How To Watch College Football Without Cable in 2024

Are you a college football fan who has cut the cord from the cable company in 2024?

I have good news: It’s entirely possible to recreate the “cable” or “satellite” experience of watching all the big games each week without making a long-term financial commitment.

But with hundreds of college football teams taking the field each week, it may take a little work to determine which live streaming TV option is the most cost-effective way to access the games that mean the most to you.

I have an article on free and cheap ways to watch football in 2024, but today I want to focus on helping you find the right game plan for watching the college football games that mean the most to you.

Table of Contents

• Which Channels You'll Need for College Football
• Which Streaming Services Are Best for These Channels

Which Channels Do You Need To Watch College Football in 2024?

If you’re a big college football fan, you know that finding your favorite team on TV each week can be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.

Details like game time and broadcast channel are sometimes decided less than two weeks before the games actually kickoff.

So, when it comes to being prepared to watch games in these ever-changing scheduling conditions, you need to be aware of the channels that could be broadcasting the games that mean something to you.

For example, if you’re a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs or Alabama Crimson Tide, you’ll likely be watching SEC-related broadcasts this season. And the majority of those games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

That means you’ll want a streaming TV service that offers channels like ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, the SEC Network and more.

If you prefer Big Ten football, you’ll want access to a different set of channels that may include CBS and FOX networks.

And, if you’re a fan of Notre Dame football, you’ll be most interested in getting access to NBC.

But what if an SEC team plays against a Big Ten team? Which channel will have the broadcasting rights?

It can get complicated.

Here’s a list of channels you may want based on popular conferences you may watch:

There are several other conferences that have games spread across these networks. They may also broadcast on services like ESPN+.

The good news is that, although there are up to 15-20 different channels that could broadcast a major college football game, most of them are owned by just a handful of companies. And those companies usually sell the rights to their channels as a grouping to streaming services. (Ex. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, etc.)

Which Streaming Services Are Best for These Channels?

So, as a fellow college football fanatic, my suggestion is to consider a service that offers as many of these channels in one spot as possible.

This may cost a little more in the short term, but you can sit down on Saturdays knowing that you have access to all the big games across several different conferences.

And the good news is that we don’t have to commit to these streaming services for a long period of time. They are month-by-month subscriptions. So, you could conceivably sign up with a promotional offer with one service for a month and then move to another for the next month.

And the college football season is only a few months out of the calendar, so you can ditch the live TV streaming services altogether in the off-season.

Let’s take a look at some of your options and the varying costs associated.

The Best “Full Service” Options: YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV

If you want one simple subscription to "set it and forget it" for college football season, I'd encourage you to consider paying up for either YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.

These are not the cheapest options, but they’re the most “complete” options for college football fans. You’ll find that you have access to an overwhelming majority of the big games with these subscriptions.

And, because Hulu + Live TV includes the Disney Bundle with its subscription price, you’ll also get access to ESPN+ with that streaming service.

You will find that the full menu of ESPN, Fox Sports, conference-specific channels and local channels are available on the basic packages for both of these services. That should get you plenty of college football for one monthly subscription.

The Best “Value” Option: Sling TV

If you're less concerned about seeing all of the games and just want a reasonably-priced subscription that will give you a reasonable amount of games, you may find that Sling TV is the best value for your wallet.

Sling offers live TV packages for as little as $40 per month. You can enhance that by buying Orange+Blue for $55 per month and can get even more college football channels via the Sports Add-on Package.

The Best “Cheap” Option: Pay for a Service like ESPN+ and Buy an Antenna

If you’re willing to miss out on key games each week, you can significantly cut your college football viewing expenses by avoiding the full-service live TV streaming options.

Purchasing a digital antenna could unlock free access to college football games on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC each week.

And a standalone subscription to ESPN+ will get you access to a large menu of college football games that are exclusive to ESPN each week.

But, be warned: ESPN+ does not typically provide access to games broadcast on channels like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN, SEC Network, ACC Network. You will need a live TV subscription to access those games.

Peacock (NBC) and Paramount+ (CBS) also will provide access to a limited number of live college football games this fall.

What is your strategy for watching games this season? We’d love to hear from you in the Clark.com community.

The post How To Watch College Football Without Cable in 2024 appeared first on Clark Howard.