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AFC Championship Game: How to watch Patriots vs. Chiefs online

A Super Bowl berth is at stake.

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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
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Matt Elliott
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The New England Patriots are playing in their eighth straight AFC Championship game. The Kansas Chiefs haven't reached the conference championship in 25 years. If Tom Brady and the Patriots want to return to the Super Bowl for the third straight year, they'll need to win on the road at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the most difficult places in the NFL to play. And they'll need to find a way to slow down the high-flying Chiefs offense led by second-year QB Patrick Mahomes. Here's how you can watch the game if you don't have cable.

  • What: AFC Championship game
  • When: Sunday, Jan. 20 at 6:40 p.m. ET
  • Where: Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri
  • Channel: CBS  (Note that CNET is a division of CBS)
  • Additional coverage: CBS Sports
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Streaming options

To watch the NFC Championship game, you'll need to to find a streaming service that not only offers CBS but a live feed of CBS and not just on-demand content. In many markets, you can watch on-demand but not live content from CBS and the other local networks.

PlayStation Vue

PlayStation Vue's $45 Access plan includes CBS. Use the PlayStation Vue Plans page to see if you can get a live feed of CBS where you live.

DirectTV Now

DirectTV Now's basic, $40-a-month Live a Little package includes CBS. You can use its channel lookup tool to see if you get a live feed of CBS and the other local networks in your zip code.

Hulu with Live TV

Hulu with Live TV costs $40 a month and includes CBS, but check to see which live channels Hulu offers in your area.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV costs $40 a month and includes CBS. Plug in your zip code on its channel lineup page to see what live, local networks are available where you live.

FuboTV

FuboTV is a sports-centric streaming service that costs $40 for the first month before jumping up to $45 a month. It includes a live feed of CBS in dozens of markets.

Sling TV

Sling TV does not offer CBS.

CBS All Access

You can watch the game on CBS All Access if you live in one of these 200 markets where the service offers live TV. CBS All Access costs $5.99 a month (or $9.99 a month for no commercials). 

The above streaming services offer a free, seven-day trial.

Streaming apps

You can use the CBS Sports app to stream the game, but you will need to log in with your pay TV credentials. If you are willing to watch on a phone or tablet and not screencast to your TV, then you can livestream all NFL playoff games including Super Bowl LIII with the NFL Mobile app or the Yahoo Sports app for free.

Free over-the-air TV

If you live in an area with good reception, you can watch for free on over-the-air broadcast channels just by attaching an affordable (under $30) indoor antenna to nearly any TV to watch games on the major networks. 

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