To view this guide as a PDF file, click here.
To view the video version of this guide, click here.
It’s now been 6 years since I first created a guide to
give college football fans, like myself, all the knowledge necessary to be able
to watch as much college football as they want while getting rid of their
expensive cable/satellite/telco subscription.
While unfortunately, this may not be possible for everyone, if you’re a
fan of a Power 5 team, more options exist than ever to be able to watch your
favorite team/conference on this fall, even with the limited schedule. The guide has been revamped to be easier to
read & updated for the 2022 College Football (CFB) season, so go below for
the various options that exist to get your college football fix for as cheap as
possible.
DISCLAIMER: This work was put together using data from various sources. As such, if you come across something that is inaccurate, please feel free to reach out to me to correct it via email realcordcutters@outlook.com or Twitter: @RealCordCutters or by leaving a comment below. My goal is to make a comprehensive and accurate guide that can help people quickly & easily decide how to watch as much college football as they want for the cheapest possible method. Unlike other cord cutting websites, we welcome and encourage reader feedback, both positive and negative. For updates, please look for the ► sign (alt + 16 to type it) with a date following it; these indicate changes, additions, corrections, etc.
First, I’m going to give a brief summary of some of the changes for the upcoming 2022 season. Then I’ll give an overview of the various options that currently exist regarding CFB broadcasts including defining some terms. Please note that this guide will focus primarily on the Power 5 conferences. If you’re already familiar with these terms, services, etc. please feel free to jump down below to the conferences section.
CHANGES FOR THE 2022 SEASON
*Fubo removed the Starter Plan (its cheapest plan) and
moved 4K content to the Elite Plan (previously it was included in all plans at
no extra cost) for new subscribers
*Hulu Live added the enhanced DVR to all plans and also
has a plan without Disney+ & ESPN+ for $1/month cheaper than the regular
rate
*DirecTV Stream improved its DVR by offering Unlimited
Space to all customers
*Vidgo introduced the Premium Plan with DVR service and
raised its price on the Plus plan by $5/month
*ESPN+ raised its monthly price by $3/month (to $9.99/month) and its annual
price by $30 (to $99.99/year)
*Oklahoma is now on ESPN+ (no more PPV game)
*NFL Network
will televise two Group of 5 Games: Eastern Michigan @ ULL (9/10), Marshall @
Bowling Green (9/17)
KEY TERMS TO KNOW
Designated Market Area (DMA) – a geographic region, defined by Nielsen Media Research that receives the same (or similar) television stations. The DMA that you are located in determines which local broadcast stations you receive, although cable companies are free to carry channels from outside the DMA without any type of waiver. To see a map of all US DMAs from 2019, click here.
Regional & National Broadcasts – College
football games can either be a regional or national broadcast. A national broadcast shows one game over the
entire country on a given channel while a regional broadcast will have different
games showing on a given channel in different parts of the country. For most, but not all, regional broadcasts,
the game not shown on the primary channel is aired on an alternate TV channel. The most common example of a regional
broadcast is the 3:30 PM ET ABC/ESPN2 broadcast window. Some part of the country receives Game A on
ABC and Game B on ESPN2 while the rest of the country receives Game B on ABC
and Game A on ESPN2. Some of the
conference networks (SECN, etc.) also do this when there are multiple games airing
at the same time by using alternate overflow channels. When there is a regional broadcast and the
alternate game is not shown on another TV channel or the provider does not
carry the alternate channels, the extra game(s) will then be streamed online.
Tier 1/2/3 Media Rights – Tier 1 media rights generally refer to games broadcast on over-the-air (OTA) broadcast networks such as FOX, ABC, CBS, etc. Tier 2 media rights generally refer to games aired on cable television stations such as ESPN/2, FOX Sports 1, etc. Tier 3 media rights are the rights to games that are institutionally controlled. The SEC controls these Tier 3 rights for all their member institutions and airs these games on their conference networks. The ACC controls most of their Tier 3 rights to air games on their conference network, but still has some games that air on regional sports networks. The Big 12 allows Texas & Oklahoma to control one home game for broadcast, but the other 8 schools have agreed to give up their games to be aired on ESPN+ and/or other channels.
