When did watching your favorite team play get so complicated?
As football season approaches it is once again time for fans to keep track of season stats and player deals. But nowadays sports fans also need to know whether they can watch their game on traditional broadcast and cable TV, or streaming on Apple TV+, Amazon, Peacock or ESPN+.
Live programming wasn’t envisioned as a streamable option, but with companies like Disney, Amazon and Apple joining the streaming wars, the way sports content is available is changing. A few years ago, a cable subscription was all fans needed to access their local games. But now two of the US’s biggest sports leagues have planted flags on streaming services: Exclusive “Friday Night Baseball” games are now available on Apple TV+, and “Thursday Night Football,” starting Sept. 21, will only be available on Amazon Prime Video, after Fox exited its deal for those rights.
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Why more sports are streaming
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But why are sports moving to streaming? Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand says companies with streaming services want to see if live sports will boost subscriptions, and are willing to pay more than broadcast and cable companies.
Not all fans are happy with these changes. They argue it has become too difficult to keep track of where to watch their favorite teams, and more expensive to tune in.
“Now you’re asking fans to get a cable subscription and also get a streaming subscription to one of several different streaming services,” Ourand says. “It’s becoming costly and confusing, especially for older people who just don’t know how to subscribe.”
Alex Timmons, a 37-year-old baseball coach from Pasedena, California, says it’s taking his father longer to get used to watching hockey on streaming because he’s unfamiliar with the technology. He helped his dad by buying him an Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Despite feeling unprepared for the shift, Timmons says he found himself preferring to watch baseball on Apple TV+ compared to regional sports networks and local stations..
“It was a little different. I wasn’t really prepared for it. But once I started watching it, I actually appreciated it more than local coverage,” Timmons says. “The stats that they used and the camera angles they were using were a lot better than the typical regional broadcast.”
Eder Tapia, a 39-year-old teacher in Los Angeles says streaming has made it harder to skip commercials when watching baseball on Apple TV+.
“By the time I’m done loading the next app, it’s time to go back to the game,” Tapia says.
Services like Apple, Peacock and Amazon hope fans will quickly adapt and figure out how to watch. “If you’re a sports fan, you’re going to figure out how to watch sports,” Ourand says.
Here’s how to watch football, baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey on streaming this season:
How to watch NFL games
“Thursday Night Football” will be available on Amazon Prime Video starting on Sept. 8 with an Amazon Prime subscription ($14.99 per month; $139 per year). Spanish-language network Fox Deportes will also offer coverage of Thursday games.
“Sunday Night Football,” the most watched primetime TV show, can be seen on NBC or streamed with Peacock Premium subscription ($4.99/month). Paramount+ ($9.99/month) subscribers can also watch CBS’ regional Sunday NFL games.
The NFL also launched its own streaming service, NFL+ on July 25 offering access to live some regular-season and playoff games only on phones and tablets. The service comes with a basic $4.99 a month tier and a premium $9.99 a month.
As for cable and broadcast, DirectTV also offers two packages to access live out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons and Fox Sports offers coverage to local Sunday games for free. (Apple and Amazon are reportedly vying to take over the Sunday Ticket package next season). The NFL Network offers access to all Sunday games through its NFL RedZone package, partnering with companies including Xfinity, Dish, Hulu and Fubo TV+.
“Monday Night Football” is exclusively available on ESPN, including its streaming service ESPN+ ($9.99 a month), ESPN Deportes, Spanish-language network and Hulu Premium ($12.99/month).
How to watch MLB games
Major League Baseball announced in March that the first 12 weeks of “Friday Night Baseball” would be exclusively available for free on Apple TV+.
Select Sunday morning MLB games are exclusively available on Peacock Premium.
No other baseball day has an exclusive deal with a streaming service, so a cable subscription should suffice for additional games televised by regional sports networks and local stations. Other streaming services that offer access to local and national MLB games include Hulu, ESPN+ and FuboTV.
How to watch NBA games
A subscription to ESPN+ or Hulu Premium will allow National Basketball Association fans access to games. No streaming service has an exclusive deal. Fans can also watch NBA games on TNT and ESPN.
How to watch soccer games
In June, Apple announced a 10-year-old deal with the Major League Soccer offering fans can access to games on Apple TV+ until 2032.
The Premier League, the top level of the English football league system, airs exclusive games on Peacock Premium.
CBS, CBS Sports Network and Paramount+ will continue to air exclusive coverage of the UEFA Europa Conference League in US until 2024.
ESPN+ offers access to German soccer league Bundesliga and Spanish league LaLiga.
How to watch NHL games
NBC ended its 16-year broadcast partnership with the National Hockey League in 2021 the same year Disney, which owns ESPN and ABC, announced a seven-year rights agreement with the NHL. The deal granted ESPN or ABC coverage of 25 games, half of the season playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals for four different years.
ESPN+ and Hulu will exclusively stream 75 regular season games and ESPN. ESPN+ allows NHL fans access to over 1,000 games regardless of geographic region.
With a cable subscription, fans can watch games on TNT and ESPN through the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
