Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

I did a search, and couldn't find what I was looking for so...


My cable company jacked up my price by $50 and can't seem to find another, "Discount," to keep my already inflated price to a halfway reasonable level. So I'm looking for solutions. I could switch to another cable provider, but the ones that I'm finding don't have all the content I want if I'm paying for cable.

So we're looking at Hulu Live, we've already got Netflix and Amazon Prime.

But for the sports I want the ESPN channels, Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, and, if possible, the Pac12 network. I'm not finding any way to get them all in a streaming service, so am I just screwed and will either have to do without one or more of them, or will have to keep cable??

What streaming services have the best Sports content?

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

I have Hulu Live and I'm pretty sure it has all of those. I have B1G Network, SEC Network, and ACC Network included, but I live in Ohio. I'd guess you would probably get Pac12 where you are, but you'd have to check that out (you can put in your zip code on their website and get a list).

I think they do a free month trial.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

The biggest problem with ESPN + is that you have to have a corresponding cable subscription (or one to Sling, HuluTV, Playstation Vue, etc.) to see a lot/most of the live games. Otherwise, you're going to get blacked out and will only have access to the pre-recorded shows.

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To throw out another option, checking the sports networks on my YouTube TV, it has: ESPN, ESPN 2, SEC, ACC, ESPN U, ESPN News, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC Sports, NBC Sports Washington, NBA TV, MLB Network, Big Ten, CBS Sports, NBC Golf, Olympic Channel, and The Tennis Channel.

I'm in Richmond, VA and I'm sure the NBC Sports Washington is area-specific, but I don't know if any of the others are. You can see your line up by putting in your zip code here.

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ESPN + is separate from ESPN.

I think it's ESPN 3 where you need credentials (but ESPN3 isn't what it used to be).

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

ESPN + has live college sports (football and basketball), MLB, NHL, soccer, UFC and more. There's actually quite a bit of live sports on it.

But, it's not going to have the top tier stuff that ESPN televises like MNF and Top 25 college football and basketball.

I got an e-mail from them today that if I subscribe again for 1 year, I can get it for $39.99.

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I love sports, but that seems expensive (though I greatly prefer NBA, which isn't on there, to MLB)

Doesn't Sling have pretty good options as well?

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$3.33/month is expensive? If you're not a college sports, MLB or NHL guy, then yeah it's probably not for you.

They also carry the entire 30 for 30 back catalog and other ESPN original documentaries. Some premiere before TV like the Junior Seau film.

Regarding Sling, they are currently in a contract dispute with the FOX Sports regionals. They have been blacked out for over 1 month.

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I love college sports but I'm a Pac 12 guy and I don't think this will get me the games I don't get because DirecTV doesn't have the stupid Pac 12 network. But yeah, even with that disney+/espn+/hulu with ads bundle they were talking about, the only reason I'd want espn+ is because it's basically free.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Fubo and Sling are really the only options for Pac-12. But each is missing some key sports networks. And both are too expensive IMO to carry concurrently with a DTV subscription.

T-Mobile T-Vision, which was introduced last year, actually has ESPN, Pac-12 Network, and the FOX Sports regions. But it's starting price is $90/month and runs exclusively off your ISP. It's not exactly budget cord cutter friendly and will eat up tons of data if you have data restrictions.

But I might consider them if DTV has another massive price hike. Only thing is I will lose Spectrum for Lakers.

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I'm not sure what it's like in other regions, but at least here in LA you're screwed if you follow the major teams.

You can't watch SportsNet LA (home of the Dodgers) if you don't have Charter, Time Warner, or Bright House. dodger games are for the most part blacked out on mlb.tv.

Lakers availability is a little better but I don't think it's available streaming, it's either cable or sat.

I think I read that, for instance, the Nuggets were getting into carriage disputes to with whatever channel they're partnered with.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2019/09/0...mcast-directv/

Yeah Altitude Sports was dropped by Comcast, Dish Network and DirecTV. If you live in Denver, you're basically screwed if you're a Nuggets or Avs fan.

and no there are no streaming options for Spectrum SportsNet (Lakers) You're basically screwed if you're a Lakers fan and don't have DirecTV, U-Verse, Fios or Spectrum cable. There's no Live TV streaming options.

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Yeah, sports is the one area where they know they have you by the balls and it's hard to cut the cord

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If I wasn't a Lakers fan or sports fan, I probably would have dropped DTV long ago with all the price hikes and go with one of these live TV internet streaming services. But, alas, I am and I have to play the freaking negotiating for discounts every 6 months to 1 year to keep it relatively affordable.

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I can't speak for the PAC-12 network, as I'm in the midwest, but I have Playstation Vue and it's fanstastic for sports (much better than Dish, which is what I had previously). I get all of the ESPNs, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports Network, FS1, FS2, MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, SEC Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network and some more obscure channels like the Golf Channel and beIN Sports, for $55/month. You can add a Sports Pack to get some additional things like Red Zone, but personally I have all that I need without it.

