Summer is always a great time for sports, whether you participate in them or just prefer watching them from an air-conditioned space, preferably with cold beverages in reach. But there’s something special about a season with the Olympics, when even the most unpatriotic Americans will find themselves screaming for Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles as they vie for gold in Paris. And if you tune out during race-walking, there’s always the option of tuning into baseball, Formula One, and the most-hyped season the WNBA has ever played.
Summer is also a time when things should be relaxed and easy. But as sports-loving cord-cutters know, the process of eschewing cable and still catching all the events you want is increasingly byzantine. Maybe things will be easier when Fox, Disney, and Warner launch their own sports service, Venu, but there are currently no indications as to when it will arrive, if it even gets past Congress. But amid this roiling sea of increasingly fractured programming, you can check out our guide to all services that feature live sports, with added info on what they’re airing and how much it’ll dent your bank account. This way, you’ll never miss out on your favorite game, fight, match, race, or event — all you’ll have to worry about is whether that Team USA face paint is going to wash off before you’re due back at work.
Unlike some of its competitors, Netflix looks to be perfecting its ability to produce live broadcasts before it’s locked into any big deals with the sports world. Following the real-time showings of comedy specials, the streamer tiptoed into live sports with a golf tournament that featured Formula One racers and an exhibition tennis match between Spanish stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Its upcoming slate is still light, with a hot-dog-eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi headlining this summer’s offerings, but the future is looking a little rosier as Netflix now has a three-year deal with the NFL that starts with two exclusive games on Christmas. Additionally, there are plenty of great sports-related documentaries and a handful of reality shows to consume in the archives, if you haven’t already checked them out.
Leagues available: NFL, with limited games beginning this Christmas. Otherwise, it’s Netflix-created events.
Cost: Starting at $7 for the ad-supported version.
Max’s push into the streaming sports world hasn’t panned out like it expected. Last fall, the Warner Bros. Discovery service launched a Bleacher Report–branded live sports section to its app, featuring MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA basketball, and U.S. national soccer-team games. The plan was to offer the service for free until the beginning of March 2024 and then start charging an extra $10 per month for the feature. But earlier this year, Max announced that the add-on would remain free while it works out “tech integrations” that will presumably fix the streaming bugs some viewers experienced.
The add-on, when functioning properly, simulcasts any games shown on TNT, TBS, and TruTV, all Warner-owned cable stations, and includes some special events, like the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The subscription isn’t ideal if you’re looking to watch all of your favorite team’s games but it will provide you with a good amount to watch, particularly if you’re a basketball lover.
Leagues available: NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA basketball, U.S. national team soccer, Bellator fighting, cycling, and occasional special events.
Cost: Max’s regular subscriptions start at $10 a month or $100 per year. The Bleacher Report add-on will cost $10 a month sometime later in 2024, once the technical issues are solved.
Free trial? A week-long trial is available until June 23 and there’s no indication of when another will be offered again, as Max rarely does this. The B/R add-on is free until further notice.
The gist of Sling is that it offers up some of the broadcast and a lot of the cable channels at a much lower price than what you’d get from, say, Xfinity or Spectrum. There are two basic packages, Orange and Blue, that have different channel lineups. If you’re an NBA fan, Sling says you’ll want to go with Orange, as that includes three ESPNs and TNT, while Blue is better for college hoops with its inclusion of TBS and truTV. You can subscribe to both for $60 a month, and there are an additional 25 sports channels — including NFL RedZone, FS2, and MLB Network — available for an extra $15 per billing cycle.
Leagues available: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, Premier League, Ligue 1, Liga MX, golf, tennis, college football and basketball, and more, depending on the plan or add-ons you opt into.
Cost: Starting at $40 per month for the Orange plan.
Free trial? No. The current promo is for half off your first month, and you can cancel at any time.
Hulu’s live-TV option is a lot like Sling, and it’s updating some of its offerings. The green giant now has 95-plus channels — over a dozen are dedicated solely to sports — and its two subscription choices come bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+. The cheap option at $77 a month gets you live TV, as expected, plus ad-supported viewing of the Hulu, Disney, and ESPN libraries. The ad-free version, meanwhile, will run you $90.
Hulu gets local broadcast channels, including NBC for the Olympics, CBS for the Super Bowl, Fox, the ESPNs, FS1 and 2, TNT, TBS, TruTV, the NFL Network, and the Golf Channel, among many more. Depending on where you live, you might get a regional sports channel — for example, if you live in New York, you’ll have SNY, home of the Mets. There’s the option of adding NFL RedZone, the Outdoor and Sportsman channels, and TVG for horse racing. Just be sure to check over your local lineup before you sign up, as certain blackout restrictions might be in effect.
Leagues available: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, EPL, MLS, NASCAR, WWE, WNBA, and UFC; major tournaments in golf, tennis, and more, per Hulu.
Cost: $77 per month for live TV and ad-supported Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+; $90 for the ad-free bundle. All prices will increase by $7 a month starting October 12.
Free trial? Three days.