Regional Sports Networks – Sinclair (Bally Sports <channel>), Comcast (NBC Sports <channel>), and AT&T (AT&T SportsNet <channel>) own the most common regional sports networks (RSNs) that air college football games. Currently, they air games featuring ACC & Big 12 teams in addition to games featuring teams outside of the Power 5 conferences and FCS teams. The coverage can vary by channel due to other programming commitments such as professional baseball, basketball and hockey; thus, even if a game is designated to be carried by Bally Sports RSNs, your local Bally Sports RSN may not carry it. Please note that the name for these networks changed in April 2021 as they were previously known as Fox Sports <channel>.
Conference Networks – Several conferences (SEC, ACC) have created conference networks to exclusively air Tier 3 content in addition to other college sports programming. These conference networks vary in their structure and in the number of subscribers each has. The SEC started the SEC Network (SECN) in 2014 and the ACC Network (ACCN) debuted as a linear television channel in 2019. The Big Ten conference launched the Big Ten Network (BTN) back in 2007 while the Pac-12 started the Pac-12 Network (P12N) in 2011.
TV CHANNELS
ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPNEWS– The Disney family of channels (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS) carry games multiple days a week. In addition to Saturdays, these stations also carry games on Thursday & Friday nights (most weeks), Tuesday & Wednesday nights (usually only October-November) and the first Sunday of the season. They also carry most of the bowl games, including the College Football Playoff, except for a handful.
ESPN3 – ESPN3 is an online streaming channel that
airs many sporting events, including college football games, and does not
require login authentication. To view
ESPN3 events, one must either have a participating Internet Service Provider or
a cable/satellite/streaming service subscription which includes it though. The list of ESPN3 participating providers can
be found here. All games aired on ABC in your region are also
available to watch online via ESPN3. ESPN3 also airs additional camera views
for important games although mostly for bowl and College Football Playoff (CFP)
games. For example, the most recent CFP
National Championship Game had 8 different feeds available on ESPN3 including
Sounds of the Game, Pylon Cam, Hometown Radio feeds, Spider Cam and others. Thus, some games that are aired on ESPN cable
channels can also be viewed via ESPN3 and do not require a subscription to
ESPN, ESPN2, etc. in order to watch them.
ESPN3 events can be viewed in the ESPN app on connected devices such as
Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, etc.
ESPN+ – ESPN+ is an online streaming service which launched in April 2018 and has so far aired college football games from the AAC, Big 12, Conference USA, Sun Belt, and SEC. For more information on it, see the section on ESPN+ below under “STREAMING SERVICES”.
FOX/FOX SPORTS 1/FOX SPORTS 2 – FOX Sports carries games on the FOX broadcast channel and FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Fox Sports 2 (FS2) traditionally has only been used as an overflow channel when games run late but it has aired Big 12 & MWC games in their entirety in previous years. Previously, FOX and FS1 both aired one bowl game.
CBS/CBS SPORTS NETWORK – CBS Sports carries games on both the CBS broadcast channel and CBS Sports Network (CBSSN). The CBS broadcast channel typically carries one game involving an SEC team per week on Saturdays while also having several doubleheader days where it carries two games. CBSSN typically carries multiple games on Saturdays in addition to games on Thursdays & Fridays sometimes. CBS has previously carried one bowl game per year while CBSSN has aired several.
NBC – NBC Sports carries Notre Dame home games on the NBC broadcast channel and its Peacock streaming service. It will air one game exclusively on Peacock Premium in 2022.
Peacock – Peacock is an online streaming service owned by NBC. There are three tiers: ad-supported (free), ad-supported Premium ($5/month or $50/year), and Premium Plus with no ads ($10/month or $100/year). It aired all ND home football games in 2021 (one exclusively) and will have the same arrangement in 2022 on Peacock Premium.
Regional Sports Networks – The two most common types of Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are Bally Sports (BS) RSNs and NBCS RSNs. There are also four RSNs owned by AT&T called AT&T SportsNet <channel> and one RSN owned primarily by the Seattle Mariners, Root Sports Northwest, that carry the Bally Sports RSN games, in addition to some other games. However, DIRECTV STREAM is the only provider that currently carries these five RSNs except for Fubo which carries both AT&T SportsNet Southwest & Pittsburgh. Additionally, some other RSNs like NESN, Prime Ticket, and MASN carry games as well.