Forgot to mention, I also get Fox Sports Midwest which is essential, because that's what the local teams (Cardinals and Blues) are on.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

I had ESPN + for a month, when I went to watch anything live, it told me to pick my cable provider and sign in with a code. Maybe it's changed.

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That's weird.

I have had ESPN + since day one and always have had trouble signing in or keeping signed it but it never asked me for my cable provider.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Hmmmmm...

Looks like lots of options, but none of them perfect.

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There's a bunch of ESPN + exclusive events like college sports, MLB, NHL that don't require a provider log-in. The $5/month you're paying covers them along with the other content like 30 for 30.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Funny thing, I had signed up for a free preview/test of Hulu Live a couple months ago, and suspended the account before I had to start paying for it. The suspension ended this week and it went live again...

So I'm looking through the channels, again, and found that it DID have CBS Sports Network, along with the ESPNs and the Fox Sports channels. I'm set.

So I'll be trying life without cable for a couple months to see how that goes. I'll save about $50 a month doing that. (I'll miss METV and Antenna TV and H&I, but I only watch those channels 5 or 6 times a month each anyway...)

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You can't pick up those with an antenna in your market? That's how I watch Antenna and ME TV in mine.

I wish YouTube TV would show all of those niche OTA channels, but the only one it does in my area is Comet.

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I'm in Southern Riverside County. Mountains cut off the OTA signals for the L.A. and San Diego stations. I wish I could get OTA stuff...

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Rumor has it that Amazon wants live channels(like Pluto TV and Roku Channel) and they may want some of those niche OTA channels(heard the rumor from Cord Cutter News).

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Ah, gotcha. I guess then just periodically check and see if the niche channels you like get apps. Comet has one that lets you watch live through it. That's the only one that I'm aware of.

I'm all for that. Sometimes certain OTA channels get pixelated for me. Dedicated streams would be much appreciated. Live streaming must be gaining a lot of traction. (and money) New apps keep popping up. Since Viacom bought it, Pluto has exploded. Seems like every week new channels are added.

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I love YouTube TV (subscriber since day 1). But it's missing NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and the "Dodgers channels."

It's so annoying how fragmented things have become with all these streaming networks. Not just for sports but for content in general. If I want to watch everything that I'm interested in, then I'll have to subscribe to like 20 different streaming services. Ugh.

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You also can't get the Lakers, right?

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Spectrum SportsNet is not available on any Live TV Internet service.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

I figured I'd bump this thread because I subscribe to a live TV streaming carrier almost exclusively for sports and decided to do a recent evaluation of the landscape, given the dumb situation with RSNs.

As I posted way back in 2019, Playstation Vue was the best option for sports (for me) and I loved it until it shut down. I still miss it.

I've had YoutubeTV since then and it's fantastic for sports, except for the huge issue of not have my RSN. I don't fault YoutubeTV for that though - Bally Sports has obviously not negotiated in good faith and is absent from most carriers. It does have all the national sports channels I need, the quality is rock solid, and the features are good overall.

I decided to do a free trial this week of FuboTV because they did just pick up Bally Sports. It's an excellent service overall and its multiview feature (on AppleTV at least) is awesome for sports. However, I won't be keeping it and I'll be sticking with YoutubeTV for a couple of reasons:

• The way they advertise their pricing is deceptive. They advertise their cheapest bundle as being $74.99 but then there's an additional $10.99 fee for your RSN that has no opt-out option. Obviously I wouldn't opt-out as I want the RSN, but this pricing model is not at all obvious on their site before you go through the sign-up process. I thought it would be just a couple bucks more than YoutubeTV but it's actually $13 more.
• They don't carry the Turner networks, which is a huge miss for sports fans given that TBS & TNT have a bunch of national NHL and NBA games and a large chunk of March Madness. That makes it an automatic no-go for me. Apparently they got into a dispute on fees in 2020 and have never resolved it. Seems like a massive hole for a service that markets specifically to sports fans.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

Try using the LocalBTV app for the Los Angeles area:

https://www.localbtv.com/m/SoCalBTV

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We are doing the same thing. We went from an apartment to buying a house a few months ago. We had AT&T at the apartment but canceled it when we moved. We are going to try to make it until the fall and most likely we will go with YouTube TV. I really do miss METV though. I love 60's TV and they carried all the good shows from that era, plus they show Saturday morning cartoons. I tried an indoor antenna, but still couldn't get it. I'm not trying to derail the thread, but if someone could recommend a good indoor TV antenna, I would appreciate it.

Re: Best Streaming Solution for Sports?
 

I've been using one from Antennas Direct for more than ten years.
Works great, I highly recommend it.

Note that it's directional, so it's best to put it next to the window to cut down
on the interference from the room walls.
The higher the better, so I used electrical tape to mount it atop a pole (I used a shower rod).

https://store.antennasdirect.com/cle...v-antenna.html