Super Bowl 2022 is almost here. The treasured, annual sporting event that has been wrangling families and friends together for as long as most of us can recall, the Super Bowl is about as widely recognized as most major holidays. But here’s the hundred-dollar question: What TV are you watching the Super Bowl on? Every manufacturer is looking to cash in on the Big Game, but if you’ve landed on this page then you’re likely wondering how to watch Super Bowl 2022 on a Vizio TV.
A well-respected name in the TV marketplace, Vizio delivers high-quality sets at prices most competitors can’t touch. And guess what? If you aren’t already set on watching the game using a streaming device such as Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV, that new big-screen Vizio has everything you need to stream the Super Bowl already built-in, no paid cable required. Let’s get started.
When is Super Bowl 2022?
Super Bowl 2022 will take place February 13, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, with an expected kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT. The Cincinnati Bengals will face the L.A. Rams. It’s just the third Super Bowl appearance for Cincinnati, which has yet to win the whole thing. The Rams are making their second appearance since relocating to Los Angeles — and, yes, they’re very much the home team. (It’s the second straight year that the home stadium gets to host its own team.)
This year, broadcast rights to the game are being handled by NBC. This means that regardless of whatever method you choose to watch the Super Bowl on your Vizio TV (check out our guide on how to watch for free) the game itself is being delivered to your screen through NBC or an NBC affiliate or streaming partner.
How to stream the Super Bowl on a Vizio TV
Vizio SmartCast is the smart TV platform on which your Vizio is built. Once you connect your TV to the Internet, you’ll be able to use SmartCast to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu, and other popular entertainment portals. You can also use SmartCast to share photos, browse the web, as well as mirror content from your mobile device to your TV.
SmartCast is also what you’ll be using to stream the Super Bowl on your Vizio TV. As mentioned, NBC holds the broadcast rights to this year’s game, which means you’ll need to use a SmartCast-supported app that will get you access to your region’s NBC affiliate. Not to worry though, for there are a few options here.
One tried-and-true approach is Peacock. Owned and operated by NBC, Peacock grants you access to a massive library of movies, TV shows, and live TV programming. In order to use the latter though, you’ll need to opt for one of the service’s paid subscriptions.
For $5 a month, Peacock’s Premium Plan will get you live sports from NBC, including Sunday Night Football, Premier League, and WWE. The Premium tier also allows you to watch episodes of NBC shows on Peacock the day after they’ve aired.
For a few dollars more, the $10-a-month Plus plan will net you all the same benefits as the Premium tier, along with ad-free viewing (when available) and offline downloads for movies and TV shows in the Peacock library.
Another great way to stream the Super Bowl is through a Hulu + Live TV subscription. For $70/month, you’ll get up to 75 live channels (with NBC amongst them), Disney+ and ESPN+ access, and the ability to watch any movie or TV show in Hulu’s library.
If you’re up for taking a less traditional approach to streaming the Super Bowl from your Vizio TV, there’s also FuboTV, YouTube TV, and DirecTV Stream. Each one of these streamers supports NBC while offering their own unique assortment of movies, shows, sports, and other content.
How to watch the Super Bowl for free on a Vizio TV
Remember that monolithic TV antenna on the roof of your parents’ house? Well, thankfully TV antennas are typically not as robust as those primitive models, which is good news for you if you’re planning on using one to pick up a live broadcast of the Super Bowl this year.
Yes, you can get the Super Bowl for free with an over-the-air (OTA) antenna — no subscription or contract required. The only thing you’ll have to shell out cash for is the actual antenna.
Available in indoor and outdoor models, today’s OTA antennas connect directly to the coaxial input on your Vizio TV. After performing a channel scan, your TV will be able to receive live stations from whatever broadcast towers are in your region.
Generally speaking, indoor antennas are the weaker of the two styles, with the best models only able to grab stations up to about 50 miles away (on average). The plus side with indoor antennas though is that they’re easier to move around and are usually designed for omnidirectional, meaning you don’t have to worry about aiming them towards broadcast towers.
Outdoor antennas, while expensive and more difficult to install, are definitely the more reliable of the two antenna styles. Many outdoor antennas can grab stations over 100 miles away and are less prone to signal interruptions from bad weather and other obstructions.
What are the best settings on a Vizio TV for watching sports?
When it comes time to actually watch the Super Bowl, you’ll want to be getting the absolute best picture possible. While this year’s game isn’t being broadcast in 4K or HDR, TVs with upscaling capabilities will still enhance the source coming in — boosting color, brightness, and contrast.
Vizio TVs are great at image-upscaling, but you can make a few other tweaks to ensure you’re getting a grade-A picture for sports. For starters, we recommend setting your Vizio to its brightest picture preset (which is Vivid for most models). Next, find the color temperature adjustments in your TV’s picture settings and toggle them to the cooler side of the spectrum.
In terms of motion capabilities, we recommend adjusting to your TV’s highest output. On Vizio TVs, the motion-smoothing tech is called Smooth Motion Effect and you can easily adjust it by heading to your Vizio’s picture settings. In the picture menu, select Advanced video features, then set Smooth Motion Effect to high to optimize your TV for fast-action content like sports and video games. You may want to give this a test a few days before the Super Bowl though, as one side effect of using the Smooth Motion Effect is that often-undesirable “soap opera” effect, which can make some content look like it was shot on home video. For sports, though, it can help ensure the speed of the game isn’t blurry.
