The 2023 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas, Nevada, begins Thursday, December 7th, 2023, and runs until the final performance on Saturday, December 16th, 2023. While the entire ten days of the 2023 National Finals Rodeo event will broadcast live on the Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV, you don’t need cable to watch. In Fact, I’ll explain how you can watch 5 days of the NFR for free.
The Important Details
When is The NFR 2023: Thursday, December 7th to Saturday, December 16th, 2023.
How To Watch the NFR 2023 for Free: You can watch the NFR on RFD-TV for 5 days by signing up for the DIRECTV STREAM Entertainment package (5-Day Free Trial.) Make sure to cancel prior to the trial ending, and you won’t be charged
What Time Does NFR Programing Start: RFD-TV will run the following schedule for the NFR daily:
- 4:30 PM ET – Deep Dive: A look at top National Finals Rodeo contestants for this year and years past.
- 5:00 PM ET – Tailgate Party: Panel Discussions from topics around the world of Rodeo
- 8:00 PM ET – 2023 NFR Pre-Show
- 8:45 PM ET – The 2023 Wrangler NFR
Read on for all of your options for watching the 2023 National Finals Rodeo
Watch The NFR 2023 Free For 5 Days
DIRECTV STREAM is a Live TV streaming service that carries the channels you find in most cable TV packages. DIRECTV Steam carries RFD-TV in their “Entertainment” channel plan. While the one-month cost of DIRECTV STREAM’s Entertainment plan costs $79.99 per month, they provide a 5-day free trial. If you sign up now, that’s plenty of time to watch the entire National Finals Rodeo for free. Below are the instructions for signing up to Direct TV STREAM.
- Sign up for DIRECTV STREAM’s Entertainment Plan
- During the Signup Process, you will register a username and password
- Download the DIRECTV app to your Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, iOS, Android, or other supported streaming device.
- Open the DIRECTV app and sign in with the username and password you chose while signing up.
- RFD-TV is one of the channels available in the Live Channel guide. The NFR begins every night at 5:45 p.m. PST/8:45 p.m. EST starting Thursday, December 7th until Saturday, December 16th. However, National Finals Rodeo programming starts each day of the NFR at 1:45 PM PST / 4:45 PM EST.
For more information on DIRECTV STREAM Channels, Plans, and Prices, see our review of DIRECTV STREAM.
Other Ways to Watch the NFR 2023
There are two other options aside from DIRECTV STREAM to watch the 2023 NFR.
Sling
If you want to skip the free trial, then Sling is a cheaper way to get both RFD-TV and the Cowboy channel. Sling TV provides both channels when you add the Heartland Extra channel pack to the Sling Blue or Sling Orange base channel plan. The Heartland Extra package costs $6 per month on top of the $40 for one of the base plans (Blue or Orange). However, Sling TV provides a 50% discount on your first month when signing up, bringing the cost of watching the 2023 National Finals Rodeo to around $23 if you cancel within your first month. You can get the $23 off deal and learn more about the Sling Blue and Orange plan on this Sling TV signup page.
For more details on this service, see our review of Sling TV.
CowboyChannel+
Cowboy Channel is also airing the 2023 NFR. While Cowboy Channel is a TV channel you get through Sling TV and cable and satellite providers, CowboyChannel+ is a streaming service you can subscribe to directly to get Cowboy Channel programming and some bonus content. However, read the fine print before signing up. While CowboyChannel+ costs $9.99 per month, The NFR is blacked out unless you sign up for the $119 annual subscription to the channel.
That makes Sling the most cost-effective way to watch the NFR. However, if you are interested in CowboyChannel+, you can sign up here. To watch, just download the The Cowboy Channel Plus app to your Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, or other supported device.
