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Here's how to watch the 2023 NFL Draft for free without cable

Weve had 3.5 months to catch our breath after Super Bowl LVII. That means its time for the ramp up to the 2023-2024 season of the NFL.

The 2023 NFL Draft will kick off Thursday night and run through Saturday, April 29. And its being preceded by some big trades, none bigger than Aaron Rodgers move from Green Bay to the New York Jets.

Starting Thursday night, though, its the college stars who will have their time in the spotlight, and Alabamas Bryce Young is the odds-on favorite to be first picked.

Not going to be home when the picks are made? Maybe youve gotten rid of cable to keep bills under control? Dont worry. There are still plenty of ways to watch.

When does the 2023 NFL Draft take place?

This years NFL Draft will begin on Thursday, April 27 and run through Saturday, April 29. Round one picks will be announced Thursday. Rounds two and three happen on Friday. And Saturday will see rounds four through seven.

What time does the 2023 NFL Draft begin?

It varies by night

Thursdays coverage will begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Fridays coverage will start at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Saturdays coverage will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Which network or networks are airing the 2023 NFL Draft?

Again, it will depend on the day.

Thursday, ABC will broadcast the first round.

Friday and Saturdays coverage will air on ESPN. The NFL Network will also air the 2023 NFL Draft.

How can I watch the NFL Draft for free?

As with any network-centric programming, the best way to watch for free on a big screen is with a good HD antenna. Since ABC is airing the early round of the NFL draft, youll be able to watch even if you dont have a cable subscription. To ensure youre getting the most reliable signal, be sure to test the antenna in multiple locations in your home.

Can I watch the 2023 NFL Draft online?

Yep. There are a number of options, too. You can always log on to the WatchESPN app, but if youd prefer to watch on a big screen (or dont want to bother with adding another app) there are several alternatives.

Disney+

Disneys bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ no longer has a free trial, so youll have to pay $13.99 per month for all three combined (or $19.99 per month for no ads on Hulu). Including Live TV in the bundle bumps the price to $70 per month ($76 with no ads).

Hulu with Live TV

The free trial on this service is no longer offered, as well. It will cost you $70 per month.

YouTubeTV

After up to a two-week trial, you can expect monthly charges of $73.

Sling TV

Dish Networks Sling lower-tiered Orange plan will now run you $40 per month. Adding the more comprehensive Blue plan bumps the cost to $55 per month. (A $5 per month increase for each.)

DirecTV Stream

Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T TVNow and AT&T TV, this oft-renamed streaming service will run you $70 per month and up after the free trial option.

Fubo TV

This sports-focused cord-cutting service carries broadcast networks in most markets. Theres a seven-day free trial, followed by monthly charges of $70$100, depending on the channels you choose.

Does the NFL offer any service for me to watch the 2023 NFL Draft?

It does, but there are fewer options than you have during the regular season.

NFL App

The NFL App will let you stream this years draft, via the NFL Network.

Can I watch the 2023 NFL Draft on Amazon?

Nope. The streaming service doesnt have any broadcast rights for the draft.

Whats the Draft Order for selections in 2023?

Chicago, which had a truly terrible 3-14 record last season, would normally have first pick, but the Bears traded that pick to the Carolina Panthers for four others. And the Miami Dolphins forfeited their top pick after the team was found to have violated the leagues anti-tampering policy, by trying to lure Tom Brady.

The order of the picks will vary by round, but heres how things are shaping up for Round One:

Carolina Panthers (From Chicago Bears)
Houston Texans
Arizona Cardinals
Indianapolis Colts
Seattle Seahawks (from Denver Broncos)
Detroit Lions (from LA Rams)
Las Vegas Raiders
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears (from Carolina Panthers)
Philadelphia Eagles (from New Orleans Saints)
Tennessee Titans
Houston Texans (from Cleveland Browns)
Green Bay Packers (from New York Jets)
New England Patriots
New York Jets (from Green Bay)
Washington Commanders
Pittsburgh Steelers
Detroit Lions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks
Los Angeles Chargers
Baltimore Ravens
Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars
New York Giants
Dallas Cowboys
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
New Orleans Saints (from San Francisco 49ers through Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos)
Philadelphia Eagles
Kansas City Chiefs

Which players are first-round favorites in the 2023 NFL Draft?