Big Ten Network – BTN is a conference network owned by FOX and the Big Ten Conference that airs programming from all sports featuring Big Ten teams. It usually shows 2-5 games featuring Big Ten teams each Saturday with occasional games on the first Thursday & Friday of the season. It owns the Tier 3 rights to all games that Big Ten teams own the rights to. BTN Plus is online streaming network offered by BTN for an additional cost, but it does NOT air any CFB games on it. BTN content is streamed via the FOX Sports app.
Pac-12 Network – P12N is a conference network owned exclusively by the Pac-12 conferences that airs Pac-12 sporting events. It usually shows 2-5 Pac-12 games on Saturdays only. P12N owns the Tier 3 rights to all games that Pac-12 teams own the rights to. The network has 1 national feed and 6 regional feeds (Arizona, Bay Area, Los Angeles, Mountain, Oregon, and Washington) with each regional feed covering two teams. Most CFB games are aired on the national feed and the regional feed(s) of the team(s) participating in the game.
SEC Network – SECN is a conference network owned exclusively by ESPN (Disney) which shows all sports of SEC teams. It usually airs 2-5 SEC games on Saturdays. SECN owns the Tier 3 rights to all games that SEC teams have the rights to. SECN+ is an online channel that airs extra events and can only be viewed with authenticated credentials (i.e. it requires a subscription to SECN) via the ESPN app and the ESPN website. In the past, SECN+ generally has not aired any CFB games except for rare circumstances but starting in 2021 it simulcasted the SEC games which were also airing on ESPN+.
ACC Network/ACC Network Extra – The linear ACCN cable channel airs ACC sports and debuted in 2019. The ACC also usually one airs RSN game each Saturday at various times. These RSN games are also available outside of the airing markets on ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) which is an online channel that can only be viewed with authenticated credentials (i.e. it requires a subscription to a service which has ACCN) via the ESPN app or the ESPN website. What this means is that if a RSN in your DMA is airing the ACC game, you can only watch the game on that network; however, if there is no RSN airing the game within your DMA, then you are able to watch it online with proper ACCN-authenticated credentials via the ESPN app. This is important to note because if the game is airing on an RSN that your service does not carry (ex. NESN, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, etc.), it means you will not be able to watch the game because you do not receive the station that is airing it in your market, and it will be blacked out on the ESPN app.
ACCNX has aired exclusive games in previous seasons,
but it is not clear if it will air any this year. Prior
to 2016 these ACCNX games were aired on ESPN3 while prior to 2019 all
games airing on ACCNX only required an ESPN subscription. However, going forward you must have a
subscription to ACCN in order to see games that are airing online via ACCNX. ACCNX also airs other sporting events for ACC
teams that do not require authentication.
Longhorn Network –Longhorn Network (LHN) is an ESPN-owned network that
focuses solely on University of Texas athletic events and programming. It generally airs two home Texas football
games per year and is currently scheduled to air two non-conference games in
2022. Any conference games that air on
LHN usually also air on additional
platforms in the home market of the visiting conference team. It is streamed via the ESPN app and the ESPN
website.
Stadium – Stadium (STADIUM) is a 24/7 sports channel which airs some games on multiple venues including free Twitter & Facebook live streams and an OTA channel. They carry games hosted by Conference USA and Sun Belt Conference teams. The current list of OTA affiliates can be found here and the OTA channel can also be viewed on their website, via several streaming services that now carry it, Twitch, PlutoTV, and via their app which is available for Apple & Android products. Games airing on Twitter can be viewed here, while games airing on Facebook can be viewed here.
