Cybersecurity and online privacy expert and researcher. He's been published on OpenVPN, EC-Council Blog, DevSecOps, AT-T Business, SAP Community, etc. Dean has been testing VPNs for 8 years.
Watch sports broadcasts for free and without restrictions
In this article, I'll share my experiences of watching the National Football League through Kodi, using 5 official add-ons and 1 unofficial one. You'll also learn how to set up Kodi, how to boost your connection speed and whether you can bypass various restrictions.
Table of contents:
To install the NFL add-on on your Kodi (for a step-by-step guide, see the “Set up the NFL.com Add-on” chapter), you need to have a subscription to a streaming service that broadcasts NFL games or use an unofficial sport streaming add-on.
The following official (paid) streaming platforms are maximally adapted for sports broadcasts and films and have their own Kodi add-ons:
You can immediately register in any of them, or choose the NFL Kodi add-on first, using my recommendations, which I will discuss below.
A subscription is needed not to install the add-on, but for its further work. All add-ons require authorization using account details.
Unofficial sport streaming Kodi add-on:
⚠️Regardless of which add-on you choose, use a VPN for Kodi to remove all possible restrictions. Typically, one of them is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) speed limit for streaming video. VPN will also allow the NFL add-on to work from anywhere in the world, as not all streaming platforms operate outside of the United States or the United Kingdom.
IMPORTANT: When using the unofficial NFL add-on for Kodi, there is no guarantee that the stream is legal. Use a VPN that will hide your network activity from the ISP.
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Attention!
The article is of a research nature and doesn’t call for copyright infringement or otherwise violating the law. Before streaming, make sure the content you are streaming isn’t copyrighted.
Why do we love Kodi? First of all, Kodi is a cross-platform application that allows you to access videos, music, pictures and games in one place. What's more, Kodi has no "limit". There is no fixed end list of programs and content sources.
The second undeniable advantage of Kodi is the ability to use not only official add-ons but also third-party programs to access movies and music for free.
What is a Kodi add-on?
Kodi is a platform on which individual modules (add-ons) are run. Each of them can be compared to an Android or iPhone application (read How to install Kodi on iPhone/iPad) or to a Windows or Mac program. Modules can be installed from the main or a third-party repository, and each has been created for a specific purpose (e.g. to show NFL games). Any developer can create their own add-on. Several hundred different Kodi add-ons have been made available by developers around the world.
Add-ons created by a particular company or service itself are called official add-ons.
Modules created by third-party developers to support a service or system are unofficial.
In my experience, the list of unofficial Kodi add-ons has narrowed considerably in recent years. Whereas in 2017-2019 I had 3-4 properly working add-ons for the NFL to choose from, at the time of writing this article I struggled to find a single option.
If you haven’t used the NFL add-on before and you don’t have Kodi installed, then the following step-by-step instructions will help you to install Kodi on any device.
The installation of this cross-platform app is practically the same for different OSs. I'll show you how to do this using the Android, for example.
If you don’t have Android TV, then you can use any TV box - Roku, Fire TV (Firestick), Apple TV.
After the launch, you’ll see a message and two buttons. You don't need to do anything about it.
Now, you’re ready to install the NFL add-on. To do this, you need to click on the “Enter add-on browser” button and install it. Use the step-by-step instructions from the chapter "Installing the NFL.com add-on".
You can also install Kodi with pre-installed modules. There are special builds that contain everything you need to get the most out of this versatile platform - Kodi builds.
In this section, you'll find all the information you need to install and use the best Kodi add-ons to stream NFL games.
Advantages of the official software:
Disadvantage - a paid subscription to the streaming platform is required.
I’ve selected the 5 best Kodi add-ons for streaming NFL. Ideal for watching NFL games, they also provide access to many other sports and more.
Next, I will briefly describe the features of each service that has its own Kodi add-on.
ESPN is the largest sports streaming platform available in the United States. The service website is also included in the 100 largest sites in the world (according to the analytical resource SimilarWeb).
ESPN makes it possible to watch NFL, NBA, NLB, F1, NHL, MMA games, sports analytics, etc.
For Kodi, the service is available via an official add-on that is easy to install from the main repository. I will describe below how to do this.
Access to broadcasts is available only after registration on the official website of the espn.com company.