Part of the thrill of the NFL Draft is how quickly things can change, but 2023 has a clear frontrunner. Bryce Young of Alabama is widely expected to be snatched up in the first round. Other expected high-ranking picks could include:

Jalen Carter, UGA Hes a great athlete on the field, but his no contest plea last month to reckless driving charges in connection with a crash that killed two people, including a teammate have raised doubts about how high hell be picked.
J. Stroud, Ohio State Quarterbacks are the top picks this year. And Strouds performance with the Buckeyes should make him highly sought after.
Will Levis, Kentucky The Wildcats didnt have the best season, but few blame that on Levis.
Anthony Richardson, Florida The real wildcard this year. Richardson could go as early as number two or could be a later round draft pick.

After the draft, whats next?

Once the draft is over, all eyes turn to the 2023-2024 schedule. That will be released on or about May 11. The season will begin on Thursday, September 7 (on Amazon), and conclude in February 2023 with Super Bowl 58.

Tickets will go on sale after each game is announced.

Amazon adds to a streak of stronger-than-expected Big Tech earnings that sends its shares soaring 9%

Amazon on Thursday reported a continuing slowdown in its cloud computing unit AWS but stronger than expected revenue and profits for the first quarter sent its stocks higher in after-hours trading.

The Seattle-based company said it pulled in $127.4 billion in revenue for the January-March quarter, a 9% growth compared to the $116.4 billion it reported during the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected $124.6 billion.

Profits came out to $3.2 billion, or 31 cents per share, higher than the $2.24 billion industry analysts had expected. Its also a strong improvement from the same period last year, when the e-commerce giant reported its first quarterly loss in years mainly driven by a loss in value of its investment in the electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive.

Amazons stock rose 9% in after-hours trading.

The report on Thursday rounds out a busy earnings week for major tech companies. On Wednesday, Facebook parent Meta beat profit and revenue expectations, leading to a bounce in its stocks in after-hours trading. Microsoft posted a spike in profits on Tuesday driven by a strong showing in its cloud segment Azure, which recently saw some slowdowns in growth. Google reported its cloud business grew by a strong 28%, leading to its first operating profit. But it grew at a slower pace compared to the same period last year.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in his annual shareholders letter released earlier this month that AWS, the leader in the cloud market, was facing short-term headwinds as companies are becoming more cautious in their spending amid more uncertainty in the economy. The company said Thursday the segment grew 16% during the first quarter, which beat analyst expectations but had a much slower showing than a 37% growth rate a year prior.

Company executives have also said shoppers have become more conscious about their spending and are trying to save costs when they can. On top of that, many shoppers have let go of their pandemic-fueled reliance on e-commerce, which led Amazon to report record revenue figures at the time.

Amazon reported no growth in the first quarter in its online retail business. It grew by 3% excluding foreign exchange rates.

Amazon too has been cutting its expenses amid sluggish online sales and concerns over whether the U.S. will dip into a recession.

The company began trimming its spending last year by canceling some of its warehouse expansion plans and reducing headcount in its facilities through attrition. It accelerated cost-saving measures over the past couple of quarters by cutting 27,000 corporate roles in different units, including devices, advertising, AWS and Twitch, the popular live streaming platform it acquired in 2014. It has also axed several businesses that werent bringing in enough cash, such as its healthcare startup Amazon Care, subsidiary fabric.com and the video calling device Amazon Glow. On Wednesday, the company said it would shut down its health-focused Halo devices and related membership service on August 1.

In February, the retailer said it would shut down some of its Amazon Fresh and Go convivence stores and pause expansions as it attempts to find the right formula for its grocery business. Amazon has also paused construction on the second phase of its headquarters in northern Virginia. It expects to bring thousands into the first phase of the development when it opens in June, and has asked for $152.7 million in state incentives for bringing those jobs to Virginia.

Jassy has signaled confidence that the company can get its costs under control. He has also said Amazon will continue to expand its investments in a number of areas that are further from its core business, such as healthcare, generative AI and Kuiper, a satellite broadband project the company unveiled in 2020.

Microsoft's policy chief gets tough with British regulators after the company's charm offensive fails to push through its Activision Blizzard deal

Microsofts charm offensive with the worlds governments is starting to lose some of its luster as the software giant is confronting its toughest antitrust scrutiny since co-founder Bill Gates was in charge.

A blow came this week when British regulators said they would block Microsofts planned $69-billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard, threatening to undermine what could be the priciest tech acquisition ever.

Microsofts policy chief responded by calling it a bad day for Britain that could make it an unattractive place to do business and warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks government it needs to look hard at the role of its antitrust regulator.

This decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain, the companys president, Brad Smith, told BBC Radio 4. It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than weve ever confronted before.