TV Everywhere Apps – Many cable channels now have a live stream of their channel available to watch online for authenticated subscribers. ESPN makes all of its programming, including ACCN, SECN, SECN+, LHN, ESPN3 & ESPN+ events, available via the ESPN app while FOX uses the FOX Sports app for FOX broadcast channel sporting events, BTN, FS1, and FS2. BS RSNs use the Bally Sports app. CBS & CBSSN both stream their games through the CBS Sports App (no authentication required for CBS games while authentication is required for CBSSN) but only on phones & tablets for CBS games. NBC & NBCS RSNs stream their content through the NBC Sports App. STADIUM streams via the Stadium App while P12N uses the Pac-12 Now app.
CONFERENCE
& CHANNEL CHARTS
Below are several charts to assist with your decision to cut the cord and/or sign up for an online streaming service. The first one shows the channels which have the Tier 1, 2, and 3 media (i.e. TV) rights for each of the Power 5 conferences. The second one shows the television partners for the other 5 FBS conferences, aka the Group of 5. The third one shows the most common channels which carry college football and the level of package (if available) on each streaming service.
MEDIA RIGHTS BY CONFERENCE (POWER 5
CONFERENCES)
|
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 2 |
Tier 3 |
Conf Champ Game |
|
ACC |
ABC |
ESPN/2/U/NEWS |
ACCN & RSN (RSNs vary
by market) |
ABC/ESPN/2 |
|
Big 12 |
ABC & FOX |
ESPN/2/U/NEWS
& FS1/FS2 |
Longhorn Network
(Texas) & ESPN+ |
ABC/ESPN/2 |
|
SEC |
CBS |
ESPN/2/U/NEWS |
SECN & ESPN+ |
CBS |
|
Big Ten |
ABC & FOX |
ESPN/2/U/NEWS
& FS1/FS2 |
BTN |
FOX |
|
Pac-12 |
ABC & FOX |
ESPN/2/U/NEWS
& FS1/FS2 |
P12N |
*FOX &
ABC/ESPN/2 |
*This game is split between FOX (even years) and ESPN channels (odd years).
Notre Dame – NBC Sports owns the rights to all Notre Dame home games. All seven of Notre Dame’s home games will air on Peacock Premium with six of the games also airing on the NBC broadcast channel this year. Thus, there is one Peacock exclusive game this year (UNLV) similar to 2021.
BYU – ESPN has the rights of first selection to all BYU home games or neutral site games where BYU is the designated home team. This includes a minimum of 3 games to air on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 and at least one game to air on ESPNU. Any home games that ESPN does not televise can be aired on BYUtv, which is a TV channel founded and run by the university. BYUtv general airs one BYU football game per year and is currently not available as part of any streaming service.
MEDIA RIGHTS BY CONFERENCE (GROUP OF 5
CONFERENCES)
|
|
Partner 1 |
Partner 2 |
Partner 3 |
Partner 4 |
|
AAC |
ESPN |
CBSSN* |
ESPN+ |
------------------------- |
|
Conf USA |
ESPN |
CBSSN |
Stadium |
ESPN+ |
|
Sun Belt |
ESPN |
Stadium |
ESPN+ |
------------------------- |
|
MAC |
ESPN |
CBSSN* |
ESPN+ |
------------------------- |
|
MWC |
CBS/CBSSN |
FOX/FS1/FS2 |
Stadium |
------------------------- |
*These games are
sublicensed from ESPN which controls the initial rights to them.
*It was announced on 8/22/22 that NFL Network would air two Group of 5 games:
Eastern Michigan @ ULL (9/10) and Marshall @ Bowling Green (9/17). For more info, see here.
WAYS TO WATCH
GAMES FOR FREE
·
ANTENNA – ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and Stadium
can all be viewed OTA with an antenna depending on where you live and how close
you are to the broadcast towers. The OTA
signal is often ahead of the streaming signal as well, so even if you do
subscribe to a streaming service, I usually recommend watching via antenna
whenever possible.
·
ESPN3 – Access to ESPN3 is included with
most ISP (Internet Service Provider) subscriptions so you may be able to watch
ESPN3 events even without subscribing to a paid streaming service. This would include ESPN3 exclusive games, any
ABC games, and any ACC RSN games for those who are out-of-market. In addition, most of the CFP & NY6 bowl
games have additional feeds on ESPN3.
