Getty March Madness is here, but what's the best streaming service to watch all 63 games?
The Field of 64 is set. Your brackets are filled out. Now there’s just one, very simple thing left to do: Watch 63 games over the next three weeks.
If you don’t have cable, there are lots of different ways to watch the games live on your computer, phone or other streaming device. You can watch every game on the March Madness Live app, but the app wasn’t working well at all during the First Four games, and you can only watch the CBS games without a cable log-in. You can watch on Amazon Prime or Paramount+, but again, those are only options for the CBS games.
Instead, the best way to take in all the Madness–to watch every single 2021 NCAA Tournament game live without cable–is a live-TV streaming service that includes CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV. There are several of these options, so here’s a rundown of the best ones:
The Best: AT&T TV
It’s the best streaming service for the NCAA tournament because you can get a 14-day free trial, which no other streaming service offers. So, you can watch every game up until the Final Four with your free trial, then the Final Four and national championship are on CBS and can be watched for free on the March Madness Live app.
Not only that, but you can select any of AT&T TV’s four channel packages with your free trial: “Entertainment”, “Choice”, “Ultimate” and “Premier.” All of them include CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV, but NBA League Pass is currently being offered at no extra cost in the “Choice” and above bundles, which is by far the best perk of any streaming service right now.
Note that the free trial isn’t advertised as such, but your “due today” amount will be $0 when signing up. If you watch on your computer, phone or tablet, you won’t be charged for 14 days. If you watch on a streaming device on your TV (Roku, Firestick, Apple TV, etc.), you will be charged for the first month, but you can get still get a full refund if you cancel before 14 days:
Once signed up for AT&T TV, you can watch every NCAA tournament game live on the AT&T TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the AT&T TV website.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
The Cheapest: Sling TV
Of course, it doesn’t get cheaper than AT&T TV’s 14-day free trial, but if you plan on keeping a streaming service for the entirety of the tournament or longer, this is by far the lowest priced option.
Sling TV’s “Sling Blue” bundle includes TBS, TNT and TruTV (CBS isn’t available on Sling, but you can watch those games for free on the March Madness Live app) and normally costs $35 per month. However, while there isn’t a free trial, you can currently get your first month for $25, and you get Showtime, Starz, and Epix included for free:
Once signed up for Sling TV, you can watch NCAA tournament games live on the Sling TV app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, airTV Mini, Oculus, Portal, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Sling TV website.
If you can’t watch live, Sling TV comes included with 50 hours of cloud DVR.
The Others
Hulu With Live TV
There are no real fun extras with signing up like with the first two options, but if you want sports and a Netflix-like library of on-demand TV shows and movies, then Hulu With Live TV is your perfect option.
It comes with CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV and 65+ other TV channels, and it comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can watch NCAA tournament games live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu with Live TV also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
YouTube TV
Again, nothing too exciting here when you sign up, but it’s the fourth and final streaming service that includes the channels necessary to watch March Madness. CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV and 80-plus other TV channels are available on YouTube TV, which also comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for YouTube TV, you can watch NCAA tournament games live on the YouTube app, which is available on your your Roku, Roku TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV, Android TV, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. You can also watch on your computer via TV.YouTube.com.
If you can’t watch live, it comes with included DVR.