Don’t miss Washington and Tampa Bay’s NFL Wild Card Game
Don’t miss Washington and Tampa Bay’s NFL Wild Card Game
The Commanders will visit the Bucs in the nightcap of an NFL triple header on the first Sunday of the 2025 playoffs.
When the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off in the Wild Card Weekend of the NFL playoffs, the Bucs will be the home team by virtue of the fact that they won the NFC South, but the Commanders come in with the better record. Tampa Bay finished the regular season at 10-7, while Washington was 12-5. However, aided by home-field advantage, the Bucs are favored by three points. With dynamic quarterbacks like Baker Mayfield and Jayden Daniels running the offenses, it should be an exciting matchup. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and you can watch all of the action with a subscription to Sling TV.
How to watch the NFL Wild Card Game Tampa Bay vs. Washington
- When: Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC, Universo
- Stream: Watch with 50% off a subscription to Sling TV or on Peacock.
- From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.
Everything you need to know to stream the NFL Wild Card Game Tampa Bay vs. Washington:
Watch a preview of the NFL Wild Card Game
Why we recommend Sling TV to watch the NFL Wild Card Game Tampa Bay vs. Washington
Over the next month and a half, there will be tons of NFL postseason games coming to you and sports fans will not want to miss a single second of the action. If you fall into that category, then Sling is the way to go for you. It is the cheapest way to get national broadcast channels and the biggest cable networks as well, as every game moving forward will be on broadcast or cable TV.
Normally, Sling costs $46 per month, but you can currently get 50% off your first month of service, meaning that you can watch a month of the college postseason and the stretch run of the NFL for as little as $23. Sling has two different base packages, Orange and Blue. You can subscribe to one or both. If you do opt to combine Orange and Blue it will run you $61 monthly — still substantially cheaper than the comparable live TV streaming services — but with the first-month deal, you can stream everything on both packages for just $30.50.
The NFL will air all of its games after this weekend on ABC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox, so that means that there is no cheaper option in streaming to watch all of the action over the next month that doesn’t involve Sling.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.
You can also watch the game on NBCUniversal’s flagship streaming service Peacock. Subscriptions there begin at $8 per month for the ad-free Premium plan and go to $14 monthly for the ad-free Premium Plus. Keep in mind that live broadcasts — like football games — will still have commercial breaks, regardless of what plan you sign up for.
Related: Your guide to watching the 2025 NFL Wild Card games this weekend
Can you watch Tampa Bay vs. Washington for free?
If you are just looking for a streaming service to watch this specific game and nothing else, there are options available for you. DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all offer free trials, but they vary in length, so be wary. DIRECTV STREAM’s industry-leading trial runs for five days, while Hulu + Live TV’s is a solid three days.
Those are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the sports-minded streamer Fubo, things can get a little complicated. As The Streamable’s expert David Satin discovered when signing up for the services, figuring out how long Fubo’s trial is — even as you are signing up — can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, it will be at least one day, with the potential to be as many as seven, depending on a wide range of factors that Fubo does not share publicly.
The YouTube TV trial is said to be “up to two weeks,” but can be as short as two days. So it is difficult to ascertain what you are actually getting before you go through the signup process.
If you are looking to watch the game for free, I would recommend DIRECTV STREAM, because that streamer has the longest guaranteed free trial.
What are all of the streamers you can use to watch Tampa Bay vs. Washington in the NFL Wild Card Game?
Fortunately for football fans, there are six different streaming services that will stream the game, so you have options to choose from if you don’t already subscribe to any of them. We discussed Sling TV and the four free trial options above, but there is one more, and it offers a different type of streaming arrangement.
If you are looking to find a long-term streaming service and want to avoid the potential of having to pay more if price hikes strike, then DIRECTV via Internet is your best bet. Packages start as low as $70 per month and come with a two-year price guarantee. This, of course, locks you into a two-year contract, but with prices increasing fairly regularly, it is understandable why this would be an attractive offer to many people.
Ultimately, there are tons of different ways to stream the game, and while we recommend Sling TV as the best way to stream all of the college and pro football postseason, you have plenty of options to find the platform that meets your needs.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Get 50% OFF | Sign Up | |||
| $86.99 | $94.99 | $82.99 | $28 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $82.99 | ||
| NBC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
How to watch Tampa Bay vs. Washington from anywhere
If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the game as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming like Sling TV in order to stream the game with a VPN.
NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!
While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.
- Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
- Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
- Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available