·
CBS Website & Mobile App – CBS
streams its broadcast network games on both its website and its mobile app;
however, it does not stream them on connected devices such as Roku, Fire TV,
etc.
· Stadium Website & Mobile App – Stadium’s website & the Stadium mobile app both stream live events including the college football games that the linear tv channel airs
PAID STREAMING
SERVICES
Sling TV (Sling)
o Orange (►12/4/22) ($40/month), Orange Sports Add-on ($11/month)
o Blue (►12/4/22) ($40/month), Blue Sports Add-on ($11/month)
o Orange + Blue (►12/4/22) ($55/month), Orange + Blue + Sports Add-on (►12/4/22)($70/month)
o (►2/4/23) Sling added ABC to Blue in several markets and
now charges $5 more per month in 5 markets where it carries ABC, FOX, and NBC.
Click here
to see all markets getting ABC.
·
Channels:
|
Orange ESPN ESPN2 ESPN3 (►8/27/22) |
Blue FOX FS1 NBC (►8/27/22) (►2/4/23) ABC |
|
Orange Sports Add-on ESPNU ESPNEWS ACCN SECN LHN P12N* |
Blue Sports Add-on FS2 BTN P12N* |
# of Streams:
Orange (1 stream); Blue (3 streams)
·
DVR: 50 hours for free, 200 hours for $5/month
*P12N includes the 6 regional feeds only; the national feed is not included
Summary: (►12/4/22) Sling increased its prices on both the Orange & Blue plans by $5/month each, the Orange + Blue plan by $5/month and the Orange + Blue + Sports Add-on plan by $5/month effective November 3, 2022. The original review is below.
Sling is a decent option for college football fans and still the cheapest way to get the basic ESPN channels & ESPN3 access. However, its small DVR (50 hours) and limit on 1 simultaneous stream for all ESPN channels make it undesirable. It’s Orange + Blue package ($50) is significantly cheaper than the base package from every other service, but that doesn’t include networks such as ESPNU, ACCN, BTN or SECN which come on the standard package from most services. Plus, its coverage of local channels is the smallest compared to the other services so if an antenna isn’t feasible at your location, it’s best to look elsewhere. It does carry both LHN & P12N though which only one other service (Vidgo) does.
Best For: ACC/SEC/Pac-12
Fans, Texas fans, People who can get OTA stations via antenna
Worst For: Fans who cannot get their local OTA stations via antenna, Fans who want to record and rewatch many hours of games, MWC & CUSA Fans
Vidgo
·
Plans:
o Plus (►3/24/23) ($70/month), Premium ($85/month)
·
Channels (Plus & Premium):
|
ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPNEWS BYUtv |
ACCN SECN BTN P12N* LHN |
ABC FOX FS1 FS2 STADIUM |
·
# of Streams: 3
·
DVR: 20 hours (Premium only or first 90 days of
Plus)
*Includes the P12N national feed and all 6 regional feeds
Summary: Vidgo provides a significant number of channels at one of the cheapest base price points. It includes all major CFB related channels (except for CBSSN) but only has FOX & ABC for OTA networks including national feeds for those markets where the local stations are not carried. However, the main downside is that it only includes a limited DVR (20 hours) on the Premium plan although it does give 90 days of DVR to new subscribers on the Plus plan. Vidgo makes a great option for those who want to spend as little money as possible but see a large number of games live especially since it carries both BTN & P12N.
Best For: People
who want to have multiple (> 2) games playing at once, Texas Longhorn fans,
Pac-12 Fans, BYU Fans
Worst For: Fans who cannot get local channels via antenna, Fans who want to record and rewatch many hours of games, MWC & CUSA Fans
DIRECTV STREAM
o (►2/4/23) Entertainment ($75/month), Choice ($100/month), Ultimate ($110/month)
·
Channels:
|
Entertainment |
Choice |
Ultimate |
|
ABC CBS NBC ESPN ESPN2 FS1 |
Entertainment channels + ESPNEWS ACCN SECN BTN ATTSN RSN |
Choice channels + FS2 |
·
# of Streams: 20 in home, 3 outside of home
· DVR: Unlimited Space
Summary: DIRECTV STREAM is now more expensive than most of the other streaming services especially when the channels it offers at each price level are compared to other options. The Choice package is most comparable to the base packages of Vidgo, Hulu Live, and YouTube TV in terms of channel selection but it is $20-$30 more per month. However, it now offers unlimited streams on your home network whereas most other base packages only offer 3 at most and carries all RSNs, including the BS RSNs, which no other services. The improved DVR also puts it in line with other services as well. Overall, if you don’t need a local RSN, there are much better options out there, even with paying extra fees to get more streams.
