Where to Watch the NFL Playoffs and College Football Championship in Beijing

Steven Schwankert | Jan 7, 2016 3:45 pm | 1 comment | 3978 reads

The NFL regular season has ended, and now the playoffs begin. Similarly, the NCAA college football playoffs have reached their climax, with Alabama set to face Clemson for the national championship. Where to watch all this fantastic football action? Read on.

Despite the on-field competition, two of Beijing's top sports bars, including the Beijinger 2015 Reader Bar and Club Awards Best Sports Bar Paddy O'Shea's, is teaming up with Cuju Moroccan Bistrot & Rummery to split the games, and the early-morning workload, between them. Food will be available at all games shown at both venues:

Sunday, Jan 10 – Cuju – AFC WILD CARD
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Houston Texans, 5.35am
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 9.15am

Monday, Jan 11 – Paddy O'Shea's – NFC WILD CARD
Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings, 2.05am
Green Bay Packers vs. Washington, 5.40am

Sunday, Jan 17 – Paddy O'Shea's – Divisional Round
AFC: New England Patriots vs. highest seed, 5.35am.
NFC: Arizona Cardinals vs. highest seed, 9.15am

Monday, Jan 18 – Cuju – Divisional Round
NFC: Carolina Panthers vs. lowest seed, 2.05am
AFC: Denver Broncos vs. lowest seed, 9.15am

Home Plate BBQ will show the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals game on January 10, with doors opening at 8.30am. Breakfast menu will be available, along wtih Budweiser and Bloody Mary specials all game long.

Kerry Hotel Beijing will show the January 17 and 18 Divisional Playoffs and the January 24-25 AFC and NFC Championship games live at Centro. They will also host a Super Bowl party on February 8, with the game live, an American set breakfast, and free flow of beer and juices for RMB 238, also at Centro. More on Super Bowl 50 screenings as we approach the date.

The Local is showing all of the Wild Card games and plans to show the Super Bowl, all with English commentary. They feature multiple viewing screens, including an almost three-meter projection screen. They'll have the January 10 games at 5:30 and 9am, and January 11 at 2 and 5:30am, respectively. See their website for more information.

For the NCAA Championship, both Cuju and Paddy O'Shea's will show the game, beginning at 8.30am. Breakfast will be available at Cuju; food will be available at Paddy's after 10am.

For those of you who have stupid things called jobs or otherwise can't be bothered to roll out of be or off the sofa and watch the NFL games in public, the following Chinese broadcasters will show the games online. The 2015 Super Bowl at least was watched by your writer on LeTV, and the stream was consistent, so it's not a bad option for those called by duty:

LeTV, iQiyi, Sina, QQ Sports, BesTV, PPTV

And if you're going to watch a telecast in Chinese, you might as well brushup on your Gridiron vocab with this primer below:

Center 中锋 zhōngfēng
Defense 防守组 fángshǒu zǔ
Delay of Game 拖延比赛 tuōyán bǐsài
Dimeback 十分卫 shífēnwèi
Extra Point 附加分 fùjiā fēn
Field Goal 射门 shèmén
First & 10 1攻10码 yī gōng shí mǎ yī
First Down 首档/首攻 shǒu dàng / shǒu gōng
Fumble 掉球 diào qiú
Goalposts 球门柱 qiú ménzhù
Hail Mary Pass 祈祷圣母传球 qídǎo shèng mǔ chuánqiú
Hashmarks 码标 mǎ biāo
Holding 拉人 lā rén
Interception 抄截 chāo jié
Kickoff 开球 kāiqiú
Line of Scrimmage 用攻防线 / 争球线 yòng gōng fángxiàn / zhēng qiú xiàn
Linebacker 线卫 xiàn wèi
Nickelback 五分卫 wǔ fēn wèi
Offense 进攻组 jìngōng zǔ
Offside 越位 yuèwèi
Pass Interference 干扰传球 gānrǎo chuánqiú
Pass 传球 chuánqiú
Personal Foul 个人犯规 gèrén fànguī
Pigskin 猪皮 zhūpí
Punt 弃踢 qì tī
Quarterback 四分卫 sìfēnwèi
Running Back 跑卫 pǎo wèi
Safety 安防/自杀球 ānfáng / zìshā qiú
Slot Receiver 缝接手 féng jiēshǒu
Special Teams 特勤组 tè qín zǔ
Super Bowl 超级碗 chāojí wǎn
Tackle 拦截 lánjié
Tight End 近端锋 jìn duān fēng
Touchdown 达阵 dá zhèn
Two-point Conversion 2分转换 èr fēn zhuǎnhuàn
Unsportsmanlike Conduct 缺乏体育精神 quēfá tǐyù jīngshen