You can ditch traditional TV! Yes, even you Mr. Sports Fanatic!

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Controversial opinion time! There’s really only one thing you still NEED live TV for: live sports. So are sports fans stuck? Left out of the cord-cutting revolution forever? Let’s find out

Continuing with our TV series, today we're talking about live sports. Let's compare traditional TV with streaming options. I couldn't compare everything out there, but picked a few to represent each.

DIRECTV Xtra:
● $55/mo for 12 months, then $124/mo for 12 months = 660+1488 = $2,148 for 2 years
● Add in NFL Sunday Ticket for $294 per season for 2 seasons = $2,736 for 2 years

Cord Cutting:
Let's look at the streaming options for the more popular sports in the US:

NBA League Pass - $199 (x2 years)= $298
NFL Sunday Ticket - $293.96 (x2 years)= $587.92
MLB all teams - $119 (x2 years)= $238
NHL All Access - $139.99 (x2 years)= $279.98
MLS (ESPN+) - $5 (x24 months)= $120

TOTAL for 2 years - $1,623.90
Monthly- $67.66

And this will get you ALL the sports... ALL the time... well, pretty much. $1,623 compared to $2100 seems like a sweet deal! But you have to consider that traditional TV is getting you more than just sports content.

So if we're cutting the cord, we're cutting out live TV, generally. Then let's talk about on-demand streaming services.

Let’s make some more assumptions. If you’re going to cut the cord, even if you’re getting rid of live TV, you’re probably still going to go for one, two, or all three of the biggest names in streaming: Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. Here’s our two year cost if we nab all three:
● Netflix HD - $12.99 (x24 months = $311.76)
● Hulu w/commercials - $5.99 (x24 months = $143.76)
● Prime Video - $119 (x2 years = 238)

TOTAL - $693.52
Monthly- $28.90

So, if you want to cut the cord, and you love ALL THE SPORTZ, and you love ALL THE STREAMING you’re looking at a 2-year total of $2,317.42. Not a TON less than DIRECTV with NFL SUNDAY TICKET, but a bit more than the other DTV option.

There are, however, a few caveats to consider here:
● This is sticker pricing, and I’m not taking into account any of the taxes, fees, or equipment costs for either option. This will hurt traditional TV far more than streaming.

● YOU’LL NEED A VPN PROBABLY. Express VPN is $8.32/mo if you sign up for a full year. That’s $199.68 over two years.

● This leaves off College football, which doesn’t have an exclusive streaming service, but works fine on any live streamer that carries ESPN.

● You probably don’t need or want to watch every single sport.

As you can see, the variables are pretty much endless. But I have two points here:

First, if you want to cut the cord but you think you can’t because of sports, think again; you have options.

And second, if someone’s bugging you to cut the cord, and you’re not sure it’s time yet because you’re constantly watching live sports, you’re not crazy!

That's my take. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

[ReviewsOrg]

Who here loves to watch sports and gets by without traditional TV? How do you do it? What's your take on my analysis here?

[BreakTime]

I don’t understand why the providers can’t offer a sports only package that gives you ALL of the national sports channels plus whatever sports packages you add on?

[themediocreprodigy]

You forgot to mention commercials on Live Tv and not being on streaming services. Great video none the less.

[KyleDimetri]

lol once you have the internet, you have absolutely no need for TV

[Jayee]

Dish Network has the Multi Sports w/Redzone. It’s an add-on for anything that’s America’s top 120+ or above. Even America’s Top 120+ has all the ESPN channels, Fox sports one, Fox sports 2, big 10, PAC 12, SEC, MLB, Longhorn network, NFL network, NBC sports, CBS Sports, and some sports on TBS. The NFL Sunday ticket shows teams that aren’t doing well either. If they’re not doing so well, they’re still going to be picked up by local channels. The multi sports pack with red zone also has MLB, MLB strike zone, ESPN goal line bases-loaded, BeIN sports, NBC regional sports package, all Fox Sports regional packages to. It’s only $13 a month on top of any other package that’s Americas top 120+ or higher.

