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In case you hadn’t heard, the Super Bowl is almost upon us and, as always, you can watch the biggest event in professional sports completely free.
Unlike most championship fights, which force you to shell out money for a one-time pay-per-view buy, or even the College Football Playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals, which require a cable or satellite subscription to watch, the NFL’s crowning game is free to watch with no purchases or subscriptions. Provided you’ve already got a TV and an over-the-air antenna, that is.
We’ve got all the details on how you can get a new antenna for free in time to hook it up and watch the 2022 Super Bowl when it kicks off on Feb. 13.
Is Over-The-Air TV Really Free?
Here at Don’t Waste Your Money, we try to keep you updated on the best ways to legitimately save money while not wasting your time on the opportunities that are too good to be true. Over-the-air TV is one of those rare things that sounds way too perfect to be on the level but is merely waiting for you to take advantage of.
Before cable, satellite and live-TV streaming subscriptions existed, everyone watched TV for free, the same way many of us still listen to the radio without paying a dime. The airwaves that the so-called “big four” networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) broadcast on are technically owned by the public and run by the federal government, which means anyone with the technology (i.e., a TV and an antenna) can watch them.
A monthly subscription is required to watch cable channels like CNN, ESPN, HGTV and TBS, and a further subscription is needed for premium, ad-free channels like HBO and Showtime, which is why these channels won’t come in on an over-the-air antenna, no matter how powerful that antenna is.
But to watch the four networks, plus The CW, PBS and dozens of other extra digital-signal channels like Bounce, Grit and MeTV, all you need is an over-the-air antenna to hook up to your TV.
This means popular shows like “The Bachelor,” “This Is Us,” “The Voice” and “The Masked Singer” are available for you to watch completely free, with no recurring fees. It also means many of the biggest live sporting events are available to watch free every year, including the NBA Finals, Olympics, World Series and Super Bowl.
NBC is airing the 2022 Super Bowl, so you’ll find it on your local NBC station that night.
An antenna could help you pick up on local stations so that you can watch TV for free.
How To Score A Free Antenna For The Super Bowl
If you don’t have an over-the-air antenna — or if your rabbit ears could use an upgrade — you’ve got a chance to win a free antenna ahead of the Super Bowl.
The Free TV Project, a website also owned by our parent company, The E.W. Scripps Co., that’s dedicated to spreading information about over-the-air TV viewing and recommending the best antennas, is giving away 200 Mohu Leaf Ultimate V3 antennas. These antennas retail at around $70 apiece, making it a serious steal to snag one without spending a cent.
The Mohu Leaf Ultimate V3 has a sleek, flat design that keeps it from being an eyesore, which is a common problem with many antennas. The device boasts a 60-mile radius and has a nifty feature in its signal indicator, which allows you to see how well it’s picking up the broadcast signals in your area without you having to scan and rescan for channels a dozen times as you figure out where to place it.
Since this is an indoor antenna, meant to be placed right in the living room with your TV setup, installation is a piece of cake. You’ll simply hook it into your TV’s coaxial port, find the best place to set the antenna (near a window is usually best for reception), run a scan for channels in your TV’s menu and enjoy!
To enter the drawing, visit The Free TV Project and sign up tonight, when the contest launches tonight, at midnight Eastern time on Jan. 15.
This story originally appeared on Don't Waste Your Money. Checkout Don't Waste Your Money for product reviews and other great ideas to save and make money.
