From the NBA to NFL, you don’t need a cable subscription to watch live sports. The best sports streaming services make it easy to catch all the prime-time games and general sports coverage you could want.
Live sports coverage is a huge draw for cable subscribers, but you can get the same content, if not more, from a dedicated streaming service. Although some on-demand video streaming services include occasional sports commentary shows, the best options for sports fanatics are the cable-replacement services that offer game streams from local, national, and international networks. What Channels Do You Need to Watch Sports? The first thing to consider when choosing a sports streaming service is which one has the channels you need to watch the sports you care about. NFL fans still have the easiest job. All NFL games air on local broadcast affiliates (CBS, FOX, or NBC), ESPN, or NFL Network, which means you don’t have to deal with regional sports networks (RSNs) to watch every game available to you. However, the games that air on your local broadcast affiliates will almost always feature local teams; if you are a fan of an out-of-market team, the NFL’s Game Pass and DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket are your best options. Other sports programming such as PGA Tour events (CBS, Golf Channel, or NBC) and NASCAR races (FOX, FS1, NBC, or NBC Sports Network) also air on national channels. Some MLB, NBA, and NHL games air on national channels, too; for example, you can watch NBA games on ABC, TNT, or ESPN. That said, many of the games from these leagues air on RSNs owned by Sinclair (Bally Sports, previously known as FOX Sports), Comcast (NBC Sports), or AT&T (SportsNet). Currently, DirecTV Stream is the only service we’ve reviewed that includes RSNs from each of these owners, though fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV all offer NBC Sports RSNs. Which RSNs you need to watch sports in your market depends on your location. Check out each RSN’s listing page to see which teams they cover. Baseball, basketball, and hockey fans should respectively check out our roundups of the best MLB streaming services, the best NBA streaming services, and the best NHL streaming services for all the details on streaming these sports without cable. Locast used to be a top option for many sports fans because it offered access to local broadcast channels on the cheap, but that service has suspended operations. League-Specific and International Sports Many individual sports leagues offer dedicated streaming services. NBA League Pass, NFL Game Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL. TV, and MLB. TV are the best-known examples. Even poker has its own streaming service with PokerGO. If you only care about watching a specific team or sport, you don’t need to pay for an entire cable replacement service.