You can get ESPN+ as a stand-alone, but keep in mind that it’s not the same as watching ESPN the channel. Its live sports offerings are somewhat limited — more a welcome supplement or a budget-conscious add-on if you’re, say, a hockey die-hard, than a full-fledged live streaming service. Still, for the price it punches its weight, carrying several popular leagues for soccer, hockey, tennis, golf, cricket, lacrosse, and plenty of college sports. It has ESPN’s original documentaries, including all of the 30 for 30 series.
Leagues available: Tennis, 180-plus MLB games, NHL (and several other hockey leagues), college football and basketball, international soccer leagues like Bundesliga and La Liga, lacrosse, several cricket leagues, plenty of combat sports, and more, per per ESPN+.
Cost: It’s $11 per month or $110 for an annual subscription.
Free trial? The stand-alone ESPN+ doesn’t have a free trial.
With the exception of the NFL Network and some NBC sports channels, DirecTV has pretty much everything you can want for sports. The basic $85 package has ESPN and some other sports options, but you’ll want to go for the $106 Choice service to get college, regional, and MLB and NBA channels. For another $30, you get an added six sports channels, including CBS Sports, NHL, Golf, and Sportsman. DirecTV allows you to simultaneously stream its content on up to 20 devices, which you might consider necessary if you own a bar, have a huge family, or live in a frat house.
Leagues available: NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, MLS, La Liga, Europa League, Champions League, golf, college sports, plus a wide swathe of regional sports and that you might otherwise need cable to get. Consult the full lineup.
Cost: Starting at $85 per month.
Free trial? Five days.
With the basic YouTube TV subscription, you’re covered for the big networks for the most popular sports, plus the broadcast channels for big national games like the Super Bowl. A trio of ESPNs, FS1 and 2, CBS, and NBC Sports, plus the proprietary channels of MLB, NBA, NFL, Tennis and Golf channels, and college networks like the SEC and Big Ten. If you’re looking to record events for next-day viewing or posterity, YouTube’s DVR is unmatched among streamers — the storage space is unlimited, with the caveat that you can only keep it for a max of nine months. Still, that’s enough to record your favorite MLB team’s entire 162-game season, plus playoffs, if you desire.
The biggest deal for YouTube is that it’s also the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket, which shows out-of-market games. The season package runs $349 for those with a basic YouTube TV subscription and $449 for those without.
Leagues available: NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, WNBA, NCAA, Premier League, FIFA World Cup, Liga MX, golf, tennis, and more, per YouTube TV’s full directory.
Cost: $73 per month.
Free trial? Yes, but lengths can vary. (Consult YouTube’s explainer on this.)
Fubo basically has all the main broadcast and cable options — except for TNT, TBS, and TruTV, the Warner networks that air on Max’s B/R add-on — and you can play around with the packages to figure out which configuration is right for you. For example, there’s the $7-per-month add-on, billed quarterly, that’s all about international sports, specifically soccer, with ESPN and Fox’s Deportes channels, plus Real Madrid’s proprietary channel. There’s something for everyone here, except, of course, those who want to see Charles Barkley’s last season on Inside the NBA.
Leagues available: NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, college football and basketball, WWE, golf, NASCAR, MLS, Premier League, Brasileirão Serie A, Liga MX, and a lot more.
Cost: $80 per month.
Free trial? Yes, but lengths vary.
NBC’s streaming service has a lot of sports, but outside of the Olympics and Premier League soccer, it’s in somewhat of a piecemeal fashion. During the NFL season, you’ll get the Sunday night games plus the Football Night in America pregame show, and Peacock exclusively aired one playoff game last season but that won’t be coming back. The Sunday baseball series that debuted in 2023 is also gone, with MLB opting to move those broadcasts to the Roku channel and not black them out in local markets. So it’s an affordable option if you’re in the market for specific sports — or if you just want to pay $6-12 for the Paris Olympics (with AI Al Michaels).
Leagues available: The Olympics (in full), NFL, MLB (on Sundays), WWE, NASCAR, Premier League, rugby, cycling, Big Ten and Notre Dame football, and more.
Cost: $6 a month or $60 a year. (Until the end of June, it’s $20 for the year.)
Free trial? None.
Paramount+’s sports offerings are similar to Peacock’s in that they’re limited but can be the right fit depending on your tastes. For the basic, ad-supported $6 plan, you’ll be able to watch the CBS NFL games plus English-language coverage of all the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Europa Conference League matches. Then there’s the $12 Showtime tier, which adds in NCAA basketball (with the entire tournament available), the Masters and other PGA events, SEC on CBS games, and Combate Global MMA.
Leagues available: Limited NFL, NWSL, golf, college basketball, UEFA, PGA, and some MMA.
Cost: Starting at $6 per month for the basic version, or $12 a month for the bundle with Showtime.
Free trial? Seven days.
It appears Apple has failed to blossom when it comes to sports. It’ll have the rights to exclusively broadcast two MLB games every Friday night for the next few seasons, as well as Major League Soccer, home of Lionel Messi. MLS Season Pass is available at a slight discount to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a handful of games available at no extra cost, so it’s not the completely free expansion of content fans would’ve preferred. (Hop to the league-specific services section below for more on that stand-alone offering.)
