How to Watch the NFL in Australia
6 minute read ⌚
September is approaching and for me, that means only one thing.
NFL Football is returning.
As a relatively new convert to the sport, I have found the time difference between the UK and the US relatively easy to conquer.
I’m a Seattle Seahawks fan and I like to watch all of my team’s games live. That tends to mean games start at either 6 pm or 9 pm UK time.
That does not take into account night games on a Monday or Thursday, these kick off at 1 am or even later (or earlier I guess). With these games, I just accept I’ll have to watch on a replay or settle for the YouTube highlights.
Anyway, there is the small matter of moving to South Australia on the horizon for us as a family. So how will that affect the kick-off time and my ability to watch the live games?
LET’S MAKE A TABLE!
For example sake, I’m just going to drop the week 1 fixtures into a Table with Kick-off times for the UK and Australian Time Zones
Australian states that conform to Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) are:
- Queensland
- New South Wales
- Victoria
- Tasmania
- Australian Capital Territory
States that conform to Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) are:
- South Australia
- Northern Territory
And finally, States that conform to Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) are:
- Western Australia
NFL Week 1 fixtures
| Fixture | UK | AEST | ACST | AWST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Night Football – Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles | 01:20 | 10:20 | 09:50 | 08:20 |
| Tennessee Titans @ Chicago Bears | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans Saints | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars @ Miami Dolphins | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Houston Texans @ Indianapolis Colts | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| New England Patriots @ Cincinnati Bengals | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Minnesota Vikings @ New York Giants | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Arizona Cardinals @ Buffalo Bills | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers @ Atlanta Falcons | 18:00 | 03:00 | 02:30 | 01:00 |
| Denver Broncos @ Seattle Seahawks | 21:05 | 06:05 | 05:35 | 04:05 |
| Las Vegas Raiders @ Los Angeles Chargers | 21:05 | 06:05 | 05:35 | 04:05 |
| Washington Commanders @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 21:25 | 06:25 | 05:55 | 04:25 |
| Dallas Cowboys @ Cleveland Browns | 21:25 | 06:25 | 05:55 | 04:25 |
| Monday Night Football – New York Jets @ San Francisco 49ers | 01:20 | 10:20 | 09:50 | 08:20 |
Early Starts it is Then!
So looking at the table, we can see that a 6 pm UK kick-off time on a Sunday converts into an early hours kick-off on a Monday in Australia.
A 9 pm kick-off in the UK leads to a yawn-inducing kick-off time between 4-6 am Monday in Australia.
If you want to watch the NFL in Australia, and you want to watch it live. You are going to have to make some sacrifices with your life and have a very understanding family/employer.
It’s a minor downside for swapping the grey drizzle of the UK for the sunshine of Australia.
My plan will be to watch full-match replays on a Monday evening of the Seahawks games. It may mean spending the day avoiding the score. However, that sounds much more doable than getting out of bed at 2 am or 5 am to watch the game before work.
Watch on Prime
Every match in the NFL will soon be available to watch on Prime in Australia. Amazon have done a deal with DAZN to integrate their offering into Prime as an add-on Subscription.
Sign up for the Amazon Prime 30-day Free Trial to check out the platform.
Free to Air NFL
I understand that the 7 network broadcasts the NFL on free-to-air TV in Australia. The network has the rights to 50 games and shows full games and replays which sound great.
If you are in Australia and have any knowledge of the service, feel free to contact us and give us the lowdown. I’d personally love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for reading. I hope this one was of some use to those UK NFL fans hoping to continue watching the sport following a move to Australia.
I feel the key point may have evolved from ‘How to watch the NFL in Australia’, to ‘When to watch the NFL in Australia’. 😁
