Big Game tip: These 8 Alexa features make your Amazon Echo the MVP – CNET

51-nfl-streaming

Let Alexa be your personal football assistant.


Sarah Tew/CNET

It’s that time of year — when you huddle around your TV with friends and family to watch the Super Bowl. You’ve got your fridge packed full of beer, your table covered with appetizers and yourself decked out in your favorite team’s attire, ready to watch the Chiefs and 49ers face off. 

You might have used your Amazon Echo (

$100 at Amazon

) smart speaker to order pizzas and check the start time of the game, but did you know that you can also use Alexa to stream games, check the scores and organize a football pool? Your helpful football assistant can also keep you updated with new information about the teams you’re following. 

Read on for more tips on how to throw an awesome, Echo-powered football party.

echo-show-5-product-photos-2

Ask Alexa to stream football games on your Amazon Echo.


Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Stream the game in another room

Need to make another drink or grab some more snacks from the kitchen but don’t want to miss a second of the game? Set up an Echo device in your kitchen to stream the game so you can listen in when you’re not in the living room. 

If you use Hulu Live TV, you can enable the skill in the Alexa app to begin using it on your Echo device. Once enabled, just say something like “Alexa, tune to Fox” to watch the Super Bowl.

Turn on the game

Ready to kick back and watch the biggest football game of the year with your pals? As long as you’ve got a Fire TV, you can watch the game from one of the streaming services you’re subscribed to, like YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV or Sling TV. Just download the Fox Sports app and say “Alexa, open Fox Sports on YouTube TV” to get started.

dollars-money-4

What cash? Use Amazon Echo to send money to your friends.


Angela Lang/CNET

Organize a pool

Not everyone carries cash, so organizing a pool can get tricky. What you can do is keep track of who is betting what by using Alexa. Just say “Alexa, remember that Joe bet $20 on the Chiefs winning by 14 points.” After the game ends, you can ask Alexa what Joe bet and it’ll read it back to you. 

Once you determine the winner, you can use Alexa and pay them through PayPal. Just say “Alexa, ask PayPal to send $15 to Sam.” It’s not exactly the same as throwing cash into a bowl, but it works.

Hear other scores without changing the channel

When the big football game is on, there’s no way you’re letting anyone change the channel to check the score of another game. Instead, just ask Alexa what the score of the team’s game is. 

Also, if you’re busy grabbing a snack (again), just ask “Alexa, what’s the score of the 49ers game?” This is also useful if you’ve gone into another room, only to hear everyone start cheering because something awesome happened.


Now playing:
Watch this:

Tech to help you get ready for football season



1:09

Change your smart lights to your team’s color

Want to make sure your entire house has team spirit? Change your smart bulbs to mimic your favorite football team’s color so you and your friends are completely in game mode. 

You’ll need RGB smart lights that are compatible with Alexa. Once you’ve got them set up, you can say “Alexa, turn all my lights green.” However, since both the Chiefs and 49ers have red team colors, you’ll need more team decor to let everyone know who you’re rooting for.

If you’ve got multiple lights, you could make a team-specific scene with a mix of colors for other games, too. For example, if you’re a Denver Broncos fan, you could do a mix of blue and orange lights. Make it fun by changing the trigger phrase to something like “Alexa, turn on Broncos.”

philips-hue-econic-wall-fixtures-outdoor

Let your neighbors know which team you’re cheering for by changing your smart light colors.


Signify

Get updates on your favorite team

Keeping track of your beloved teams can be difficult when you’ve got a busy schedule. Fortunately, Alexa can help keep you updated so you never miss any news. In the Alexa app, open Settings and select Sports. Tap Add a Team, search your team and tap Save. Now you can say “Alexa, what’s my sports update?” to hear the latest info.

Listen to a football playlist

You’re obviously not listening to music while the game is on, but during half time and after the game, you’ll need a killer football playlist. Ask Alexa to play an NFL or Super Bowl playlist through Amazon Music, Spotify or Pandora

If you’ve got Amazon Music or Spotify, you can create your own playlist with football-themed songs. The music will help keep the party alive and make half time fly by as you’re waiting to see what happens next.

spotify-logo-3

Make a football playlist on Spotify to play on your Amazon Echo.


Angela Lang/CNET

Track and manage your fantasy football teams

Use Alexa as your personal assistant that knows everything about what’s going on in sports. Start by enabling the Yahoo Fantasy Football skill in the Alexa app. You’ll then need to login to your Yahoo account and link your Head-2-Head league to the skill. 

You can get player performance updates, an overview of your team’s weekly matchup and score, injury status and more. Just say “Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football about [player] stats for the week” or “Alexa, ask Yahoo Fantasy Football about my matchup.”

Other things you can ask Alexa about the football games

  • “Alexa, what are the odds in [team] game today?”
  • “Alexa, when does the [team] play again?”
  • “Alexa, remind me about the [team] game on Sunday.”

Need more info about the big game? Here’s how to watch Chiefs vs. 49ers in Super Bowl 2020 without cable and Super Bowl 2020 in 4K: Everything you need to watch Chiefs vs. 49ers in UHD for free.

Updated for Super Bowl LIV.

source: cnet.com