to watch or stream the Super Bowl. But if no convenient local opportunities exist, using a VPN with U.S.-based server should provide access to some or all of the streaming options listed below. See our list of Best VPNs for more. 

You will need to have at least Peacock's Premium service to watch the Super Bowl.

The ad-supported Premium plan costs $5 a month, and the ad-free Premium Plus plan costs $10 a month. Note that you'll still have to watch ads during live football with the $10 plan; ad-free applies only to on-demand content.

Read our Peacock review.

YouTube TV costs $65 a month and includes NBC for the Super Bowl broadcast. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.

Read our YouTube TV review.

FuboTV costs $65 a month and includes NBC for the Super Bowl. Click here to see which local channels you get.

Read our FuboTV review.

Hulu with Live TV costs $70 a month and includes NBC. Click the "View channels in your area" link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code.

Read our Hulu with Live TV review.

Formerly AT&T TV, DirecTV Stream's basic $70-a-month package includes NBC. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live.

Read our DirecTV Stream review.

Sling TV's $35-a-month Blue plan includes NBC but only in a handful of markets. Check here to see if those local channels are available where you live.

Read our Sling TV review.

All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials (except Peacock, which just has a free tier that may or may not offer the Super Bowl), allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.

Where is the Super Bowl being held?

SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, is home to the LA Chargers and LA Rams. The stadium just opened in September 2020, so this will be the first Super Bowl held there, as well as the first Super Bowl in the LA area in 29 years. 

SoFi Stadium boosters will be proud to show off the new digs. It cost an estimated $5.5 billion, the most expensive stadium ever. It's open-sided and covered with an independently supported see-through canopy to protect fans from the sun (and the rare LA rain). It's also noted for the Infinity Screen by Samsung, a 2.2-million-pound 4K HDR video board that hangs over the field and displays 80 million pixels.

Future Super Bowls will be held in Glendale, Arizona (2023), Paradise, Nevada (2024) and New Orleans (2025).

Stay tuned to CNET for the latest throughout Super Bowl Sunday.

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