Vikings vs. Bucs: How to watch, game time, TV schedule, post-game coverage and more

It’s nearly time, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the first official Minnesota Vikings game day of the 2023 NFL season! Things will be kicking off at U.S. Bank Stadium in just a few hours as the purple get set to host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first game of their post-Tom Brady era. We want to make sure that you have all of the information you need to be able to follow along with the action, so we’re putting it all in one place right here for you.

Television Info

This game will be kicking off at the time that we all know is the best time for NFL football to start, that being at noon Central time. This week’s game will be carried on CBS, which is WCCO-4 in the Twin Cities, with Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, and the debuting Matt Ryan in the booth. Below is the map from the folks at 506 Sports, with the blue area representing where the Buccaneers/Vikings game will be shown live.

If the game is not being shown in your area, remember that the NFL Sunday Ticket package is now on YouTube TV, which will make streaming the game much easier.

For our men and women in uniform serving overseas, this game will be shown LIVE on the American Forces Network, specifically on AFN Prime Atlantic. Kickoff is slated for 1700Z, which translates to 1900Z for viewers in Central Europe, 2000Z for everyone on Arabian Standard Time, and Monday morning at 0200L for fans in Japan and Korea.

Radio Info

If you have a Vikings Radio Network affiliate in your area, most of them will probably be carrying the game. However, check to be sure because the preseason games are a bit more iffy than regular season contests, obviously.

For those of you who are going to use satellite radio to listen to this one, you can find the feed from the Vikings Radio Network on SiriusXM Channel 230. You can listen to the Buccaneers feed on Channel 388 if you feel compelled to do so for whatever reason.

Referee Info

According to the folks from Football Zebras, the officiating crew for this one will be led by Scott Novak. The Vikings haven’t seen Novak since Week 2 of last season, when his crew handled the Vikings’ 24-7 loss to Philadelphia on Monday Night Football.

Weather Info

Obviously, this game won’t be affected by the elements with it being inside of U.S. Bank Stadium, but if you’re planning on taking in any of the pregame festivities, it should be a pretty nice day for it according to our friends at WeatherNation. The rain should be out of the area sometime early on Sunday morning, and temperatures at kickoff will be in the upper 60s with some winds out of the north at around 10 miles an hour.

Betting Info

According to the folks at the DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for this one has dropped just slightly, with the Vikings now sitting as a 5.5-point favorite. The over/under for the game is now at 46 points. You can click the link just above for the latest lines and numbers from DraftKings.

Streaming Info

As mentioned previously, the NFL Sunday Ticket package is now on YouTube TV, which anyone can subscribe to in order to ensure that you have a legal stream to watch the game on. If you’re in the local broadcast area, services such as Fubo TV or Sling TV will also have the game streaming for you.

I’ll say the same thing about illegal streams that I always say: don’t. Or damn sure don’t go advertising them here. You’ll be banned and that will be the end of it.

Post-Game Info

As soon as the final gun sounds for this one, you’ll be able to catch a LIVE postgame show, courtesy of Vikings Report with Drew and Ted, where yours truly will join the hosts to talk about everything we just watched. We’ll have a separate post with the feed for that one, or you can go to their YouTube page and log in there to interact with the show and potentially win yourself some swag.

That should be all of the information that you need to follow along with the season opener from U.S. Bank Stadium between the Vikings and the Buccaneers, folks. As always, we’ll have Open Threads throughout the game for your discussion purposes, with the first one dropping an hour before kickoff at 11:00 AM Central time.