The sharp tone marked a shift for Microsoft, and Smith in particular, who joined the company in 1993 and helped defend it from antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and Europe who targeted the companys personal computer software empire centered around the Windows operating system.

Basically, this is Microsoft and Brad Smith throwing their toys out of the pram after they didnt get the decision they wanted after all the lobbying they did, said Max von Thun, director of the Europe office of the Open Markets Institute, a proponent of stronger antitrust enforcement.

After legal battles starting in the late 1990s, Microsoft came close to having to break up its business but ended up agreeing to concessions instead. It was eclipsed for a time by rivals like Google, Facebook and Amazon, which drew closer scrutiny from both Wall Street and regulators. Now, its back, both as a powerhouse in sectors such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing and as a target for antitrust enforcement.

Theyre struggling to maintain that good guy reputation, von Thun said.

After adopting a confrontational attitude toward regulators at the turn of the century, Microsofts senior leaders, led by Smith, have spent years crafting a friendlier and collaborative approach, said William Kovacic, former chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

That generated a great deal of goodwill for them around the world, Kovacic said. Theyre seen as being in a different category than the other well-known information technology giants. Theyre seen as being more reasonable, thoughtful.

But its not just Microsoft that has changed. Behind the heightened attention on technology companies is a belief that regulators were too weak over the past two decades in preventing monopolies. Kovacic said the halo effect of pitching itself as a good partner with governments only goes so far if the regulator believes a deal could harm competition. Not only that, but some of the dozens of nations with antitrust laws are increasingly talking with each other.

A number of jurisdictions are coming to realize that their effectiveness increases if they operate as a coalition, Kovacic said. They share thoughts about strategy. They share thoughts about timing.

In his comments to the BBC, Smith said the English Channel has never seemed wider as he compared the United Kingdom unfavorably with regulators for the 27-nation European Union, who are due to make a decision on the Activision deal in May.

Smith said that people are shocked, people are disappointed by the U.K. decision. Microsoft and Activision have vowed to appeal.

The company may end up with a more favorable ruling in Brussels, but Microsoft still has to contend with the FTC, which has challenged the deal in the U.S. and is taking the company to trial in August.

Were not alone, Sarah Cardell, chief executive of Britains Competition and Markets Authority, told BBC 4s Today program of her agencys decision and the pending FTC lawsuit. There is a lot of alignment there.

Cardell defended the decision, saying the U.K. is absolutely open for business and the regulator wants to create an environment where a whole host of different companies can compete effectively, can grow and innovate.

The regulators concern was over cloud gaming, or games streamed over the internet, which represents a tiny fraction of the industry today but where Microsoft, owner of the Xbox game system, already has the most powerful platform and would become more so with the Activision takeover, making it harder for other platforms to compete, Cardell said.

Macquarie Group analyst Sarah Hindlian-Bowler said it will be challenging, but possible for Microsoft to complete its Activision takeover without the U.K.s support. She also said it made sense for Smith to call out the CMA, a relatively new body formed because of Britains exit from the EU.

Microsoft is dancing an incredibly delicate ballet, Hindlian-Bowler said. I think the aggressive comments from Microsoft really are intended to get British lawmakers and the British people to be really aware that this body, that I think is attempting to do good, may actually do more to set the U.K. back.

Microsoft has long pitched itself as a government partner, working with local governments from Wisconsin to Poland to build the data centers that power its cloud computing business and touting its ability to defend cybersecurity, including in places like Ukraine. Its proposed regulations to safeguard artificial intelligence and data privacy, though sometimes at the expense of more data-hungry rivals like Google and Facebook parent Meta.

Microsoft also has faced other scrutiny, including complaints to European regulators that it is leveraging its position to lock customers into its Azure computing platform or bundling its Teams communications software with the rest of its Office suite of workplace products. And while Microsoft has endorsed broad AI safeguards, the rapid commercialization of ChatGPT-like products could bring about conflicts for the company amid a growing push to rein in the technology.

Clubhouse goes from a buzzy pandemic-era chat startup frequented by Oprah and Elon Musk to slashing its workforce by more than half

Clubhouse, the pandemic-era social media sensation, is cutting more than half of its employees, the company said in a blog post on Thursday. Clubhouse attracted attention from an elite stable of venture capitalists, but saw usership drop precipitously not long after its buzzy launch.

The company didnt disclose the total number of people who were cut. In October, co-founder Paul Davison said the company had about 100 employees and still had years of cash in the bank.