ESPN 3 has strict geo-restrictions. If you are faced with the fact that you cannot access the broadcast, then use a special VPN service for Kodi, which bypasses any restrictions and is effective with DPI (deep traffic analysis technology). I recommend using ExpressVPN.
DAZN, the second most popular sports streaming service, will be especially interesting for residents of Europe and some other countries where people are interested in football. The platform has not 1, but 3 NFL channels at once - NFL Network, NFL RedZone, and NFL Game Pass.
Also, DAZN allows you to watch the games of EFL, KHL, Premier League, UEFA, Europe League, and others.
A subscription is required to view DAZN through its Kodi add-on. The good news it is free for the first month of subscription.
DAZN cannot be called a service without geo-restrictions. There are many countries where some of the popular channels aren’t available. You can solve this issue using a VPN. Surfshark is the cheapest yet most efficient VPN for Kodi.
The next Kodi add-on was created by Sling.TV, one of the largest sports streaming services. It is interesting that it broadcasts not only NFL but also the programs of such channels as FOX, NBC, CNN, TNT, and others.
With the Sling.TV add-on, you will have access not only to sports games, but also TV shows, films, and some series from more than 50 popular channels.
As with other official add-ons, Sling.TV requires a subscription. If you are a new user of the service, then the first three days will be free.
Do you want to watch convenient multichannel Sling.TV from anywhere in the world? Try NordVPN. This VPN service not only consistently bypasses geo-restrictions but also copes with Internet censorship in countries such as China, the UAE, and Iran.
Another add-on that lets you watch NFL games on Kodi is NBC Sports. I placed it in 4th place despite its high popularity due to the relatively small selection of championships with significant geo-restrictions. If you live in the US, then all games are available to you. If you are in another country, regardless of whether you are a citizen of the United States or not, you will not be able to watch the NFL broadcast.
NBC Sports offers viewers the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and F1.
You can unblock the NBC Sports add-on outside the US with a VPN.
There is an excellent Kodi add-on for the NFL created outside of the United States. This is BBC iPlayer WWW. The add-on allows you to access BBC sports broadcasts and a huge database of movies and TV shows around the world if you have a UK IP address.
You can change your IP to the desired one using a VPN. At the end of the article, I will provide 3 of the best VPN services for unblocking Kodi add-ons.
iPlayer is easy to use and installed on any device.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to confirm the effectiveness of the freest (no paid subscription) NFL add-ons. They either no longer work in 2022 or their repositories no longer exist.
I found only one really working add-on. At the time of this writing, I was able to access some of the streaming channels of this add-on.
Free access to online NFL broadcasts from anywhere in the world is possible with the help of the unofficial add-on SportsDevil, created by independent developers.
The add-on integrates the broadcasts of several dozen sports streaming sites, including NFL.com.
The advantage of such software is obvious: it is free and covers a large number of broadcasts. But there is also a drawback: the user cannot be sure that SportsDevil is legally receiving content. The second drawback is associated with this: the add-on can stop working at any time, as it was already with a dozen other similar platforms.
Read the next chapter on how to install official and unofficial Kodi modules.
Most of the add-ons below are installed from the official Kodi repository. There are also dozens of unofficial repositories from which add-ons can be installed to view the NFL. There you can find both official and unofficial versions.
Before installation, make sure Unknown sources is enabled in Settings / System.
Any other unofficial add-ons are installed similarly.
So, you have a working NFL add-on, but you cannot start watching the stream. An error related to an incorrect region appears, or any other error (in the case of an unofficial add-on).
You have geo-restricted access or streaming content is blocked by your ISP.
How to get around restrictions?
In most cases, a VPN will help. This is an absolutely legal technology that allows traffic to be sent through a virtual tunnel from the user's device to a special VPN server, from which a connection to the necessary sites is established.
Thus, using one technology, two problems are solved at once:
A natural question appears: is it legal to change your IP address and encrypt data?
Answer: Yes!
The existence of secure local networks of hundreds of thousands of companies is based on VPN technology. Their employees can enter the corporate network from anywhere in the world without the risk of leakage of important data.
A normal home VPN works similarly, only you and the server are on your network.
Note that streaming platforms don't like it when users use a VPN. They try to block such connections and put the addresses of VPN servers in the blacklist.
Because of this, only a few VPN providers can bypass these restrictions.
Read more in the VPN for streaming article.
So how do you get around geo-restrictions and blocking? Which VPN should you choose?
