Personally, I have never really fought too much about being able to watch a game live - though I do insist that I can at least watch the game that day.

I DVR all the games so my game days typically involve waiting until the little ones are in bed and then sitting down with my oldest and watching the game with him. It works really well for those 8:15 PM kickoffs and we are usually live (or close to it) by the end of the game. But even earlier games we typically end up on the same routine (though if I'm watching it with others that would obviously change).