Clubhouse was a hit at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing celebrities like Oprah and Elon Musk into long audio conversations with hundreds of people on the app. In 2021, it discussed a $4 billion valuation with investors. But once lockdowns eased, user numbers fell quickly and the startup shifted its strategy.

As the world has opened up post-Covid, its become harder for many people to find their friends on Clubhouse and to fit long conversations into their daily lives, Clubhouse co-founders Davison and Rohan Seth wrote in the post. To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. This requires a period of change.

They also said that the startup would allow laid-off employees to keep their company-issued laptops and would pay four months of severance.

Clubhouse co-founder Davison has long been obsessed with making social apps that use new technology tools like real-time location or live audio broadcasting to connect people with one another. Past creations of his, like Highlight, similarly spiked in interest before cooling quickly.

When users first flocked to Clubhouse, they found a sense of community but also brought some of the more unsavory parts of the internet: hate speech, including anti-Semitic content, and an unruly lack of moderation. By last summer, Clubhouse was experimenting with more private social groups, called Houses, in a bid to bring back a friendlier, more intimate feeling to the app.

Patrick Stewarts agent convinced him Star Trek: The Next Generation would quickly bomb so there was no harm in signing a 6-year deal to play Picard

Patrick Stewart had doubts about becoming Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. The English actor recalled his turmoil on The Late Late Show with James Corden on Wednesday.

His hesitation stemmed from having to sign a six-year contract to play the role on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

I didnt, couldnt, accept what it was Id taken on, he explained. I had one or two connections in TV and things, and I said, What should I do? I just learned that I had to sign a six-year contract. Well there were a list of plays I had to do, Shakespeare, lined up. And I said, I cant do this.'

(Long before the Star Trek offer, Stewart earned acclaim onstage as a Shakespearean actor.)

He continued, My agent said, Look, you know, you cannot revive an iconic show. You cannot. Its not going to work. So just come over here, do a dozen episodes, maybe less, and make some money for the first time in your lifeand go home. That was the prediction for me: six months, no more.

But Star Trek: Next Generation went for nearly 180 episodes over seven seasons (from 1987 to 1994), and four feature films followed, all helmed by Stewart playing Picard. More recently, he reprised the role on Star Trek: Picard, the third and final season of which wrapped up this month on the streaming service Paramount+.

Precisely how much money Stewart has made from the role is not publicly available information, but its safe to say hes earned at least tens of millions of dollars from it. He earned $14 million from the last movie alone (Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002).

The fame hes achieved by playing a starship captain has come with other perks, as well. Asked by Corden if actual pilots gave him special treatment when flying, Stewart replied, At the beginning, I was continually being invited onto the flight deck once the plane was in the air and flying.

He added, I was on the flight deck of [the now-retired supersonic airliner] Concorde, and what I did was press the two middle buttons of the four buttons that activated the engines into supersonic.

Seated next to him on the show was Hollywood star Mila Kunis, a Picard super fan who recalled she once had the captains voice as her Nokia phones ringtone saying, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.

An attorney for a British tabloid is using Prince Harry's own comments against him to try and throw out his phone hacking lawsuit

An attorney for the publisher of The Sun tabloid used Prince Harrys own words Thursday to argue that his phone hacking lawsuit should be thrown out.

Attorney Anthony Hudson said emails from the Duke of Sussex to the royal familys chief spokesperson indicated he was well enough aware of allegations against the publisher that he could have brought a lawsuit in a timely manner.

Harry first became aware that one of his voicemails had been intercepted in 2006 and knew he had a claim to bring in 2012, Hudson said.

But the prince only began pushing Buckingham Palace in late 2017 and early 2018 to pressure the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdochs media empire to apologize for hacking his phone.

There needs to be an ultimatum otherwise this institution and everything it stands for becomes a laughingstock, the Duke of Sussex emailed the chief spokesperson for the royal family in February 2018, according to court records.

After a three day hearing in the High Court, Hudson asked a judge to throw out the hacking suits brought by Harry and actor Hugh Grant, arguing they had ample knowledge to file claims within a six-year time limit.

It is utterly hopeless, unreal and fanciful to suggest they could not have embarked on the claims they have since brought, Hudson said.

Justice Timothy Fancourt said he would rule at a later date.

Attorney David Sherborne argued that the two were aware of hacking by a rogue reporter at the former News Of The World, which Murdoch owned, but didnt realize how widespread the interceptions were until a much bigger scandal erupted in 2011 that drove the paper out of business.

