How do blackout rules, regional rights, or carrier partnerships affect whether Peacock or NFL+ can be used to stream the Super Bowl in different U.S. markets?
Executive summary
Peacock will simulcast NBC’s Super Bowl broadcast nationwide as part of NBCUniversal’s rights package, making the full game available on the streamer for U.S. viewers with the right Peacock plan, while NFL+ offers a more limited mobile/tablet feed that may not substitute for full-home viewing; however, regional licensing, local broadcast agreements and blackout enforcement can still shape where and how those streams are available [1] [2] [3] [4]. Blackout language and carriage relationships matter most where a local NBC affiliate’s rights, platform carriage disputes, or device rules intersect with a viewer’s location or chosen app [5] [6].
1. Peacock’s national simulcast — broad rights but with contractual caveats
NBC holds U.S. broadcast rights for Super Bowl LX and Peacock is the designated streaming home, meaning Peacock will simulcast the full NBC telecast (game, halftime and pregame) and advertise that availability nationally, but access requires the appropriate Peacock paid tier and is subject to regional licensing and blackout clauses noted by Peacock and third-party guides [1] [7] [3] [5].
2. NFL+ is a different product: device and scope limits
The NFL’s own streaming tier, NFL+, will carry the Super Bowl feed to phones and tablets only under its current rules, so subscribers should expect a mobile-only experience rather than a full living-room stream; outlets explicitly flag that NFL+ access to the Super Bowl is limited to mobile devices rather than TV apps or connected devices [4] [8].
3. What “blackout rules” and regional licensing actually mean for viewers
Although the Super Bowl is a national event, Peacock and other streaming services still operate under broader regional licensing and local-broadcast agreements that can impose restrictions — for instance, if a specific live event window is carved out for local affiliates or if a platform determines a user is outside its licensed region — and several guides caution that Peacock content can be restricted if a viewer travels outside their home region or tries to bypass geolocation [5] [6].
4. Carrier and platform carriage disputes can block platforms even in-market
Carriage agreements between NBC affiliates and multichannel services matter: because the Super Bowl is broadcast on NBC, any service that doesn’t carry NBC live won’t offer the local feed; reporting and sports guides point to the fact that services that carry NBC (YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, DirecTV Stream, etc.) will stream the game, while platforms in a carriage dispute with NBC may not [3] [9]. That dynamic affects availability in specific markets when a platform’s contract with the local NBC affiliate is interrupted.
5. Circumvention risks, VPNs and the practical takeaway for market differences
Tech guides warn that using VPNs or other workarounds to bypass regional restrictions can risk account termination and won’t guarantee success because services actively enforce blackouts and location rules; practically, the majority of U.S. viewers in-market should be able to watch on Peacock (with the right subscription) or via an NBC-affiliated carrier, while NFL+ remains an inferior substitute for home viewing due to device limits [6] [3] [4].
6. Limits of the reporting and competing perspectives
The available reporting consistently presents Peacock as the primary streaming outlet and flags NFL+’s mobile-only constraints and regional/license caveats, but it does not publish exhaustive legal texts of local-affiliate contracts or specific blackout maps for every market; therefore, while these sources establish the framework of national NBC rights, carrier carriage dependencies and device-based limits, they cannot confirm whether any single market will see an exceptional blackout or carriage blockage beyond the general warnings [1] [5] [3] [6].