Best Streaming Service for Sports 2020

Grab your chips and dip, and get your jersey and game face on. It’s time to watch some sports. We have rated the best streaming services for live sports so you can watch your favorite teams whenever and wherever you might be in the country.

Whether you like professional football, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, or college sports, one of these services has got you covered. Let’s kickoff, jump ball, and serve into this!

^{Data as of 9/18/2020. Offers and availability vary by location and are subject to change.}

Here’s what we looked at to choose the best sports streaming services:

• Number of sports channels
• Price
• DVR storage
• Simultaneous streams
• Bonus features

fuboTV is best for sports coverage

fuboTV is the best option for national and international sports fans

^{Data effective 9/18/2020.}

What we like

• All the sports coverage you need with 50 sports channels

fuboTV is the best TV streaming service for sports

fuboTV is perfect for the Real Madrid CF, Seattle Seahawks, and Rafael Nadal fans. fuboTV’s Elite plan gives you 50 sports channels that include national and international sports coverage. (That’s more than any other live TV streaming service on the market.)

This service gives you MLB, college football, MMA, soccer, golf, and hockey all in one. Doesn’t that sound dreamy?

Some of fuboTV’s national sports channels include the following:

fuboTV’s international sports channels include the following:

• fubo Sports Network
• BeIN Sports
• Zona Football
• TUDN
• UniMás
• Ginx Esports TV
• FOX Deportes
• TyC Sports

What we don’t like

• No more Turner Network channels

No TNT, TBS, or CNN

With fuboTV no longer having Turner Network channels, this only affects your NBA-watching. You won’t be able to watch the NBA games airing on TNT, but if you get the Ultra plan, you’ll have NBA TV.

Hopefully you or your spouse don’t absolutely love TBS or CNN, or else this service won’t be for you.

fuboTV summary

• Good: FuboTV has great coverage of national, international, and niche sports.
• Bad: You’ll miss out on a few channels, but it probably won’t be a biggy.
• Full review: Check out our full review of fuboTV.

YouTube TV is best for major sports

YouTube TV is the cheapest streaming service with NBA TV, MLB Network, and NFL Network

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What we like

• Number of live sports channels
• Sports and premium channel add-ons
• Solid DVR

Best national sports coverage among the rest

Not only is YouTube TV the second best option for sports fanatics, but it’s the best live TV option for most. If you want to watch Undisputed, the San Antonio Spurs take on OKC Thunder, as well as the Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers matchup all in one day, then YouTube TV is for you.

And recently, YouTube TV finally added NFL Network to its channel lineup!

YouTube TV is a great option for national and regional sports with the following channels:

Add-ons for fans of basketball, football, and soccer

YouTube TV offers NBA LEAGUE PASS for $40 per month. You’ll be able to watch every single out-of-market NBA game of the season.

Not only did YouTube TV recently add NFL Network to its lineup (finally), YouTube TV also added a new Sports Plus add-on (no way?).

The Sports Plus add-on included the NFL RedZone Channel, Fox College Sports, GolTV, Fox Soccer Plus, and Stadium.

Best DVR among the rest

YouTube TV has the best DVR in the streaming world with unlimited storage space that will save for nine months in your Library.

You’ll have the ability to record all of the Sunday football games, NBA games of the week, MLB playoffs, and Pardon the Interruption every day to binge over the following weekend. You’ll also be able to watch a great game you recorded Week 1 of the NFL season or a 30 for 30 movie that aired on ESPN over the summer.

It is also the best sports streaming app because you and two of your Pittsburgh Steelers–loving family members can stream the game simultaneously. And you can have a total of six accounts to tailor your individual sports streaming needs.

What we don’t like

• Not much international sports coverage

Not as great of global sports coverage as fuboTV

While YouTube TV is the best option for national and regional sports, it does not have the international sports channel lineup that fuboTV does. FuboTV will be your best option if you’re a diehard fan of FC Barcelona or if you like to watch your sports with Spanish-speaking announcers.

YouTube TV summary

• Good: YouTube TV has a complete national sports channel lineup for most sports fans.
• Bad: Unlike fuboTV, there isn’t too much international coverage.
• Full review: Check out our full review of YouTube TV.

Hulu + Live TV is best for bundling sports and entertainment

Hulu Live gives you great sports channels while also giving you the option to add ESPN+ and Disney+ on one platform

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What we like

• You can bundle with ESPN+ and Disney+

Get the ultimate entertainment bundle

Not only can you bundle Hulu Live, ESPN+, and Disney+ together for a complete entertainment experience, Hulu Live lets you enjoy First Take on ESPN and the PGA Tour on the Golf Channel. This streaming service gives you the top sports channels for an avid sports-watcher and for the whole family.

Check which channels are available in your area, but Hulu includes the following sports channels:

What we don’t like

• Doesn’t have NFL Network, MLB Network, and NBA TV

Neglects professional football, baseball and basketball coverage

If you’re a hardcore fan of the NFL, MLB, or NBA, Hulu may not be the answer to your sports-streaming prayers. But it does have TNT, CBS, and NBC, and of course all the other channels mentioned above.

If you need the league-specific channels, it’ll be worth spending the extra $30 per month for fuboTV, or the extra $10 per month for YouTube TV to have MLB Network and NBA TV.