The AT 120+ is a reasonably priced package that includes other programming including all your local channels.

The Flex Pack is $49.99/mos with Dish and you can add on either the Regional Action Pack or the National Action Pack For $12/month if you want less sports channels and want other channels included in those add on packs.

[johnram]

I cut the Cord 3 months ago when I was paying $156 a month with Spectrum. Now I just have hulu, and my TV hooked with the Antenna. I ain't gonna lie I do miss my Boxing Fights and other local sports on cable but I sure dont miss paying that much money for something that I just watched occasionally...

[royjones]

I don't have time to watch all those sports and tend to watch my local teams only so my cost will be alot
less. Too many things to do besides watching TV.

[doctorrobert]

The other side of the equation is the cable providers will raise price of broadband only plan after cutting TV. We do need internet to make these other services work.

[anthonyyauri]

I just wish there was a streaming service that has MSG and SNY. I live in the NYC area

[dyerguy]

An interesting way to look at it! We've been a Netflix, Hulu, Prime (bonus for the free shipping) family for more than 5 years now and the only thing I ever missed was my local, and some non-local, sports. They just don't broadcast much on OTA networks anymore. You can get decent game recaps on YouTube and/or ESPN but it's just not the same. When Hulu added the live option I jumped in for the sports alone. We were using the Hulu no ads plan so really only paying about $40 more a month is 100% worth it.

[glennaa]

I'm not sure this methodology totally makes sense. Lots of games get broadcast on networks like ESPN and FS1 and aren't available for streaming on the sports-specific plans. I'm a pretty big sports fan. I'm excited to be subscribing soon to Fubo since soccer is what I most care about. The only thing they're missing is ESPN and ESPN2. Also, ESPN+ is $50 a year if you pay by the year instead of by the month. And they have boatloads of content. I think it's a must for most. One of the big problems with traditional cable is the ripoff fees for DVRs and other equipment plus all sorts of other junk fees and taxes. The OTT streaming services generally don't do that. I'd say a streaming TV service plus perhaps some subscription services to fill in the gaps for what you really want to see probably makes the most sense

[kenyattaclay]

I think the happy medium for sports fans are OTT services like PS Vue or YouTube TV because they are significantly cheaper than traditional cable, especially when you consider all the device rental fees. I'm a huge college football fan and cannot get CBS or ABC with an antenna so to have a live TV service is a must and I'm happy with YouTube TV and I get the Sunday Ticket streaming app. Little tip though if someone is a MLB fan, T-Mobile gives you the MLB streaming service for free if you're a customer so I don't pay for that one.

[airwalker]

I think sports will keep many from cutting the cord until there's an all-inclusive alternative.

[Williewill]

I love watching sports and I haven’t had cable in 5+ years. I haven’t missed a sporting event yet 🤷🏾‍♂️

[dennishoward]

I have Hulu with live tv and philo. I had Direct tv choice package no movie channels and no extras. My bill was $145 a month. Now I pay 65.50 a month. I might look into the Sunday ticket.

[slacey]

I’ve found some of the streaming services have started to counter against the vpn services. Even with a vpn on an iPad for example, it will use location services and gps.

[hungrynapps]

U forgot the most important bill . Your ISP bill. U definitely gonna need a good internet connection and bandwidth to stream

[DC-luii]

The truth is if you're a big sports fan you basically need dish or cable. I love the analysis though

[ThePdxster]

Seems like most sports fans are avid for one or two sports, not all of them. I don't know anyone that has to watch them all. For me it's college football and YTTV has it covered, more so than I could ever hope to watch. But if college football didn't require having ESPN, I would be fine with just an antenna and my Tablo DVR.

[JakeTheHawk]

Yeah, I haven't had live TV in nearly five years and I really don't miss it.