Leagues available: MLB, MLS.
Cost: $10 per month or $99 for the year.
Free trial? Seven days.
You’re not going to sign up for Prime for the sports coverage alone, but if you’re looking for some games to go along with your binge of The Boys and next-day delivery of gardening gloves, the streamer has a few offerings. Amazon has partnered with the NFL for both Thursday-night games and an exclusive, streaming-only Wild Card playoff contest, just like Peacock had last season to mixed fan reaction. The service also airs exclusive WNBA games, plus NASCAR, NWSL, pro pickleball, and some Yankees tilts if you live in the New York region.
Leagues available: Limited NFL, WNBA, NWSL, boxing, baseball, and pro pickleball offerings, plus add-on options, including the NBA (League Pass) and MLB (through MLB.tv).
Cost: $15 per month.
Free trial? Thirty days.
For American subscribers, DAZN caters mostly to fight fans, with plenty of exclusive live and on-demand boxing and MMA, excluding UFC. On top of that, you’ll get documentaries, soccer, snooker, and darts.
Leagues available: Women’s UEFA soccer, MMA, boxing (including an archive), FIBA basketball, Masters snooker, and Premier League darts.
Cost: $20 per month with a year-long commitment, $30 for a plan you can cancel with 30 days’ notice, or $225 per year.
Free trial? None.
If you’re looking to watch eSports, certain traditional sporting events, or just randos doing whatever they feel like, you can just head to Twitch without signing up. The streamer doesn’t have regularly scheduled games and bouts but does have deals in place with top leagues and fighting promotions to broadcast select events throughout the year, so it can be a fun place to watch and chat along, but it’s not a place to go if you’re looking for consistency in your viewing. The paid subscriptions are more for supporting certain channels and come with varying perks, including unique emoticons, ad-free viewing, exclusive streams, and subscriber-only chat functions.
Cost: Free to watch, subscriptions start at $5 per month.
Three of the top four major sports leagues in the U.S. — the MLB, NFL, and NBA — each have their own subscription service for out-of-market games, making those ideal for folks who live far away from their team of choice. (The NHL’s dedicated service, NHL.tv, was rolled up under ESPN+ in 2021.)
As mentioned above, YouTube TV is currently offering NFL Sunday Ticket at a promo cost of $349 for subscribers to its base plan subscribers ($449 for Primetime), up about $50 from its inaugural season. Thus far, reviews indicate that YouTube’s version of the package has managed to avoid the technical glitches that plagued DirecTV customers in the past.
➽ MLS Season Pass, a service from Apple dedicated solely to the American soccer league, was the streaming sports world’s biggest debut of 2023, prior to Sunday Ticket. Featuring every game plus team content, documentaries, classic games, and more, fans from around the globe can subscribe for the rest of the season at $29. Though it was initially thought that Apple TV+ subscribers would get this at no extra charge, it turns out that these customers can only stream the package at a discount: $13 a month or $79 a year.
➽ NBA League Pass gives you access to every game with the exception of regional blackouts and national broadcasts on channels like ESPN and TNT. (Blacked-out games are available everywhere for rewatching a few hours after they conclude — if you’re an avid fan.) You can pick a single team’s broadcast for $90 per season or the whole league for $100 on one device or $150 for simultaneous streaming on three devices with no commercials. The subscription includes access to NBA TV, classic games, and original programming.
➽ MLB.tv, meanwhile, is a great option for most people looking to watch out-of-market games. We say “most people” here because there are some truly baffling blackout restrictions affecting people in areas where they can’t access the regional sports networks that show certain teams’ games. For those that can access the MLB.tv games of their choice, they’ll have the option of choosing between the home and away television and radio broadcasts — with Spanish-language broadcasts sometimes available. You can subscribe for a single team’s broadcasts at a discount, and the MLB usually offers discounted plans as the season progresses, so you can wait to see if your club of choice is actually worth a damn.
➽ F1 TV is the proprietary streaming service of Formula One and brings all its races to the eyeballs of a continually growing fan community in the States. But it’s more than just simulcasting — the $85-per-year Pro plan also lets you watch practices and qualifying rounds, and for the race itself, you can view onboard cameras from any car and listen in to each team’s radio communications. The only other plan available is the Access subscription, which, at $30 for the season, features only live timing data and race replays.
Free trials:
• MLB.tv: Seven days.
• NFL Sunday Ticket: Seven days.
• NBA League Pass: Availability varies.
• MLS Season Pass: One month, available only at the start of the season.
• F1 TV: None.
Yes, you can still get television over the airwaves, literally. Even some of the cheapest digital antennas let you get the major broadcast networks that host sports — ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox — without any subscription, provided you don’t live in a completely remote location. Believe it or not, there are even some rabbit-eared versions you can buy on the cheap to get HD viewing of whatever major events, like the World Series, Super Bowl, and NCAA tourney, are on.
Cost: Antennas Direct’s ClearStream Eclipse TV model is great and goes for less than $40, but cheaper models will also get the job done.
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