Best For: ACC
Fans, Fans who needs RSNs for other sports, Fans who want to watch >3 games
at once
Worst For: Pac-12 Fans, MWC & CUSA Fans
Hulu Live
o
Base Plan ($70/month) or $69/month without
Disney+ & ESPN+ access
o (►2/4/23) Hulu raised the price of its Base Plan to $75 in
December 2022 which includes Hulu Live + Disney+ (no ads) & ESPN+; however,
they created a new plan with Hulu Live & Disney+ (ads) & ESPN+ at the
same $70/month rate
·
Channels:
|
ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPNEWS |
CBS CBSSN ACCN SECN BTN |
FOX FS1 FS2 NBC NBCS RSN |
·
# of Streams: 2 with the option of purchasing
“unlimited” streams for an extra $10/month
o
Unlimited Screens Add-on includes unlimited
streams at home and max 3 streams outside of home
· DVR: Unlimited Space
Summary: Hulu Live is no longer the cheapest price point for its base plan but the fact that it includes both ESPN+ and Disney+ may make it cheaper overall compared to other options. It is a decent choice for most college football fans as it offers a wide range of channels at a comparable cost to the base packages from other services. Plus, the enhanced DVR is now included in the base plan making it much more similar to those offered by other providers. However, its base package only includes 2 streams (compared to 3) although the option to pay extra for “unlimited streams” does exist. It is also missing P12N and LHN. The one main reason to go with Hulu Live over its competitors is that the inclusion of Disney+ & ESPN+ makes it significantly cheaper than buying those services separately and subscribing to another service.
Best For: General Fans, Fans who want to watch >3
games at once (for an extra fee), Those who also subscribe to Disney+ and/or
ESPN+
Worst For: P12 Fans, ACC Fans, Texas Fans
YouTube TV
·
Plans:
o Base Plan (►3/24/23) ($73/month), Sports Plus Add-on ($11/month)
·
Channels:
|
ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPNU ESPNEWS NBC NBCS RSN |
CBS CBSSN ACCN SECN BTN FOX FS1 FS2 |
Sports
Plus Add-on STADIUM |
·
# of Streams: 3 with the option of purchasing
unlimited streams (and 4K streams) for $20/month
o 4K
Plus add-on includes unlimited streams on the home network in addition to 3
streams outside the home
· DVR: Unlimited Space
Summary: YouTube TV(YTTV) is an excellent choice for most college football fans. It’s price point and channel lineup are very similar to most other services base plans (or Sling Orange & Blue + Sports Add-on) while also having 3 simultaneous streams that makes it more desirable than Hulu (2) or Sling Orange (1). Its DVR also has a key plays feature which allows you to catch up to real time if you start a game late by just viewing the important plays rather than having to constantly fast forwarding between each play. However, the extra cost to add unlimited streams ($20) is double that of Hulu Live ($10). It also doesn’t offer P12N or LHN though so fans of those teams may want to look elsewhere. Overall though, it has a nice combination of price, channel selection, DVR features, and smoothness that most other services do not have.
