Streaming Services Taking Over Sports

You’ve dropped cable, here’s where to go to watch your favorite teams

Today’s world of entertainment has become one of streaming services, with new companies popping up to undermine cable companies everywhere. Fewer and fewer people are keeping cable and moving to individual services so they can pick and choose what they want to pay for and what they don’t need. For some, the one thing keeping them holding onto their cable is sports. Sports are unique due to the fact that they are broadcasted live, making them less than ideal for streaming services. 

You’re in luck: UNews Sports has done the research for you to find the best places to watch your favorite teams and sports in this evolving entertainment environment. 

For the college sports fan… ESPN+

ESPN+ is the best option for the college sports fanatic, especially if you are a fan of the Billikens. The Atlantic 10 Conference has a deal with ESPN to broadcast many of their games. It is the best way to watch all your favorite Billiken teams that aren’t on national television frequently. 

For just $5.99 per month, subscribers can get access to a multitude of live games of just about any NCAA sport you could imagine. Another bonus to this membership is access to ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries. The only downside is that the channels that ESPN+ supports require a cable login to get access. This is not a streaming service to replace cable, but instead puts all the ESPN channels in one place. 

As a bonus, since ESPN is owned by Disney, there is now a bundle that will get you Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu (with commercials) for just $12.99 per month. This would be a great family package, especially for one with a college sports fan. 

For the mega sports fan… fuboTV

fuboTV markets itself as the best service for sports fans. For $64.99 per month and no cable requirement, they offer over 100 channels, covering both sports and entertainment. Any major sporting event can be seen through fuboTV, but it won’t guarantee smaller events, like Billiken women’s soccer games. If you’re someone who wants to watch the big games in professional sports but don’t care too much about what’s going on in college soccer or lacrosse, this might be the service for you. 

fuboTV doesn’t only do sports. They also have all the major entertainment and news channels that you would be able to get from a cable network. All together, this is a really good option to replace cable asyou wouldn’t be sacrificing too many channels you are accustomed to. 

For the casual sports fan… Hulu 

Hulu has been doing a lot of advertising lately about how they now have live sports. Hulu has positioned itself in the same vein as Netflix with original content and a selection of shows and movies for the viewers to choose from. By adding live sports, they have now put themselves into a market that Netflix has yet to break into. 

While Hulu has live sports, it’s not for the die hard sports fan. For $64.99 per month, the same as fuboTV, members get access to live sports, as well as their entire collection of shows and movies. This package is better suited for the entertainment lover who happens to also want to watch sports occasionally. The sports you are able to see is dependent on your location, meaning you may not always be able to watch your favorite team if you are out of town. 

For the budgeting sports fan… Vidgo

Vidgo currently has a deal where the first two months are just $10 before it hikes back up to $55 per month. This is a bit cheaper than it’s closest competitor, fuboTV, but it doesn’t have as many channels. For someone who wants the basic channels, this is the best bet. You won’t get everything, but that’s what you can expect from a cheaper option. You’ll have the basics for news, entertainment and sports, but if you are balling on a budget, this might be for you. If nothing else, at least you have two months to try it out for a cheaper price before really committing to going all in. 

For the cheapest sports fan… Sling

Sling doesn’t seem like the greatest investment for a sports fan because they have divided their service into two groups, blue and orange. Not only is their service divided, but their sports channels are as well in the attempt to encourage subscribers to buy both. They do have a deal that if you purchase both it’s 25 percent off, but that doesn’t seem like enough of an incentive. Sling blue has NFL network, yet Sling orange has ESPN. For someone who wants to watch all the major sporting events, this probably isn’t the one for you, but if you are happy to just have a game on in the background, the $35 per month might be worth it.