Due to the expense and rigidity of cable television, more and more people are turning to streaming services to meet their television needs. For many, this is a perfectly viable solution. If you’re a sports fan, however, you will find popular streaming services to be lacking.
Why is this? Because, in their basic form, the most popular streaming services don’t provide live sports.
Curious as to how you can get around this problem? Wondering how to watch sports without cable? Read on to find out!
The Best Non-cable Options for Live Sports
You might not realize it, but the fact of the matter is that live TV is now streamable. There are a number of different services which accommodate TV streaming. The ones which are best for live sports are as follows.
fuboTV
If you’re into sports of all kinds, you should consider getting a subscription for fuboTV. This streaming service provides a wide variety of channels, including but not limited to NBC, CBS, NBCSN, CBS Sports, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBA TV, the Golf Channel, the NFL Network, the BigTen Network, the Pac-12 Network, and all regional channels.
These channels are available with the basic plan, and cost $44.99 a month. However, if you wish, you can add on more sports channels by paying additional fees.
Sling TV
Another viable streaming option for sports is Sling TV. This service offers a basic plan with limited sports options for $25 a month. However, you can add a bevy of other options for just an additional $5 every month.
Channels you can get through Sling TV include ESPN, ESPN2, NBA TV, TNT, NHL Network, NFL Network, and NBC Golf, to name just a few. You can check out its options by making use of its free 7-day trial.
YouTubeTV
Another option you could consider is YouTubeTV. However, be warned that this option does not come with NFL Network, TNT, or TBS. Because of this, it will offer only spotty NFL, MLB, and NBA coverage.
What it does offer, however, is CBS, FOX, ABC, ESPN, NBC, FS1, FS2, and a variety of regional channels. It’s available for $40 a month.
Hulu
If you have a subscription to Hulu already, you might be unaware of its ability to stream sports. However, if you knock your monthly fee up to $39.99 a month, you will be provided with a bevy of different sports channels.
Channels included with the enhanced version of Hulu include FOX, CBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. While it won’t provide you with all of the sports you need, it will allow you to watch nationally televised games.
For those that are already subscribed to Hulu, this might be the best option. You will still be allowed all of your normal TV shows and movies with your $39.99 subscription.
DirectTV Now
Another option available for sports streaming is DirectTV NOW. This option is a particularly good one for AT&T customers, as it costs only $10 a month. For non-AT&T customers, the cost is $40 a month.
DirectTV NOW offers a bevy of channels, including but not limited to ESPN, ESPN2, MLB Network, NBC Sports, ABC, FOX, CBS, and NBC. If you’re looking to watch your local team or nationally televised games, it’s a solid option.
How to Watch Your Favorite Sports
While the streaming services reviewed above will provide you with plenty of sports to watch, they might not necessarily provide you with the sports you want when you want them. If you’re looking to watch specific sports and specific teams whenever you want, you might need to take advantage of other options.
Read below to get the viewing details on the sports of your choice.
NFL Football
By utilizing one of the above-reviewed apps, you should be able to watch a wide variety of NFL football games. Essentially any local or primetime game will be available to you.
However, if you’re trying to watch your favorite team every week while not living in your team’s region, you’ll have to take different measures. If you’re in this position, your best bet it to buy a subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket.
This app is available for $49.99 a month and will allow you to watch every out-of-market NFL game. Note, though, that black restrictions could prevent you from watching in-market games.
College Football
As with NFL games, most college football games can be watched on the above-reviewed streaming services. However, there’s no guarantee that the game of your choice will broadcast.
If you want to have the best chance of catching your favorite college football team week in and week out, you’ll want to sign up for College Sports Live. This service streams college football games from over 75 different schools, broadcasting every game that is not shown on ESPN. It costs $9.95 a month.
NBA Basketball
NBA basketball games can be easily found on the streaming services discussed above. However, those services are only guaranteed to broadcast regional and primetime games.
If you want to catch every NBA game in existence, you’ll have to get a subscription for NBA League Pass. This costs $199.99 a year.
If you only want to watch your favorite team’s games, you can do so with NBA Team Pass. This costs $119.99 a year. Make note, though, that black restrictions will apply to all in-market games.
College Basketball
Like college football games, college basketball games can be watched on College Sports Live. For just $9.99 a month, you can watch all non-ESPN-broadcasted games for over 75 different schools.
Major League Baseball
As with the games for all other major sports leagues, Major League Baseball games can be viewed fairly regularly on the above-reviewed streaming sites. However, the only games these sites will broadcast to you on a regular basis are primetime games and regional games.
If you want to catch all of your favorite team’s games, you can buy an MLB.TV package for $89.99. If you want to catch every game from every team in the league, you can buy an MLB.TV package for $115.99 a year.
As with the NBA and NFL streaming apps, this app puts blackout restrictions on certain in-market games. It’s probably only worth a purchase if you’re watching out-of-market games.
NHL Hockey
Unless you live in an area that loves hockey, it can be difficult to watch hockey games on a regular basis with the above-discussed streaming services. If you want to watch all of your favorite team’s games, you’ll most likely need to buy a package from NHL.tv.
These packages are $109.99 a year for a single team’s games and $139.99 a year for all teams’ games. Be aware, however, that blackout restrictions apply.
Soccer
You can catch soccer games from a variety of leagues on the streaming services reviewed above. However, those services likely won’t show all of your favorite team’s games.
If you want to view all of your favorite team’s games, you’ll need to buy a package from the league that they belong to. For instance, a Premier League Pass is available for $49.99 per season.
Golf
If it’s golf you seek, you won’t have much trouble finding it. All major PGA Tour events will be available on the above-reviewed streaming services. You’ll need to look for them on the Golf Channel and on network channels such as Fox and CBS.
UFC
If you’re looking to catch UFC fights, you should be able to do so with streaming sites such as fuboTV and Sling TV. However, these sites alone won’t broadcast every single fight.
If you want to catch every UFC fight (apart from pay-per-view events), you’ll need to get a subscription for the UFC Fight Pass. This costs $9.99 a month.
Tennis
Tennis matches are difficult to find regardless of whether or not you’re using cable. Typically, only the major tournaments like Wimbledon and the French Open are broadcasted on cable TV.
Fortunately, streaming has allowed tennis fans to catch a great deal more of their favorite sport. The Tennis Channel offers a streaming app called Tennis Channel Plus for $59.99 a year. This app will allow you to watch the vast majority of tennis matches going on throughout the world.
NASCAR
NASCAR races are broadcasted on a variety of different channels, all of which are available through streaming apps. So, all you have to do to get access to all NASCAR races is to get a subscription to fuboTV or Sling TV.
Once you’re on the app, just look for the FOX, NBC, NBCS, and FS1 channels. These channels should have all of the races you’re looking for. You might also be able to watch NASCAR races on sites such as LIVE SCORE THAI.
How to Watch Sports Without Cable: Get Creative
There it is; That’s how to watch sports without cable. Our best advice to you is to get creative. In order to watch everything you want to watch, you’re going to have to mix and match a few different options.
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