Best For: General Fans, Fans who plan to record many
hours of college football
Worst For: Texas fans, ACC Fans, P12 Fans
Fubo
·
Plans:
o (►2/4/23) Pro ($75/month), Elite ($85/month), Extra Add-on ($8/month), Sports Plus Add-on ($11/month), RSN fee ($11/month-1 RSN, $14/month-2 or more RSNs-certain markets)
·
Channels:
|
Pro |
Extra or
Sports Plus Add-on |
|
|
ABC ESPN ESPN2 ESPN3 NBC NBCS RSN CBS CBSSN |
ACCN* SECN* BTN FOX FS1 FS2 ATTSN RSN BS RSN |
ESPNU ESPNEWS STADIUM ACCN* SECN* P12N** |
o The
Elite Plan includes all channels in the Pro Plan & Extra add-on & has
additional channels compared to the Pro Plan, but none are college football
related
*ACCN & SECN are included in
Pro for in-market states and in the Extra & Sports Plus Add-ons for
out-of-market states (see here
for in-market vs out-of-market states)
**The P12N national feed is
included with the Extra & Sports Plus Add-ons while the 6 regionals feeds are
included with the Sports Plus add-on only
·
# of Streams: 10
· DVR: 1000 hours
Summary: (►2/4/23) Fubo announced in January 2023 that Bally Sports RSNs (BS RSN) would be returning to the service at a date TBD along with price increases of $5/month for each plan and an increase in the RSN fee to $11/month (1 RSN) and $14/month (2+ RSNs). Also, they announced that local CBS channels were removed in some markets and replaced with a national CBS feed; to see the markets affected, go here.
Fubo’s base price that is right in line with other comparable services, but that plan (Pro) doesn’t include ESPNU or ESPNEWS and may not include ACCN or SECN depending on your market. Additionally, it charges an RSN fee for markets with RSNs for all subscribers and the DVR is not unlimited at 1000 hours. However, it does offer 10 simultaneous streams and carries P12N. Overall, Fubo’s price point makes it undesirable compared to most other services because in order to get the same channels that YTTV offers for $65, you could end up paying $78-$84. However, if you need more than 3 simultaneous streams, then it might not be a bad deal considering the extra amounts you would have to pay YTTV ($20) or Hulu Live ($10) to get unlimited streams.
Best For: General Fans, P12 Fans, Fans who want to watch
>3 games at once
Worst For: ACC and/or SEC fans who live out-of-market, Texas fans
ESPN+
·
Plans:
o Base
Plan ($10/month or $100/year)
·
Channels:
o Base
Plan – ESPN+ only
· # of Streams: 5
Summary: ESPN+ will feature games from the AAC, Big 12, MAC, Conference USA, SEC, and Sun Belt in 2022. The Big 12 will see all teams except Texas & Oklahoma appear on ESPN+ while every SEC team will also air at least one game on it. However, the SEC games are also available via SECN+ meaning that they are not ESPN+ exclusive, unlike the Big 12 games or games from the other conferences. Thus, if you’re a fan of a Big 12 team (outside of Texas or Oklahoma), you’ll most likely need an ESPN+ subscription for at least one game this upcoming season.
Best For: Fans of the 6 conferences above, Hardcore
College Football Fans
Worst For: Pretty much everyone else
THINGS TO KNOW
There are a lot of nuances and caveats regarding some of these services and channels so please read the following items before you decide to purchase anything.
Issues with local coverage
·
Local stations sometimes air a different game
than is advertised
o There are times where you may not be able to watch a game (or must use the appropriate app to view a game) even though it has been designated to be carried by one of your local channels because the local channel is instead airing other programming such as professional sports or even a different college football game.
For example, if your local ABC station is airing other programming at the same time as a scheduled CFB game, the game may be airing on a digital subchannel of your local ABC channel which your streaming service doesn’t carry. Thus, you would need to use the ESPN app to watch this game. Similar issues can happen with RSNs as well. Please note that the issues described above are not necessarily unique to streaming services, but cable/satellite tv typically do carry more local subchannels than streaming services do.
Overflow channels
·
Conference Networks
o As mentioned earlier, conference networks will frequently air multiple games at the same time with the primary game for your region usually determined by geography. This means that if you are interested in watching the secondary game, you must either find the alternate channel for the network or find the online stream of the game via the networks app.
For example, when BTN or SECN airs multiple games at the same time, they usually setup alternate channels to carry all the games. However, not all of the streaming services carry these alternate channels. Thus, you may need to use the appropriate app (ESPN app, FOX Sports app, etc.) to watch a particular game if it is not the one airing on the main channel in your area. Please note that the SECN alternate channel is not the same as SECN+. The SECN alternate channel is a second SECN channel that airs games and is viewable via streaming services (if carried), cable & satellite companies, and also online via the ESPN app/ESPN’s website. SECN+ is a digital channel that only airs events online (similar to ESPN3) and can only be viewed through the ESPN app/ESPN’s website.
