Updated Jan. 1, 2024 7:33 p.m. PT
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Sq. Feet of Lab Space
Carries ESPN, ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC, TBS, TNT, FS1 and, in the Choice package, most RSNs and league channels
DirecTV Stream
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Full out-of-market package for NHL, global soccer, UFC pay-per-view events, select MLB baseball games, tennis, golf
ESPN Plus
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Carries ESPN, FS1, FS2, 35 RSNs and most local networks and league channels
FuboTV
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Carries ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, FS1, FS2, TBS, TNT, NFL Network, 4 RSNs and comes with an ESPN Plus subscription
Hulu Plus Live TV
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Carries ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, FS1, FS2, TBS, TNT, 4 RSNs and most league channels
YouTube TV
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There are more ways watch all kinds of content than ever. This includes a variety of options to watch the sports you love and root for your favorite teams right from the comfort of your home. You no longer need a cable or satellite TV subscription; numerous live TV streaming services feature the biggest games from all around the sports world.
Choosing the best streaming service for sports can be a harrowing process, though. Looking around for the option that fits your preferences and region can still be frustrating — especially when you take into consideration that not every service carries your regional sports network. To give you a better idea of your sports coverage options, we’ve brought together the best sports streaming services below.
Case in point: Boston-area hockey fans looking for the Bruins or Major League Baseball fans hoping to catch the Red Sox need NESN to view the majority of their games. That’s even if they subscribe to a sport-specific, league-sponsored package like MLB TV, which doesn’t cover in-market games.
Streaming services generally don’t carry these regional sports networks, or RSNs, but DirecTV Stream and FuboTV are the exceptions. They’re the only two services that offer the Bally Sports (formerly Fox Sports) channels from Sinclair. FuboTV lets you watch your RSNs on its $75 Pro tier. Meanwhile, you’ll have to spring for Direct TV Stream’s $100-a-month plan to access its full RSN offerings.
That said, Bally Sports recently missed a large interest payment to its creditors and could potentially file for bankruptcy protection in the near future. It remains to be seen how this will affect viewers, but the NHL released a statement via X (formerly Twitter) on Feb. 16 saying that the league was monitoring the situation closely. “We will be prepared to address whatever circumstances dictate to provide our fans with access to our games,” it said. Multiple MLB, NHL and NBA teams have regional coverage deals with Bally Sports.
Read more: How to Find the Best Streaming Service for You
Luckily, the NHL and NBA are heading toward their playoffs, where games tend to shift from the regional channels to those that reach a national audience and tend to be included in most TV packages. NBA fans will also need access to NBA TV — which generally costs extra — in order to catch every first-round playoff game. Also, some sports, like Formula 1 racing, feature all of their contests on one national network, such as ESPN.
Depending on location, diehard sports fans might ultimately save more money by getting a cable subscription, as your RSNs come bundled with ESPN, TBS, TNT and other local channels. This could especially make sense if the package is bundled with the home internet you’ll likely be getting anyway.
If you’re a determined cord-cutter or know that you need only one or a few channels to get your sports fix, here are the best streaming services for you.
Read more: Best Streaming Devices for 2023
” page-position linktext=”Read our DirecTV Stream review” linkurl=”https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/directv-stream-review-expensive-but-the-best-option-for-streaming-nba-and-nhl/” can-collapse=”true” collapse-on-page-load=”true” can-truncate=”true” truncate-on-page-load=”true” offer techobjectinfo overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” overridecaption=”
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DirecTV Stream is expensive. It’s the priciest of the five major live TV streaming services, but it’s also the one with the most RSNs and offers the most for sports fanatics. Its cheapest, $85-a-month Plus package includes the major networks as well as ESPN, TNT, FS1 and TBS. You’ll need to move up to the Choice plan to get any available RSN and many league channels such as the Big Ten network and NBA TV. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels and RSNs are available in your area.
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FuboTV’s home screen on an Apple TV is uncluttered and friendly
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FuboTV’s home screen on an Apple TV is uncluttered and friendly
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FuboTV’s home screen on an Apple TV is uncluttered and friendly
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FuboTV costs $75 per month and offers 35 RSNs. It includes ESPN, but not TBS and TNT — which might be a problem for some sports fans. It also has most of your local networks like ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, along with FS1, FS2, BeIn Sports, the Big 10 and the Golf channel.
You’ll have to pay an extra $8 a month for the Fubo Extra Package or pay for the $85-a-month Elite streaming tier that includes Fubo Extra for the NHL, NBA, MLB, SEC, PAC 12 and Tennis channels. Check out which local networks and RSNs FuboTV offers here.
