Is there a way to watch local sports without cable?

Introduction Deciding to cancel cable connection has become a common trend among many families who aim at reducing their expenses. But perhaps the biggest issue will be the disappearance of broadcasts with the favorite local teams for sports fans. Fortunately there are now more ways to watch local sports than ever before thanks to the burgeoning streaming services and Over-the-Air TV. This guide will focus on the major methods that are available.

Use a TV Antenna The best option of watching local sports broadcasts is by using over the air (OTA) antenna without any doubt. An antenna can receive signals from networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS. These channels will include nationally televised games, as well as local affiliates that provide regional coverage of specific teams. For instance, CBS, fox and NBC air NFL games every week during the football seasons. An antenna enables you to view games played by teams in your media market. The major disadvantage is that an antenna alone does not come with regional sports networks such as NBC Sports Philadelphia or Spectrum SportsNet LA that own the rights to most home games. However, for nationally broadcasted games and some regional broadcasts, an OTA antenna can come in handy.

Try Live TV Streaming Today there are several live TV streaming services appearing with the intention to compete with cable regularly. Services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, FuboTV offers live availability of many local channels and regional networks. The channel packages do differ between services and therefore, find out which one of them hosts the local sports channel you need. Similarly, free trial periods are also available with most streaming TV service providers. That is one advantage of these streaming service providers over cable, for example, it is possible to cancel at any time. And streaming services are available for $50-$70 per month, so you will still save your money compared to the cable package. For the strongest live local and national sports without cable, a live TV streaming service may be your only option.

Use a VPN Another area of connectivity that the sports fans are using more is through the Virtual Private Networks (VPN). VPNs enable users to hide their geographical location and IP address because traffic is passed through servers located in different parts of the world. Therefore, if you reside in a region which is not covered under the broadcast rights of your favorite team’s matches, a VPN can assist you to bypass the blackout restrictions. For example, you are an Iowan who wants to watch Tampa Bay Rays games that are available only in the Tampa local Florida market; you will need to connect to a VPN server located in Tampa. ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark help users select the server location with ease. But do remember that some streaming platforms are way more effective in preventing VPN usage, so this method may not always work.

Select Streaming Services for Certain Sports Apart from the ones mentioned above almost every major sports leagues and a lot of teams directly provide some sort of streaming access as well.

MLB. TV enables baseball fans to view out-of-market regular season games live or on the go (local games are not available). NBA League Pass, NHL. Basketball, hockey, as well as other sports are served similarly in both TV and ESPN+. The NFL makes live games available on mobile devices through its NFL Plus service. And there are some college conferences such as the Big Ten Network that have their own streaming platforms as well. These direct league/team options are generally more expensive compared to VPNs or antennas. But they can still allow access to tens of thousands more sports content without the cable package.

Visit a Sports Bar Well, if worse comes to worse and you still feel the urge to watch sports locally, going to the nearest sports bar to watch the games is okay. Yes, you will have to spend some money to buy some food as well as drinks, but it will probably only require a couple of orders and it will not be as expensive as a cable bill per month. Most bars also have promotions or cheaper foods during games to attract the fans. Visitors are encouraged to make a phone call to enquire about the times and promotions for the happy hour. It is also more enjoyable to go out and watch sports as compared to being alone at home. It is just important to note that there may be a lot of people around and not a lot of chairs specifically during the Super Bowl or any other important games in the playoffs.

Conclusion Cutting the cord does not necessarily equal cutting out the ability to root for your home city teams. By getting the right combination of the streaming devices and services and apps mentioned here, it is possible to save money, yet watch all the sports actions all the season. As with other things in your life, assess all the available plans you have to ensure you get the best way of getting the coverage you desire. And do not shy away from taking advantage of a free trial before settling on one of the platforms. A little bit of planning can go a long way in making sure your household has a cable-free yet sports-saturated existence.