Looking for a sports streaming guide? Well, why wouldn’t you? An increasing number of consumers from all around the world are cutting the cord, and for good reason. When that happens, though, a gap is left for those who would like to get live sports content anyways. This is a gap that has come to be filled by streaming services over time, but many do not know how to get the best of these services.
If that happens to be you, note that you are not alone. With the ton of sports streaming options out there, things can fast get confusing. Fortunately, all that can end today.
Sports Streaming Guide – Special Note
Before we go on, you should know that your current location plays a huge role in how you get to stream games online.
Some streaming device providers (the majority of the ones that we will mention here) have their services restricted to certain parts of the world. Thus, even if you can use the streaming platform itself, you might not have access to the channels that bring the kind of sports that you want to you.
For others, you might have to pay with a valid U.S/ UK credit card before you are granted access. That is the only way they can be sure that you are in the market where you claim.
Note that this does not mean you cannot stream the games from outside these supported markets. Most times, all you have to do is download a VPN so that you can connect to a supported server location from where you get to stream the games too.
This fix will also work for those who have an active account but had to travel from their country to an unsupported region.
Finally, those in-market might find a VPN come in handy at one point in their streaming lives. If not for anything else, these pieces of software hold the key to beating those game blackouts associated with certain sports.
Platforms to Stream Live Sports On
The internet is the home of all streaming services, but they don’t come the same way.
Depending on your budget, the device you are using to stream, location, and other factors, there can be several ways to obtain your live streams.
According to our sports streaming guide Some of those are:
- TV Provider Apps – TV provider apps are designed to allow the consumers to get access to live streams and On Demand content from supported regions. As the name implies, you can download these apps on your smartphones, tablets, and computers.
The apps usually come free but you might have to purchase some stuff in-app for the best experience. Besides that, though, you are good to go. Some of the common TV app providers are DISH, Frontier, Mediacom, Spectrum, and Xfinity, to mention but a few.
- Web Browser – many channels and networks have an option for streaming their services live from their websites. For these, you can go through the web browser on your phone, tablet, and computer too. For those who have smart TVs, you can also link them up to these websites. Some content providers allowing for streaming under this category are Fox Sports, ESPN, England Sports channels, etc.
- OTT Services – these are the most common ones around today, and for good reason too. They also come in the form of apps that carry different tiers of services. They can be said to be the best cable alternatives, so they don’t bring a steep learning curve to the table.
- Social media – while this is not an option that you can solely rely on, that does not rule out social media as being yet another worthy platform. Facebook and Twitter come to mind here, having reached agreements with the NFL content distributors to show their games on the respective apps.
You can also get some Premier League soccer games, NBA, and MLB content from these services. Again, they do not show all the games, so they are not the best bet if you would like a comprehensive streaming service.
Sports Streaming Guide – Best Services
Like we mentioned at the start of this peace, you might not get all the sports that you want from the same streaming service provider. Depending on the sports that you follow too, you might just as well find everything you need in the same place.
Since we don’t know which end of the table you are on, we have curated the picks that bring you the best of each sport.
Sports Streaming Guide – General Information
YouTube TV and PlayStation Vue are the kings of general sports content. However, since Sony has discontinued the Vue, YouTube TV remains our top pick.
Starting from $50 every month, they give you access to channels like ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. They bring you national sports coverage from all of these networks, as well as the ESPN too.
That tells you that they have most of the sports content on lock. Of course, not all – but you would be hard-pressed to not find what you are looking for here. The best thing is that when you are not busy streaming sports, there are other channels on the streaming service to take advantage of too.
Baseball
If you want to get only baseball content, there is no better place to be than the MLB.Tv. The name already implies that it is dedicated to this sport, and that could not be farther from the truth. Likewise, you get to enjoy some premium replays, highlights, interviews and such which you won’t find elsewhere.
Finally, the price that the service comes at makes it a great pick for baseball – plus the fact that it is offered in plenty of markets. If you would want to get other content with your baseball, YouTube TV makes the pick here with its offers of TBS, FS1, Fox and the MLB Network (playoffs only).
Basketball
What you need for the NBA games are a collection of TNT, ESPN, and ABC. You will also benefit largely from having the NBA TV on your package too – so head over to YouTube TV to get access to all of that. Streamers from New York will enjoy the service from AT&T Now better.
Likewise, we recommend fuboTV (starting at $55/ month) to get the Knicks games alongside the other NBA games on offer. PS There is an NBA league pass that allows you access to out of market league games. This will cost $120 for a single team and require a one-time $200 payment to watch all the teams live.
Hockey
Just like MLB, there is an NHL Tv for hockey fans. We don’t need to remind you that this will be strictly dedicated to hockey, show all the out of market games, and be priced at a maximum of $145 per season for all teams ($116 for single teams). If you would like to have a mix of hockey and other sports, the choice reverts to YouTube TV.
Boxing
Sports like boxing might need a guide of their own. There is currently no one sports streaming guide that holds the rights to all the big games for the year. So, you might want to have all of DAZN, Showtime, and ESPN+ on your roster. Depending on what boxing match is showing, you will be able to get them from any of those channels.
Conclusion
Got more questions about streaming your favorite sports live? Let us hear you in the comments – and we will try to provide a comprehensive answer to that.
