Millions of DirecTV viewers may miss Chiefs vs. Lions on NBC thanks to Nexstar dispute
The much-awaited kickoff game for Thursday Night Football will feature the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. For the defending Super Bowl champions, this will be their first challenge of the season. However, it won't be an easy task as the Lions are predicted to win the NFC North.
The only problem: Millions of Americans might not be able to turn on their TV and easily find the game Thursday night.
An ongoing dispute between DirecTV and Nexstar, the nations largest local broadcaster operating 200 local television stations in 116 metro areas across the United States, will prevent millions of DirecTV users from watching the game on cable after the two companies could not reach an agreement on retransmission fees in July.
WATCH: Lions-Chiefs live with FUBO (free trial).
This is the only Thursday night NFL game this season, where this will be an issue for cable users. For the rest of the season, Thursday Night Football games will be exclusively streamed on Amazon Prime. The next Thursday Night Football game is Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 14.
LIONS VS. CHIEFS: Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs: Predictions, picks and odds for NFL Week 1 game
How to stream NFL games on Peacock
An option if cable is not available is to use Peacock, NBC’s official dedicated streaming site. It offers two separate plans (Premium and Premium Plus), though new subscribers in 2023 will no longer have access to the free entry-level plan.
The Lions-Chiefs game will be broadcast on the NBC Sports website for people with a TV login and on Peacock for people without one. Peacock does not require a TV subscription of any kind and will allow users affected by the blackout to stream the game without issue on any smart TV or mobile device.
Peacock is entering the fold as a primary carrier of live sporting events moving forward. NBC is moving more games to Peacock and has already started to carry Big Ten football games.
Future NFL Sunday games carried on NBC could be affected by the ongoing dispute between DirecTV and Nexstar.
Week 1 NFL 2023 Regular Season Schedule
Date, Game, Time, Network
Sept. 10: Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns, 1:00 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Minnesota Vikings, 1:00 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Jacksonville Jaguars-Indianapolis Colts, 1:00 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Tennessee Titans-New Orleans Saints, 1:00 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Carolina Panthers-Atlanta Falcons, 1:00 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Houston Texans-Baltimore Ravens, 1:00 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: San Francisco 49ers-Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:00 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Arizona Cardinals-Washington Commanders, 1:00 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears, 4:25 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Miami Dolphins-Los Angeles Chargers, 4:25 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Las Vegas Raiders-Denver Broncos, 4:25 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Philadelphia Eagles-New England Patriots, $:25 p.m., CBS
Sept. 10: Los Angeles Rams-Seattle Seahawks, 4:25 p.m., FOX
Sept. 10: Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants, 8:20 p.m., NBC,PEAK
Sept. 11: Buffalo Bills-New York Jets, 8:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC, ESPN+
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Thursday night football game on NBC may not be available in your area