Hulu + Live TV summary

• Good: Hulu + Live TV offers the ultimate entertainment bundle with even more sports coverage.
• Bad: This streaming service lacks league-specific channels.
• Full review: Check out our full review of Hulu with Live TV.

Sling TV is the best budget pick

With a few plans to choose from, this is the best option for average sports fans for a reasonable price

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What we like

• Different plans for different levels of sports fans
• Offers NBA LEAGUE PASS and premium channels

Plans for the low-to-medium level sports fans

Sling TV has three plans plus a Sports Extra add-on. For the low-level fans, the Orange package for $25 per month includes just four sports channels and a few others:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPN3
• Stadium
• TNT
• The Disney Channel
• Freeform
• And more

The Blue package includes the following channels:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPN3
• Stadium
• NFL Network
• NBC Sports
• FS1
• FS2
• NBC Sports Network

But the best option for sports fans is to get the Sling Orange + Blue package along with the Sports Extra add-on for a total of $50 per month. That way, you’ll have access to not only everything both packages include, but you’ll also get access to these channels on your streaming device:

Check the Sling TV channel availability in your area.

Offers NBA LEAGUE PASS and premium channels

Sling TV keeps NBA fans in mind. It offers NBA LEAGUE PASS for $29 per month ($11 less than YouTube TV). There’s also Team Pass for $18 per month if you are loyal to just one team.

Sling TV has SHOWTIME, STARZ, and EPIX add-ons along with a bunch of random channels like DOGTV, Docurama, CONtv, Cinefest, and more.

What we don’t like

• DVR is an add-on option for an extra cost
• Fewer channels than the rest

DVR is an additional cost

Out of all the live TV streaming services, Sling TV includes the smallest DVR storage space: 10 hours. Sling charges an extra $5 per month for 50 hours of cloud DVR storage, and luckily it saves your recordings indefinitely.

If you choose the $55 per month package and get the DVR, it will cost $5 less than YouTube TV, where you get most of these channels (plus more) and unlimited DVR storage space.

The lowest number of total channels

With just 32 to 52 channels, this streaming service offers the lowest number of channels of the bunch. But it’s the only streaming service that gives you a cheap option for a few channels if you don’t need 65+.

Sling TV summary

• Good: Sling TV is best for multiple levels of sports fans, and it’s especially for the money savers.
• Bad: Sling TV’s channel lineup is slim, but you get what you pay for.
• Full review: Check out our full review of Sling TV.

AT&T TV NOW is best for fans of HBO

AT&T TV NOW is on the pricier side, but HBO is included for the fans of boxing and Deadwood

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What we like

• Includes premium channels in three of their plans

It’s for the average sports watchers who need their HBO

AT&T TV NOW has a nice plan for the crowd who are not only sports-watchers, but who also love a good variety of entertainment and lifestyle shows.

Check out the full channel lineup, but the biggest plus is the inclusion of HBO channels in the MAX package; STARZ channels in the ULTIMATE plan; and HBO, CINEMAX, SHOWTIME, and STARZ channels in the PREMIER package.

AT&T NOW is our last choice for most sports fans, because the starter package at $55 per month is pretty slim when it comes to channels, let alone sports channels.

If you’re looking for more than four sports channels, you’d have to go with the whopping $80 per month MAX plan, which gives you more than 15 sports channels.

The sports channels in the PLUS package includes the following:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• FS1
• NBC Sports Network

Along with the above four, here are the sports channels MAX includes:

If you want to find out which sports channels the other plans offer, check out our full AT&T TV NOW Review.

What we don’t like

• Priciest option

Pretty pricey service

Since we are evaluating the best option for sports streaming, AT&T TV NOW is the priciest option. Although AT&T TV NOW isn’t the top choice for sports streaming, it’s best for a traditional TV experience.

AT&T TV NOW summary

• Good: AT&T TV NOW is the best option for average sports watchers and HBO fans.
• Bad: It’s on the expensive side, but you might enjoy the traditional TV experience.
• Full review: Check out our full review of AT&T TV NOW.

Recap: Which is the best streaming service for sports?

We sorted through lots of streaming services to highlight some of the best. We considered pricing, channels, DVR, and more to determine which streaming service deserves your attention for sports streaming. Overall, we can say this about each:

• fuboTV: Perfect for all types of sports fans, fuboTV gives you 50 national and international sports channels. It’s easily the best streaming service for sports.
• YouTube TV: At a decent price, you can get NBA TV and MLB Network with YouTube TV. YouTube is also a great pick with its channel variety and unlimited DVR storage.
• Hulu + Live TV: Hulu Live gives you an awesome entertainment bundle with ESPN+ and Disney+. You can get your popular sports channels with Hulu Live, and with ESPN+, you’ll get even more sports coverage.
• Sling TV: If you’re a money saver, but want to be up to date on sports, Sling TV is for you. You’ll get a few sports channels while saving money for that car you’ve have your eye on.
• AT&T TV NOW: AT&T TV NOW is the most expensive option, but it might be the best option for average sports fans who are also fans of premium channels.

What do you think?

Which streaming service do you think is the best for sports? Tell us what you think in the comments!