How To Watch ESPN without Cable

Jamie Read more January 15, 2019

If you’re a sports fan, ESPN is likely in your favorites list on your cable box. But what about if you want to cut the cord. How can you legally watch ESPN without cable? I’ll give you five ways you can get your sports fix while remaining totally legal.

With the ever climbing costs of cable and the increase in viable alternatives, more people than ever before are looking to cut the cord. Finding alternative means to access the channels you love is the one thing that holds most people back. Once you find those alternatives, it’s a breeze to switch and to save a significant amount of money per month.

Watch ESPN without cable

ESPN is one of many channels that were unique to cable but are now available across multiple services. ESPN is available on:

Amazon Fire TV
SlingTV
Hulu
DirecTV Now
PlayStation Vue

There are others but these options are well priced and readily available. Each offers so much more than just sports too which is the clincher as far as I’m concerned.

ESPN on Amazon Fire TV

ESPN is one of many mainstream channels available on Amazon Fire TV through the WatchESPN app. Install the app onto your device, sign up or log in with your ESPN account and you’re ready to go. You should be able to access all of the games, commentary and supplementary content you would if you remained on cable. Subscriptions are handled individually rather than collectively through the WatchESPN app for extra services.

Amazon Fire TV is a decent option that allows you to watch sports among other content. There isn’t a DVR option though although the Recast or Tablo OTA DVR app helps work around that.

ESPN on SlingTV

SlingTV has ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 as part of its channel offering for US customers and is accessible through the app. You will need the SlingTV Orange package to watch it which will run you $20 a month for ESPN and lots of other channels. It is competitive for a streaming service and a quarter of the price of the average cable package.

You will need to pay extra for the DVR but that’s only $5 a month. Otherwise, Sling TV is a very viable alternative to cable for sports.

ESPN on Hulu

ESPN is available on Hulu with Live TV. It isn’t just ESPN either. You gain access to TNT, CBS, FS1, Golf, NBC and lots of other content too. Available only in the US right now, the service has a full range of channels covering every type of content. It does vary by location though so select ‘View Channels In Your Area’ and enter your zip code to see exactly what you can get before you sign up for your free trial.

Hulu with Live TV is about as close to cable as you can currently get without paying cable prices. It works on almost any device and includes 50 hours of DVR for around $40 a month.

ESPN on DirecTV Now

DirecTV Now is also $40 a month and delivers an impressive range of programming for that money. ESPN and ESPN2 are among the 65+ channels you can access with the Live a Little package. It includes the entire channel lineup with no compromises in content or quality over cable. You will need to pay extra if you want ESPNews for some reason though.

There are no DVR options at the moment for DirecTV Now and you’re limited to two streams if that’s an issue. Otherwise, the service is a decent cable alternative.

ESPN on PlayStation Vue

If you’re a gamer, you may be interested to know that you can access ESPN on PlayStation Vue. The subscription package starts at $30 a month which includes ESPN among many other channels. The Core plan has dozens of other sports channels including NFL Network, NBA TV, MLB Network and general interest channels too. You don’t even need a PlayStation to watch as you can stream to other devices.

PlayStation Vue does offer cloud DVR and can be streamed on up to five devices at once. It is a gaming service and it makes sense to use if you own a PlayStation but you certainly don’t have to.

There are other options to legally watch ESPN without cable such as YouTube TV, Roku and ESPN’s own ESPN+. Each of these also offer access to sports but aren’t quite as good value or as simple to use as these others. Know of any other ways to watch ESPN without cable? Tell us about them below if you do!