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The cheapest streaming service that includes every channel that will have an Alabama football game is Hulu With Live TV. For more info about Hulu With Live TV and other live stream options, read on below.
For the first time in four years, Alabama won’t start the season as the preseason No. 1 team. That’s right–they’ve fallen all the way down to No. 2 in 2019. Alas, a fifth consecutive trip to the national championship is, obviously, well within reach for college football’s long-running dynasty.
In 2019, Alabama football games will be televised on either ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, ABC or CBS. If you don’t have cable, you can watch Alabama games live on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Xbox One, PS4 or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Hulu With Live TV
Alabama Football Channels Included: ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, ABC, CBS (ABC and CBS are live in select markets)
Price: $44.99 per month
Not only is this the cheapest streaming service that includes every channel that will have an Alabama football game this season, but Hulu With Live TV also comes with Hulu’s extensive Netflix-like on-demand library of TV shows and movies.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch Alabama games live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If ABC is not available in your market, you can also watch ABC games via ESPN.com or the ESPN app without having to sign in to a cable provider as long as you have a participating Internet Service Provider (ISP).
If you can’t watch a game live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Sling TV & CBS All Access
Alabama Football Channels Included: ESPN (Sling Orange), ESPN2 (Sling Orange), SEC Network (Sports Extra add-on), CBS (Amazon Prime’s CBS Channel or CBS All-Access)
Price: $25 per month for Sling Orange; $10 per month for Sports Extra add-on; $5.99 per month for Prime’s CBS Channel or CBS All-Access
This option is $41 per month all together, but it’s my second choice because it doesn’t include ABC, it will cost more than Hulu With Live TV if you want to add DVR, it lacks the entertainment value of Hulu’s on-demand library and there’s the extra hassle of needing to use two different streaming services, as Sling TV is the cheapest option for the ESPN channels and SEC Network but doesn’t include CBS.
You can sign up for Sling TV right here, and you can then watch the Alabama games that are on the ESPN channels or SEC Network live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage for an additional $5 per month.
ABC isn’t included, but you can watch ABC games via ESPN.com or the ESPN app without having to sign in to a cable provider as long as you have a participating Internet Service Provider (ISP).
CBS also isn’t included, but you can watch those games through either Amazon Prime’s CBS Channel or CBS All-Access:
If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch all live and on-demand CBS content via the CBS All-Access Amazon Channel, which costs $5.99 per month and comes with a 7-day free trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the CBS channel, you can then watch a live stream of the CBS games on your computer via the Amazon website, or you can watch on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or other streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
This is ultimately the same as the Amazon Prime option, only you’re watching through CBS’ digital platform rather than Amazon’s.
You can start a free 7-day trial right here, and then you can watch a live stream of the CBS games on your computer via the CBS website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or other streaming device via the CBS app.
YouTube TV
Alabama Football Channels Included: ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, ABC, CBS (ABC and CBS are live in select markets)
Price: $49.99 per month
YouTube TV also includes every channel that will have Alabama games, but it’s more expensive than Hulu With Live TV and doesn’t include the huge on-demand TV/movie library.
You can sign up for YouTube TV right here, and you can then watch Alabama games live on your computer via the YouTube website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the YouTube app.
If ABC is not available in your market, you can also watch ABC games via ESPN.com or the ESPN app without having to sign in to a cable provider as long as you have a participating Internet Service Provider (ISP).
If you can’t watch live, YouTube TV comes with included DVR.
2019 Alabama Football Preview
Led by first-round picks Quinnen Williams, Jonah Williams, Tytus Howard and Josh Jacobs, there were 10 players from Alabama drafted in 2019, the most of any school.
But that’s no problem for Nick Saban. He lost seven to the draft in 2015, seven in 2016, 10 in 2017 and 12 in 2018. And he returned the Crimson Tide to the national championship in each of those years. There’s no such thing as a rebuild in Tuscaloosa. It’s always a reload.
And the reload is made a lot easier when you have one of the nation’s best players at quarterback.
After becoming the national championship hero in 2017, Tua Tagovailoa was frighteningly efficient as a sophomore last year, completing 69.0 percent of his throws for 3,966 yards (11.2 YPA), 43 touchdowns and six interceptions. He finished second in Heisman voting to eventual No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray, but both of those honors could very well be bestowed upon him in the next year. He returns as a junior as the co-favorite for Heisman (it’s him or Trevor Lawrence depending on who you ask) and the favorite for the No. 1 pick in 2020.
But he’s more focused on making the improvements necessary to bring Alabama another national championship.
“I know a big focal point of Tua’s offseason work was to understand situationally what the team needs to be successful,” said former Alabama QB Greg McElroy. “The thing about Tua, things went so well so often for him, he didn’t often have to bounce back from a bad throw or a bad decision. And when those did happen, he tried to get it back on one play.”
As for the rest of the depth chart, it’s stacked as always.
Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy is a potential Top-10 pick who piled up 68 catches for 1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns a year ago. Running back Najee Harris is ready to become the primary ball-carrier after averaging 6.5 yards per carry in shared roles over the last two years. And on defense, even after the loss of star Dylan Moses to a knee injury, there are still studs abound with guys like Raekwon Davis and Xavier McKinney having first-time All-American potential.
Oh yeah, there’s also the incoming crop of talent. Alabama brings in the nation’s top freshmen class, led by three players (Antonio Alfano, Trey Sanders, Evan Neal) in the Top 10 and 12 in the Top 100. And that doesn’t even include DJ Dale, the 4-star defensive tackle who was named to ESPN’s preseason True Freshman All-American team.
Put it all together, and the story is once again the same in Alabama in 2019: National championship or disappointment.