If you’re a sports fan, your ability to access the content you love has improved dramatically in recent years. There has been an explosion of streaming options that give you the ability to tune in to whatever game, fight, or event matters most to you, even if you’re a cord-cutter or want to watch something that’s going on halfway around the world.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the buffet of options can get a bit overwhelming. So, we figured it might be helpful to share some of our favorite streaming services for sports to help you find the best one for you.
Below is a breakdown of our favorite services to stream live sports along with info on free trials and the all-important price consideration. The services listed all include multiple sports. If you’d prefer to stream a single league, you can sign up for NFL Game Pass, NBA League Pass, NHL.TV, and similar services to suit your needs.
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ESPN+
Starting price: 5.99 USD/month
Free trial period: None
A good option for: UFC fans and people interested in a wide variety of sports.
ESPN+ provides a smorgasbord of live sports at an affordable price, and it comes with interesting add-ons. Not only does it give access to premium articles on ESPN’s website and ESPN+ original shows, but you can also bundle it with Disney+ and Hulu for 12.99/month.
This service is absolutely essential if you’re a big UFC fan because it gives you access to Fight Night broadcasts as well as prelims for major PPC cards. It also sprinkles in games from MLB, NHL, MLS, and Serie A as well as some boxing. While ESPN+ isn’t the best individual source for any sport in particular, with the exception of UFC, the breadth of its offerings is impressive.
Peacock
Starting price: 4.99 USD/month
Free trial period: 7 days
A good option for: English Premier League fans and people who catch Olympic fever
We don’t tend to think of Peacock as a platform for sports, but the NBC vehicle brings value beyond rewatching The Office for the 14th time. Not only is Peacock an excellent choice for streaming the English Premier League (EPL), but it will also broadcast the 2021 Olympics, as well as championship events in sports like figure skating, speed skating, and skiing in the run up to Olympic broadcasts.
You’re not going to find the major North American sports leagues on Peacock, but it’s an affordable leader on English soccer and the Olympics that also comes with an extensive TV and movie library.
Locast.org
Starting price: Free
Free trial period: N/A
A good option for: NFL fans, and people who’d rather not pay for another subscription
Locast’s differentiating factor is undoubtedly its non-existent price, but the content on offer is pretty solid as well. The non-profit helps users watch local television in markets across the United States, and those local television channels often feature major sporting events.
You can find plenty of NFL football on Locast each Sunday, and it’s also a good place to find nationally broadcast events in other American sports like NBA playoff games and the World Series.
DAZN
Starting price: From 20 CAD/month
Free trial period: 30 days
A good option for: NFL and soccer fans
This global streaming service has different rights depending on your location, but it’s offerings in Canada are particularly appealing. DAZN Canada carries all NFL games, as well as Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, and Serie A. That’s a pretty good rights roster and it comes with an extensive free trial.
DAZN also provides an impressive collection of international sports like rugby, cricket, handball, KHL hockey, and more.
YouTube TV
Starting price: 65 USD/month
Free trial period: 5 days
A good choice for: Cord-cutters looking for a comprehensive option
YouTube TV doesn’t have specific sports rights but rather carries channels like ESPN and FS1 that are consistently showing live sports. With those channels, it’s easy to find NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL games on YouTube TV on any given night, and they provide a full directory of sports shows you can see with their service.
Because of the high price, YouTube TV is best used as an alternative to cable for someone who still wants the kind of sprawling entertainment options cable provides.
fuboTV
Starting price: 65 USD/month
Free trial period: 7 days
A good choice for: People with an interest in a wide range of international sports, and Spanish speakers.
While fuboTV is a similar service to YouTube TV, it has a slightly more international flavor. For example, with fuboTV you get beIN sports, which will give you your fill of soccer and rugby, whereas YouTube TV has some North American channels fuboTV doesn’t feature like NBC Sports. A significant differentiator for this service is its Latino Quarterly package, which gives you 32 Spanish-language channels for 24.99 USD/month.
Sling TV
Starting price: 20 USD/month for the first month, 30 USD/month after
Free trial period: 3 days
A good choice for: Cord-cutters looking for a more affordable option
Sling TV is similar to YouTube TV but with significantly fewer channels—and as a result a far lower price. There are two options with varying utility to sports fans.
If you go with Sling TV Blue, you’ll get NFL Network and FS1, whereas Sling TV Orange’s flagship sports channel is ESPN. Both versions included TNT, which is a boon to NBA fans.
Comments
I live in Singapore , I could not subscribe to a plan in peacock because I could not make payment in credit card as well as paypal. Can anyone please provide some tips here?
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I had no idea Locast existed. I might just donate a few dollars because it’s a great concept even though I seldom watch TV, let alone local programming.
You can watch sports on Pluto.TV too http://pluto.tv/
Where’s the best place to access live cricket?
Hi Geoff, definitely check out our Cricket page for the full range of options, as your needs may vary depending on your location, although Hotstar (from India) definitely offers the best combination of affordability and comprehensive cricket coverage.
Really? That’s your best bets for cutting cable? I’d hate to see your worst choices.
I looked at Locast.com for sports but it doesn’t accept VPNs.
Hi Wendy, Locast should work with VPN on desktop (Windows and Mac) with the ExpressVPN browser extension turned on. We’re currently working on a fix for Locast on mobile.