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Am thinkin of droppping Direct TV and going to something like You Tube but I don’t see anything that looks like baseball coverage. What would anyone recommend. Want to watch ESPN, SEC, And college conference channels plus baseball coverage.
Sooner, my suggestion is to go to the websites for the main programming providers such as YouTube TV. Hulu+, Fubo, etc. and review their channel listings to ensure they carry the channels you want, such as SEC Network. ESPN is pretty much everywhere, but every person’s specific channel want list is different.
For MLB, if you are in the Cardinals coverage footprint, then the new FanDuel app may be the answer. If you are out of network, then MLB.TV is the choice. They are separate from your main programming provider.
Sooner, having lived out in the boonies, then the city and now the suburbs, I’ve used just about every option to watch sports over the years. I’ll run a few down for you, with my rankings:
Free options
1. Over the air antenna. This is the cheapest option in total as you need nothing more than an antenna and a dumb TV, and if you live in or near a major city, you’ll get the major networks and a surprising amount more for nothing. This will not let you watch the Cards all that often, but you can watch the games of the week and some of the playoffs. It basically covers you for almost everything important in football, though.
2. Free Live Sports. This is new so I haven’t used it, but alleges that you can get a number of free channels that show sporting events around the world. I think it’s only available as an app on Roku.
Cheap options
1. Paramount Plus. For relatively cheap, you’ll get your local CBS games for NFL and college. This is good if you’re a fan of the AFC or a Big Ten team. I used it as my go to for regular season games for several years.
2. Peacock. You can watch whatever NBC offers and for a fairly decent price. As a fan of The Office, I appreciated that. Following Big Ten football, it’s nice to get the night games.
3. Amazon Prime. You’re probably already using it, and they are picking up sports all the time. A weekly NFL game plus NBA and NHL coming soon, and I would not be surprised if they dug into MLB soon too.
Low End Full Package Streaming Services
1. Sling TV. This will get you in the door for sports and it’s relatively decently priced, but the packages are somewhat limited individually. It does not have all the local channels, typically. I typically went Orange for the ESPN access but blue has the locals. Blue + Orange comes in a bit less than the other more expensive options.
2. Vidgo. It has ESPN and I had it for a trial and a month. It had a lot of sporting options, and they all came in the basic package. It was cheaper than the big box guys. But it never streamed as well for me, which knocks it below Sling and almost everyone else.
3. Tubi. I think you can get some locals free, but it’s limited. I personally never used it.
4. Philo TV. It’s cheap but I’m not sure there’s any sports at all on it, so it’s obviously last if you’re needing that.
Full Service TV Providers
1. YouTube TV. This is the Cadillac of streaming services. It’s got everything you’d be looking for sports wise and it’s on the best streaming platform there is. I lived in an area with no inernet service (for real, I had to hotspot my mobile device for service) and I never had issues with buffering or cutting out, and very rarely low quality video (always on my end). I used this one at least one month every year (typically NFL playoffs/college bowls) while I lived in the country.
2. Hulu Live TV. It offers most all the channels that YouTube TV does, but typically didn’t stream quite as well or clearly for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was fine and I used it more than any other service besides YouTube TV. I’d say if you like what else Hulu has to offer TV or movie wise, there is some value there.
3. Fubo TV. I used this a few times for free trials or a month. I felt like it did everything fairly well, and it had all the channels I usually used. It just wasn’t as crisp an experience as YouTube TV, so I probably only paid for a month once or twice. It also lacks TBS and TNT, which have a surprising amount of sports you’d like to watch, like the NCAA basketball tournament, MLB playoffs, and will have college football playoffs this year too.
4. DirecTV Stream. Pricey and I don’t think it does anything better than the options above. I used it for a free trial and that was it.
I also used the PlayStation TV service when it existed, and probably whatever else I found at any point. Lol. Personally, I used YouTube TV the most, but you can try out free trials to see what you like best. If you have multiple emails that you use regularly, you could probably try out all the services back to back for a few months straight…
As a reminder, if you live in Cardinals territory, you either have to subscribe to a provider that carries FanDuel Sports Midwest or you will need to get the new FD standalone app to see Cardinals games. Out of network, subscribe to MLB.TV, which is not part of anyone’s programming package.
“Out of network”…I never would have imagined that attempting to watch a ballgame would he similar to attempting to understand the fine print contained in the explanation of a health plan supplement.
Does this new “FanDuel Sports Midwest” channel offer the ease and convenience of placing a large wager on a baseball game from the comfort of your den? Press the $ icon button on the remote and have access to instant high roller action? If so, Billy Jr. must be beside himself with joy whenever his thoughts take into consideration the profit potential of this new and wondrous instrument of revenue enrichment. Is he allowed to wager on the action?
I really hope Fanduel doesn’t have betting info all over the game. It is really annoying even going to ESPN and seeing betting odds taking up more room on the NFL weekly scoreboard than the actual games.
Unfortunately the best way to watch your team is to live out of market with MLB.tv. $150 for 90% of games and then you can watch other games as well. You could maybe get a VPN and watch your team even in market, but I research that first to make sure MLB.tv doesn’t bypass the VPN location somehow.
You guys have provided some good info for Sooner. As ATM alluded, not all VPNs do a a good job sidestepping blackout restrictions. NordVPN is one that I’ve read that consistently does well, although I don’t need or use it. It also rates highly as a VPN for overall use too, and I’m thinking about getting it for my own personal data and identity protection.
Another thing I’ll add is if you fall into one of the discount categories, don’t forget to take it. MLB.tv and other services often give discounts if you’re a senior citizen, veteran, student, educator, etc.
I believe the merger is Hulu and Fubo. They are competitive streaming packages. It looks like they will remain separate after the merger, which will take 12-18 months to complete. It looks like the motivation is for Disney to get its new sports venture going with FOX and Discovery, which Fubo was trying to block.
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