They were prevented from learning about snooping by The Sun, another Murdoch newspaper, because News Group Newspapers executives concealed evidence and lied, Sherborne said. He argued that the cover-up created an exception to the time limit for filing the lawsuit.

Sherborne also argued that Harry was prevented from bringing a case because of a secret agreement the royal family had with Murdochs company. The alleged agreement was intended to shield the royals from having to testify in court and be confronted with embarrassing evidence, Harry said.

Harry said he was told he couldnt file suit because the agreement approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II called for News Group to reach a settlement and issue an apology to the royal family after settling its other litigation in the voicemail hacking scandal.

Fancourt said he was troubled by what appeared to be a factual inconsistency between Harrys claim that he didnt have knowledge before 2019 to bring a lawsuit and the princes saying that he would have brought a case in 2012 if not for the secret agreement.

But Sherborne said he did not have enough knowledge in 2012 to bring the claim he eventually filed because he only knew about one instance of hacking.

When it appeared News Group was stalling, Harry got fed up and filed suit against the company in 2019. Its one of three phone hacking cases he has pending against Britains tabloid publishers.

News Group denied the existence of a secret agreement and said The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment on the alleged agreement.

The latest GDP numbers have economists fearing more than just a recession: The U.S. might well be facing stagflation

The U.S. economy has been surprisingly resilient in the face of aggressive interest rate hikes and stubborn inflation over the past year, but it started to show signs of wear and tear in the first quarter. Annualized U.S. gross domestic product growth slowed to 1.1%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Thursday, well below consensus expectations on Wall Street for 1.9%. At the same time, one of the Federal Reserves favorite inflation gauges, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, increased to 4.2%, higher than the expected 3.7%.

This mornings data was the worst of both worlds, with growth down and inflation up, said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance.

For over a year now, some of the financial worlds brightest minds, including billionaire investors, hedge fund managers, and renowned economists, have warned that rising rates will ultimately spark a recession. But the latest GDP and inflation numbers have some experts worried that stagflationthe toxic economic combination of slow growth and high inflation that crippled the U.S economy in the 70scould be on the menu, too.

Chris Campbell, chief policy strategist at the global risk consulting firm Kroll and former assistant secretary of the Treasury, told Fortune that while he still believes a recession will begin in the second half of this year. Hes also growing increasingly alarmed about the possibilities that the U.S. might well be facing stagflation. And some 86% of fund managers said stagflation best describes the outlook from the global economy over the next 12 months in Bank of Americas April Global Fund Manager Survey.

Although the unemployment rate remained near a record low at 3.5% in March, giving some economists faith that the economy can avoid a recession or stagflation, Campbell warned that its a lagging measure. I expect that we will see more people unemployed as we get deeper into this calendar year, he said.

Fed officials have raised interest rates from near-zero in March 2022 to a range of 4.75% to 5% in hopes of cooling the economy and reducing inflation to their 2% target. But even core inflation measures, which exclude more volatile food and energy prices, havent yet cooperated. The core PCE index rose from 4.4% in the fourth quarter to 4.9% in the first three months of this year.

Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at the financial services giant Raymond James, said Thursday that with the latest inflation data still far from the Feds 2% target, he believes the central bank will raise rates another 25 basis points at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week, adding that the data strengthens our conviction that there will be no rate cuts in 2023.

Independent Advisor Alliances Zaccarelli echoed those comments, adding a warning: the Fed clearly needs to keep raising rates (because of inflation) and they are going to be raising rates right into a slowdown.

There were some factors that masked the underlying strength of the economy in the BEAs latest data release, however, including a decrease in inventory growth. In 2022, U.S. companies boosted GDP growth as they aggressively rebuilt their inventories after years of crippled supply chains, but now that trend is over.

Thomas Simons, Jefferies senior economist, said that this inventory factor reduced annualized GDP growth by just over two percentage points in the first quarter and hid relatively strong demand from consumers. But like many of his peers, Simons also argued that the latest data confirmed GDP will start to slow substantially in Q2 and start to contract in the second half [of the year].

Policy drag is about to kick into a higher gear that will unleash a full-blown layoff cycle and recession by midyear, he wrote in a Thursday note.

And Morgan Stanleys Chief U.S. Economist Ellen Zentner said Thursday that after a modest step down in economic growth in the first quarter, she is tracking second quarter GDP growth at negative 0.4%. We expect to see significant slowing into 2Q23 as the cumulative effect of tighter monetary policy as well as banking pressures push growth into negative territory, she wrote in a note to clients.