Game windows
·
Game running late into the start of the next
game
o Most college football games are scheduled for 3.5-hour windows; however, games frequently last longer than 3.5 hours, especially when there are weather delays, which end up delaying the start of the next scheduled game on the same channel. When these situations happen, the next game is usually started on an alternate network, or if none is available, streamed online via the ESPN or FOX Sports apps. For games on the ESPN channels, ESPNU & ESPNEWS are usually used as overflow channels, although the SECN alternate channel has been used occasionally as well for SEC games. If there are no overflow channels available, the next game will usually be made available to be streamed on ESPN3. For games on the FOX channels, FS2 and Fox Business Network are usually used as the main overflow channel, although there was once instance where a game (Oklahoma-Texas Tech) was moved to FOX News Channel because the World Series was set to air on FOX that night. Although each network usually stays with the current game until its conclusion, there are cases where the network will leave a current game early if the result is out of hand to show the start of the next game; this usually happens with networks that are located in the broadcast area for one of the teams that is playing in the next game. However, for most games, especially those on cable channels, unless the game is a large blowout the network will stay with it until its conclusion. This is something to keep in mind if you decide to subscribe to a streaming service as there may be channels you do not anticipate needing to watch (such as ESPNU or ESPNEWS) which may occasionally air part of a game you’re interested in because the game before yours ran late, pushing the start of your game to an alternate channel temporarily.
Away Games
·
The TV partners of the home team determine who which
channel airs each game. Generally, the
home team has the broadcast rights to each game and thus, one of the channels
of those partners will be the one that airs the game. In the case of a neutral site game, the
contract for the game usually designates one of the teams as the “home team”
for both uniform and broadcasting purposes.
This is important because even if your favorite team is in a conference
whose home and/or conference games are only aired on certain channels, they may
play a road game (or games) which is aired on other channels because the team(s)
they are playing has a different media partner.
Therefore, when deciding which streaming service best fits your needs,
you should make sure to research any away games for your favorite team(s) to
see which channels you may need to subscribe to in order to watch those road games.
CFB CHANNEL INPUT SPREADSHEET(last updated 3/24/23)
Below
is an Excel spreadsheet that will allow you to input up to 15 channels and will
return all streaming service options which carry that group of channels,
including highlighting the cheapest available option. Please read the
instructions (located on the 2nd tab in the file) before using but it is fairly
straightforward. You simply enter in the name of each channel (it has to
match the name I've assigned to it in the Channel Key in the file) and the
spreadsheet will automatically update to show all available packages which
carry the channel(s). There's also an Out of Market filter which is only
used for receiving LHN, ACCN, and/or SECN on certain services.
To
see a PDF view-only copy of the spreadsheet, click here.
To download a copy of it (it's a zip file which you must save & unzip to access the Excel file), click here.
.JPG)
STREAMING SERVICE & CFB NETWORK CHART (last updated 3/24/23)
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POSTSEASON GAMES
2022-23 Bowl Schedule (updated 12/4/22) - click here PDF
SOURCES &
REFERENCES:
The information in the chart above and this entire post came from a variety of sources. Some websites that are very useful for CFB TV listings are Matt Sarz Sports, FBSCHEDULES.com, and LSUFootball.net.
College Football Game Broadcast Schedules
Matt’s CollegeSports on TV Website - Has CFB & CBB TV listings for each week in
addition to archived listings dating back to 2006-07
LSUFootball.net – Has CFB TV listings for each week for & a schedule of upcoming game replays; also includes archived TV listings back to 2004
ESPN
ESPN3 – List of Participating Providers (ISP & TV)
Sling TV
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM – Local Channel & RSN Lookup by Zip Code
Fubo
Fubo – List of Broadcast Channels
Fubo – List of Regional Sports Networks
Hulu Live
Hulu Live – Local Channel Lookup (enter zip code)
MISC
