Preseason football has started up, so that’s got me thinking about how I might be watching (or not watching) football this year. Last year, I had YouTube TV, and the year before that, I still had the broadcast basic package from my cable company. So this is the first time I won’t have any way to watch regular old broadcast TV during football season. (I could still break down and re-subscribe to YouTube TV, but I’m not planning on doing that.)
Streaming is getting even more complicated this year, it seems. Here’s a fun article about how to watch football this year. ESPN has a new streaming service starting up soon. If I understand things correctly, my ESPN+ sub will become an ESPN Select sub, so no big change there. I guess I could switch to the “full” ESPN service, and then I’d be able to watch… whatever games are on ESPN/ABC but not ESPN+. I’m honestly not sure what those will be. Monday Night Football might be ESPN/ABC only, or might also be on ESPN+. Who knows?
For Sunday night games, I should be OK. I still have a Peacock subscription. I don’t have any way to watch Sunday day games right now though. I canceled my Paramount+ sub, so no CBS games. Fox has a new streaming service starting up, which should carry their Sunday games, but that service also includes Fox News, and I’m dead set against supporting that stuff, so I guess I’m going to go without.
I did just pay for a year of NFL+ Premium. That gives me NFL Network and NFL RedZone, so that’s something. I’ve never actually had RedZone before; maybe I can just watch that on Sunday? The NFL+ sub should let me watch all the Giants games on my iPhone or iPad, I think, just not on TV. So maybe I’ll just watch football on my iPad from now on.
Here’s an interesting article on the new ESPN/NFL “mega-deal.” I’m not sure I even understand what’s going on with football right now.
And, of course, I could just give up on football. I’ve done it before. I’ve gone back and forth on it, over the last decade. Some years, I’m enthusiastic about it, and some years I’m not. (Often, that has to do with how well the Giants are doing that year…)
Meanwhile, I’m still enjoying baseball. I watch the Phillies on MLB.TV a few times a week. I’m always a little annoyed if a game is blacked out because they’re playing the Mets (or Yankees), or because it’s on ESPN or wherever. But there are so many games in a baseball season, it doesn’t bother me that much if I miss a few.
Of course, if the Phillies get into the post-season, that becomes a problem, as those games aren’t on MLB.TV. Sigh.