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Sarah Lord covers TVs and home entertainment. Prior to joining CNET, Sarah served as the tech and electronic reviews fellow at Insider, where she wrote about everything from smart watches and wearables to tablets and e-readers. She began her career by writing laptop reviews as an intern and subsequent freelancer at Tom’s Hardware. She is also a professional actor with many credits in theater, film and television.
Expertise TVs, Home Entertainment, Streaming, Computers Credentials
- Member of Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association
CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.
See at DirecTV Stream
Best for RSNs, ESPN, and major networks like ABC, FOX, TBS
DirecTV Stream
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See at Fubo
Best for ESPN, live network games, soccer, variety of RSNs
Fubo
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$77 at Hulu
Best for live network channels and ESPN subscription
Hulu Plus Live TV
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What is the best sports streaming service overall?
You can experience the thrill of watching your favorite sports and cheering for your favorite teams, all from the coziness of your own home. Gone are the days of needing a cable or satellite TV subscription, as there are now countless live TV streaming services that offer what you want across the sports universe. Among these options, DirecTV Stream stands out as a top choice for its RSNs and channels, but other services are less expensive and may be better for casual fans.
Choosing the best streaming service for sports can be a harrowing process, though — especially when you take into consideration that not every service carries your regional sports network. Case in point: Boston-area hockey fans looking for the Bruins or Major League Baseball fans hoping to catch the Red Sox need NESN to view the majority of their games. That’s even if they subscribe to a sport-specific, league-sponsored package like MLB TV, which doesn’t cover in-market games.
Streaming services generally don’t carry these regional sports networks, or RSNs, but DirecTV Stream and Fubo are the exceptions. They’re the only two services that offer the Bally Sports (formerly Fox Sports) channels from Sinclair. Fubo lets you watch your RSNs on its $80 Pro tier. Meanwhile, you’ll have to spring for DirecTV Stream’s $109-a-month plan to access its full RSN offerings.
Also, some sports, like Formula 1 racing, feature all of their contests on one national network, such as ESPN. When it comes to the NBA, you have to bounce around to watch every game. Out-of-market games are available on NBA League Pass, and some teams have their own ways to stream their games, such as YES Network, MSG Plus or SportsNet Plus. Read CNET’s guide for more on where to stream basketball.
Depending on location, diehard sports fans might ultimately save more money by getting a cable subscription, as your RSNs come bundled with ESPN, TBS, TNT and other local channels. This could especially make sense if the package is bundled with the home internet you’ll likely be getting anyway. If you’re a determined cord-cutter or know that you need only one or a few channels to get your sports fix, here are the best streaming services for you.
Read more: Best Streaming Devices for 2023
Best sports streaming services of 2024
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Sports Streaming Services Compared
Live sports streaming
| Monthly Price | Sports/Channels | RSNs? | Simultaneous streams | Cloud DVR | |
| DirecTV Stream | $80 | ESPN, ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, TBS, TNT, F1, RSNs | Yes | 20 at home (3 outside home) | Unlimited |
| Hulu with Live TV | $77 | ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, TBS, TNT, FS1, FS2 | Limited | 2 (Pay an extra $10/month for more) | Unlimited |
| Fubo | $80 | ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN FS1, FS2, Big 10, RSNs | Yes | 10 at home (2 outside home) | 1,000 hours |
| YouTube TV | $73 | ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN, TBS, TNT, FS1, FS2, league channels | Limited | 3 | Unlimited |
| Sling | Starts at $40 | ESPN, TBS, FS1, some major networks | No | 1 for Orange, 3 for Blue, 4 for Orange & Blue | 50 hours (pay $5/month for 200) |
| ESPN Plus | $11 | NHL, soccer, UFC, MLB, tennis, golf | No | 3 | — |
| Peacock | Starts at $6 | Sunday Night Football, Premier League, WWE, Olympics, golf, rugby, skating | No | 3 | — |
| Paramount Plus | Starts at $6 | CBS sports, AFC NFL games, soccer | No | 3 | — |
Max: The video-on-demand streaming service launched a sports add-on package called B/R Sports, and right now, it’s free to access. After the promotional period ends, you’ll have to pay an extra $10 a month to stream content such as NBA, NHL, NCAA and US Soccer games. Because it’s an add-on option, we left the service off this list, but if you’re a Max subscriber — and cord-cutter — who wants to watch live games from TBS, TNT and truTV, it’s a great option.
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You many know many of the services on this list, but it’s not fully reflective of every sports streaming platform available. There are separate apps out there for Fox Sports, NBA, NFL, DAZN, F1 TV and more that may offer what you want. There are plenty of other ways to stream and other options to choose. As we analyzed these streaming platforms, we considered a few things, including price, content availability and user-friendly navigation.
We considered which platforms provide live channels across the spectrum for football, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, wrestling and other fields. We also analyzed which ones offer access to RSNs and the most budget-friendly platforms for you to stream major sporting events. Some services are worth the cost for access to live broadcasts, and while the less expensive platforms are better for a single games or seasonal runs.
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- Availability of sports programming: Some services offer greater access to live broadcasts on major networks , while some platforms are better for specific leagues or sport types.
- Local channels/RSNs: You’ll need a live streaming service to watch most RSNs without cable, but if you want to watch games on a local station, an antenna or basic live TV streaming package could meet your needs.
- Simultaneous streams: Services usually charge more for more streams. Be sure you’re covered for yourself and other members of your household and consider whether you have to pay extra to share your account.
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Don’t some on-demand streaming services show live sports too?
Yes. Hulu and Prime Video air live sports once in a while, but their sports offerings are currently fairly limited.
Hulu has started streaming select NHL hockey games on its regular service, but it tends to save most of its sports streaming for its Hulu Plus Live TV package.
Prime Video has partnered with the NFL to exclusively stream Thursday Night Football. This means that anyone who wants to watch their team play on Thursday night will need to have a Prime Video subscription. If you’re not an Amazon Prime member and only want a standalone streaming subscription, it’s $9 per month. This could be important for fans while the season is in action who may only want to use the streaming service for sports. Prime airs a few WNBA games over the summer, but that’s about it.
While these services do air some sports offerings, they focus mainly on on-demand entertainment. This might change in the future, but right now they don’t offer too much specifically for sports fans.
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Is there a lag or delay when streaming sports live compared with cable?
There is. The streaming delay is often as long as 40 seconds, compared with around 5 seconds for cable and satellite.
This might be particularly worrisome for those with Twitter, group chats and phone push notifications, where a delay of this length can lead to spoilers of big plays. It could also potentially make it difficult for sports bettors to get in on the action. If you plan on betting, it might be a good idea to watch your game via cable or satellite.
Turning off your phone’s notifications and staying away from Twitter will let you stream your games without spoilers. Sure, your friends might try to call and text to brag about the score, but you can always choose to ignore them while you watch.
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Can I cancel my subscriptions when the season is over?
Yes. All of these services are free of contracts and you can cancel at any time. Some offer free trials or special introductory discount memberships, which you will only get to use once. If you cancel and return at a later date, you will most likely have to pay full price. That said, you might not need a particular service year-round, which might make temporary cancellation an appealing way to save a few bucks.
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How do I access these services on my devices?
All of the services on this list have apps that you can download. You will need a smart TV or a streaming device to watch the content on your TV. Just search for the name of the service on your smart TV or device, download the app on your TV and enter your sign-in information, and you should be ready to stream.
You can also download the apps of these services on your phone, iPad or Android device for streaming around the house or on the go.
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