I have been professionally testing VPN services and advising virtual network clients for over 10 years. During this time, I have conducted hundreds of tests and studied thousands of reviews. Based on my experience, I recommend any of the following three VPNs.
All of these services don’t require a VPN add-on to be installed on Kodi (you can install it if you wish). It is enough to install a VPN app on any platform or router.
Let's start with the strongest and fastest VPN service - ExpressVPN's. In the last 3 years, it has performed the highest on speed and privacy testing.
ExpressVPN can "hide" 100% of your traffic from your ISP and bypass almost any protection of streaming services of any level.
In addition to sports platforms, the provider supports unblocking Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and many others.
ExpressVPN is easy to install and requires no additional configuration to work with Kodi.
The service has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Also read:
Another great VPN for unblocking NFL streaming is NordVPN. This is my favourite service that I use not only for Kodi but for all other work and entertainment purposes.
NordVPN has the perfect balance between features and price. It is significantly cheaper than ExpressVPN, has high speeds, and supports the ultra-modern, energy-efficient WireGuard tunnelling protocol.
For Kodi users, NordVPN offers many step-by-step guides to set up any device.
The service has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Also read:
If you are planning to link Kodi to a VPN for a long time, then there is a great way to save money. To do this, install Surfshark. This is a relatively new, but already proven budget VPN.
With a 2-year or longer subscription, it's 3x cheaper than ExpressVPN. At the same time, it is no less effective and convenient for unblocking broadcasts than the VPNs described above.
What's more, Surfshark is also great for torrenting and Kodi torrent add-ons - all of its servers support P2P.
The service also has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Also read:
In preparing the materials, I used my experience of unblocking and watching NFL games, and also analysed dozens of reviews from Reddit and other open sources.
I hope the article was helpful and I will appreciate any comments or questions. I will be happy to answer them in the comments below the article.
Dean Chester.
Read also on the Kodi topic:
Leave a comment
I love NFL but I'm not ready to pay $99 per season to watch every game without commercials live. I pay $2.75 per month for vpns and for DAZN's subscription. It's available in most countries, but I prefer to hide my real address and sensitive data. But you need to have 3 Mbps to watch standard-definition games or 5 Mbps to watch in high definition. If you want to watch HD - 20 Mbps + is enough. Or you can wait for a few hours and download the game via torrent clients if you're unable to watch it online.
We can't wait for the new season to start! Wanna see New York Giants back in action. But I won't be in NY in September. So thanks for sharing these addons for Kodi. It gives people like me a chance to watch nfl games for free. But you can get fined for illegal downloading and streaming. Buy a premium vpn and watch it without any difficulties.
Thanks for the addons. I'm currently not in the country, so It's kinda convenient to be able to use them. Quick question from me: do Kodi 18 addons work on v19 matrix? If not, then I probably need to download the newest vers.
Could Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers run it back and win the 2022 Super Bowl? I don't think so...Can't wait for the September 9 and 2021 season-opening game in Tampa. My friend helped me to install Sling.TV NFL addon on Kodi and NordVPN so I can enjoy nfl games for almost free. NFL Game Pass costs $99 per year and it's too expensive for me.
Sadly, the 2021 NFL Combine has been canceled due to concerns regarding COVID-19. I'M SO TIRED OF THIS VIRUS!! When will football stadiums look normal again? I use Sling TV to watch NFL games. $30 per month is a fair price for access to NBC, FOX, and ESPN. This service is only available in the US, so I have to use Surfshark vpn to watch it from the UK. #LetsGoRams
Most NFL Add-ons have been shut down. Kodi addons are not what they were back in 2015. To access NFL streams for free on Kodi you’ll need to install the right third-party add-ons. SportsDevil is the most popular one. But you also need to have VPN and a fast internet connection to watch live games without delays and playback issues. I'm very satisfied with Nord VPN speed. Should I switch to ExpressVPN, or not?
Dunno, the official version of DAZN didn't work for me. Had to download it from the 3d party site and after some headache, it got installed. However, I would like to pay for it, digital stealing is not for me. Anyway, it turned out it’s great for European soccer, NFL and I also like their boxing and Bellator MMA. I didn’t get any serious issues with it. From what I noticed, the framerate can struggle (it's getting better though), and it's definitely not 1080. Maybe that's cause I don't use an official version? Is there such a bug with a paid one?