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” page-position linktext=”Read our YouTube TV review” linkurl=”https://www.cnet.com/reviews/youtube-tv-review/” can-collapse=”true” collapse-on-page-load=”true” can-truncate=”true” truncate-on-page-load=”true” offer=”{“id”:”75580e43-f158-43d1-ba1f-180a456eb1ae”,”label”:”YouTube TV”,”slug”:”youtube-tv”,”edition”:[[“US”,”ES”],”imageId”:”40916dbf-909e-4b1c-9b4c-158029f91699″,”imgUrl”:”/content/image/redirect/40916dbf-909e-4b1c-9b4c-158029f91699/resize/75×56″,”typeLabel”:”Series”,”objectType”:”content_product_series”,”icon”:”type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product-series ct-small”}” techobjectinfo=”{“uuid”:”75580e43-f158-43d1-ba1f-180a456eb1ae”,”slug”:”youtube-tv”,”name”:”YouTube TV”,”productType”:”SERIES”,”updateType”:”PRISM”,”mod”:1703751624056}” overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” overridecaption=”
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YouTube TV costs $65 a month, though it’s currently $10 off for the first three months, and offers four RSNs, along with FS1, FS2, ESPN, TBS, TNT and all of the major national networks. The standard package includes just about every league channel with the exception of the NHL Network. There is an additional Sports Plus package, but it doesn’t offer much other than BeIn and NFL Red Zone, so you might be able to skip it. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks and RSNs are available in your area.
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” page-position linktext=”Read our Sling TV review” linkurl=”https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sling-tv-review/” can-collapse=”true” collapse-on-page-load=”true” can-truncate=”true” truncate-on-page-load=”true” offer=”{“id”:”0795d175-c17f-4a71-a8fc-7f201846ba54″,”label”:”Sling TV”,”slug”:”sling-tv”,”edition”:[[“US”,”ES”],”imageId”:”35b518da-ccf2-457e-af80-7bfc4bac742c”,”imgUrl”:”/content/image/redirect/35b518da-ccf2-457e-af80-7bfc4bac742c/resize/75×56″,”typeLabel”:”Series”,”objectType”:”content_product_series”,”icon”:”type-icon ct-cmg-tech-product-series ct-small”}” techobjectinfo=”{“uuid”:”0795d175-c17f-4a71-a8fc-7f201846ba54″,”slug”:”sling-tv”,”name”:”Sling TV”,”productType”:”SERIES”,”updateType”:”PRISM”,”mod”:1703751623747}” overridecredit=”Sarah Tew/CNET” overridecaption=”
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The Sling TV packages don’t have a ton to offer any but the most casual fan. Sling Blue currently lacks a single RSN, but you can use it to watch some national broadcasts. Sling TV’s Orange plan includes ESPN, while the Blue plan has FS1 and the NFL network. While both plans offer TBS, none of them gives you access to ABC, which could be a problem for many fans. The Sports Extra add-on, which costs $11 a month for either the Blue or Orange plan or $15 for the combined Orange and Blue plan, offers the NBA, NHL and MLB channels, along with the PAC 12, BeIn and Tennis channel, among others. The individual plans cost $40 a month each, and the combined Orange and Blue plan costs $55 a month. And right now, you can get your first month for half off. You can see which local channels you get here.
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” page-position linktext=”Read our Paramount Plus review” linkurl=”https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/paramount-plus-review/” can-collapse=”true” collapse-on-page-load=”true” can-truncate=”true” truncate-on-page-load=”true” offer techobjectinfo overridecredit=”Engadget” overridecaption=”
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Paramount Plus, formerly CBS All Access, gives its $6-a-month Essential subscribers access to AFC football games during the NFL season, along with some UEFA Champions League soccer, as well as most matches from the NWSL women’s soccer league.
Users are able to access the AFC games in their local market, which might be a good option for anyone looking to grab CBS without spending a ton of money. You could also just get an over-the-air antenna and get all your local channels for free.
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This might be particularly worrisome for those with Twitter, group chats and phone push notifications, where a delay of this length can lead to spoilers of big plays. It could also potentially make it difficult for sports bettors to get in on the action. If you plan on betting, it might be a good idea to watch your game via cable or satellite.
Turning off your phone’s notifications and staying away from Twitter will let you stream your games without spoilers. Sure, your friends might try to call and text to brag about the score, but you can always choose to ignore them while you watch.
You can also download the apps of these services on your phone, iPad or Android device for streaming around the house or on the go.