The 2021 college football season is already underway, and Pac-12 games up and down the west coast will be kicking off for the first time this season in Week 1. You don’t want to miss out. If you don’t have cable and don’t plan on signing up for an expensive cable package this season, there are still a couple ways to watch the Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers and other Pac-12 games throughout the football season that may not hurt your pocketbook as much as you might think. With that in mind, you have to have a strategy and know what each platform has to offer. As a result, we decided to break down your best options for watching Pac-12 and other nationally-televised football games without signing up for cable or a satellite package in 2020.
The best options for paid streaming services that carry Pac-12 games and Pac-12 Network, ranked
Paid TV streaming services often have the best and most reliable live streams for college football games, so if you don’t have cable and don’t want to worry about finding a new bootleg live stream infested with popup ads and low quality output on your computer each week, your best bet might be to sign up for one of the following paid services. Several websites like Reviews.org, The Streamable and PC Magazine have already ranked these paid services for 2021 and determined which ones are the best for sports and college football fans. But we’re just going to give you our top two picks as the best options for fans in the Pacific Northwest. Currently, fuboTV and Sling are the only services that carry Pac-12 Network, which will get you the most Pac-12 college sports events. Both services offer a free trial or discounts for new signups. Both of these services can also be watched through your Smart TV, or on a regular HDTV with the aid of a streaming device like a Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, etc., or also on your computer or mobile phone: The prices might seem similar to a cable package, but remember you can take the service with you on your phone or tablet and if you have a friend or family member that is willing to split the monthly dues with you, both services allow you to have at least 2 concurrent live streams. That means at least you and one other person can use the service at the same time. Depending on the versatility of what your local cable or satellite provider offers, it might work out to be a pretty sweet deal for you.
No. 1 — fuboTV (free 7-day trial, then $64.99/month)
Not only does fubo TV have Pac-12 Network as an option, they also carry most of the channels that would feature nationally televised college football games (like FOX, NBC, FS1, FS2, CBS Sports Network and local ABC affiliates and ESPN networks as well as the RedZone channel for the NFL football junkies). The only major sports channels they don’t have at the moment are Turner affiliates like TNT, TBS and others. fubo TV is also the only streaming service that currently has 4K streaming capability on their platform for select games, so keep that in mind if that’s something that’s important to you. fubo TV started as a sports-specific streaming service and has long been considered the most reliable streaming service out there for that purpose. The interface is easy to navigate and you can organize your favorite channels in the guide section based on your preferences. The search function is also really responsive, so if you’re looking for a particular game or channel and don’t want to surf around, that’s a pretty neat feature.
• Watch Pac-12 Network on fuboTV on a 7-day free trial starting Saturday with the Oregon Ducks playing Fresno State and Oregon State taking on Purdue of FS1, or watch all the Pac-12 games this week and see if the service works for you.
No. 2 — Sling TV Orange or Blue package ($25 off the first month, then $46/month if you add the “Sports Extra” package that includes Pac-12 Network and more)
Sling makes the list as the No. 2 option for sports fans in the Pacific Northwest because it is the cheapest way to watch Pac-12 Network and other live sports, though they have two plans that split the major sports channels up and that can be hard on a fan that needs access to all of the most popular sports channels. If you want to get all of those sports channels, you’ll be paying closer to the cost of other streaming services, like fubo TV, as you have to spend extra to get the complete “Orange and Blue” package ($50/month) as well as adding on the “Sports Extra” package ($15/month). Pac-12 Network is only included in the Sports Extra package when purchased alongside the “Orange” plan, which is a $11 add on. If you get select the “Blue” plan, Pac-12 Network is not included in the Sports Extra add on. To get the best value that includes Pac-12 Network, get the Sling Orange + Sports Extra package for $46/month. There are no long-term contracts and you can cancel the service any time. The stream quality and reliability isn’t on par with what fubo TV offers, but still a great option at this price point. You can also supplement with an over-the-air HDTV antenna to expand your streaming options for big game broadcasts in your local market.
AT&T TV, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live are also good options for streaming sports overall, but neither of those make our list due to the fact that they do not carry Pac-12 Network.
The HD antennae is another way to watch *some* Pac-12 and many nationally broadcast games for FREE
If you don’t already have one, another way to watch a few Pac-12 games for free this season — as well as a lot of college football powerhouse teams — is by purchasing an HD antennae. An HD antennae will get you any college football games being carried on NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX each week (You also get the CW, PBS and Univision channels with an HDTV antennae).
Several games for Pac-12 teams this season still don’t have officially set broadcasts or kickoff times just yet. So, there will very likely be more games for the Ducks, Beavers and other Pac-12 teams carried on FOX or ABC throughout the rest of the college football season.
A solid and well-rated HDTV antenna can be purchased for under $30. This Gesobyte brand HDTV antennae is currently the top selling HDTV antennae product on Amazon and is under $30 and ships quickly with Prime. So, if you have a Prime account, you should be able to get it and be watching college and NFL football games as soon as it arrives.
— Tim Brown, The Oregonian/OregonLive | @timfsbrown
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