Best Streaming Service for Sports 2021

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!

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

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What we like

• fuboTV gives you 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 on fuboTV

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 for more information about each package, user interface, and the Latino plan.

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

• YouTube TV has a decent number of live sports channels in its lineup
• This live TV streaming service has sports and premium channel add-ons
• YouTube TV has a 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.

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

• YouTube TV doesn’t have 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 more about the user interface and the channel lineup for the family in 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 Hulu Live 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

• Hulu Live doesn’t have NFL Network, MLB Network, or 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 $10 per month for YouTube TV or fuboTV to have the major sports networks on your television.

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: If you want to know more about Hulu’s on-demand library, check out our full review of Hulu Live.

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

• Sling TV has different plans for different levels of sports fans
• This live TV streaming service 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 $35 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:

• FS1
• NFL Network
• NBC Sports Network
• Stadium
• Fox News
• USA

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 $65 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

• The DVR is an add-on option for an extra cost
• Sling TV has fewer channels than the rest

DVR is an additional cost

Sling TV includes one of the smallest DVR storage spaces in the industry: 50 hours. Sling charges an extra $5 per month for 200 hours of cloud DVR storage, and luckily it saves your recordings indefinitely.

If you choose the Sling Orange + Blue package and get the Sports add-on and the 200-hour DVR, that will bring your grand total to $70 per month (this is more than fuboTV’s Family plan and YouTube TV). But with YouTube TV, you get an unlimited DVR storage space and with fuboTV, you’ll get 250 hours.

So, just make sure one or the other has the perfect channel lineup for you and the fam.

Sling TV has 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 for more info on the add-ons, plans, and DVR.

AT&T TV is best for fans of premium channels

AT&T TV is on the pricier side, but HBO Max is included for the fans of Westworld and Euphoria

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What we like

• AT&T TV includes premium channels in most of its plans

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

AT&T TV 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 to see which plan is best for you, but the biggest plus is the inclusion of an HBO Max subscription for one year, and a free three-month subscription to CINEMAX, SHOWTIME, STARZ, and EPIX.

But if you want to think long-term, you’ll get STARZ channels in your lineup with the ULTIMATE package. And with the PREMIER package, you can watch the CINEMAX, SHOWTIME, and STARZ channels after a long day of work.

AT&T TV is our last choice for most sports fans because this live TV streaming service has second-year price hikes. You can find your second year’s monthly pricing in our AT&T TV review, but take a look at the XTRA package and above if you want at least 17 sports channels.

The sports channels in the ENTERTAINMENT package includes the following:

• ESPN
• ESPN2
• FS1
• NBC Sports Network

Along with the above four, these are the sports channels CHOICE includes:

And the XTRA package and higher include the above sports channels and the following six:

• CBS Sports Network
• FS2
• Golf Channel
• NHL Network
• Olympic Channel
• Sportsman Channel

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

What we don’t like

• AT&T TV is the priciest option

AT&T TV is a pretty pricey service

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

AT&T TV summary

• Good: AT&T TV is the best option for average sports watchers and fans of premium channels.
• 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 for more about the user experience, DVR, and channel lineup.

Recap: Which is the best streaming service for sports?

We sorted through lots of streaming services to highlight some of the best for your game nights. 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, MLB Network, and NFL 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 had your eye on.
• AT&T TV: AT&T TV 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!