College football viewer’s guide: Streamers, services, best prices to watch the 2023 season - The Athletic

It wasn't long ago that fans didn't get to choose which college football games they could watch.

Back then, you were at the whim of the networks and their regional coverage decisions. If you lived in Big Ten country and wanted to watch a certain SEC game, you might have to wait for the highlights on ESPN. Now, you can watch almost any televised game you want, if you're willing to pay for it. Yes, even the Pac-12 Network.

To prepare for the 2023 season, we've put together the College Football Viewer's Guide. If you want to watch all 900-plus games, if you want to watch only your favorite team's games, or if you only want to watch the biggest games on network TV, we've got you covered.

Unlike the NFL's simple model, at least 17 different linear channels will be airing college football this year, from ESPN to The CW to NFL Network, plus potential spillover channels like ESPNews and Fox Business Network. Most of that list comes with a typical TV package, but there are also two streaming services with exclusive rights to games in Peacock and ESPN+. In addition to small-screen options, ESPN announced Tuesday that ACC regular season and College Football Playoff games will be available in movie theaters.

At a minimum, you can watch some college football this year for as low as $10. Getting all 900-plus games will run you around $100 per month and around $500 total. There is no perfect option yet, but this may be the last year of both the Longhorn Network (which will be folded into SEC Network when Texas joins the league) and the Pac-12 Networks (if the conference collapses), which are the two most difficult channels to get. The ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network and NFL Network are available on all major cable and TV carriers.

So what's best for you in 2023? Do you focus on one screen or do you prop up multiple TVs on Saturdays? Here are the prices, features and details of each option. (Note: Prices do not include free trials or one-time discounts.)

Antenna

Price: $10-50 one time
Features: Limited to broadcast network games

You can get more than 100 college football games this year without cable or streaming, and you don't need bunny ears on top of the TV. For as low as $10, depending on where you look, you can buy a TV antenna pad, which will get you games on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW — the latter will have 13 ACC games for the first time this season. The CW app is also available for free on most streaming TVs and mobile devices. With the Big Ten adding CBS and NBC to its broadcast partners, more games than ever are available on network TV this year.

In just Week 1, an antenna would give you access to Nebraska-Minnesota (Fox), Virginia-Tennessee (ABC), Colorado-TCU (Fox), Ohio State-Indiana (CBS), Boise State–Washington (ABC), Rice-Texas (Fox), Notre Dame-Tennessee State (NBC), Penn State-West Virginia (NBC), North Carolina-South Carolina (ABC) and Texas Tech-Wyoming (CBS).

Cable

Price: Depends
Features: Depends; picture-in-picture multiview possible

Cable remains the No. 1 option for sports fans, and sports have kept the cable bundle alive as more people cut the cord. Your price depends on your location, your operator and your add-on packages, but cable will typically run you more than $100 per month, perhaps less if you get internet service through the provider.

Cable options that carry Pac-12 Network: Comcast Xfinity, Cox, Dish, Frontier, Spectrum
Cable options that carry Longhorn Network: AT&T, DirecTV, Charter, Cox, Dish, Frontier, Optimum/Suddenlink, Spectrum, Verizon FiOS

YouTube TV

Price: $72.99/month
Does not include: Pac-12 Networks, Longhorn Network
Features: Up to three screens at once (unlimited screens for $9.99/month), unlimited cloud DVR, select multiview, cheaper NFL Sunday Ticket

YouTube TV continues to grow as an option, and it will be the home of NFL Sunday Ticket this year, which could impact the decision for NFL fans, as you get a discount if you have YouTube TV already. I personally switched from cable to YouTube TV this offseason due to prices, but I lost LHN in the process. The unlimited DVR is terrific for watching games you miss, and you can program it to record every college football game. The service also gives you an option to watch the key plays in a game.

This year YouTube TV added multiview, which was first tested during the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments in the spring. It's a great option, but you can't select any four channels. It has preset options for a collection of two, three or four games. Week 0 included a feed with three college games and one NFL preseason game. We've yet to see how many options there will be on a packed college football Saturday. (As for other sports, YouTube TV does not include regional sports networks like Bally.)

Fubo

Price: $84.99/month (Elite tier)
Does include: Pac-12 Networks
Does not include: The CW, Longhorn Network
Features: Up to 10 screens at once, 1,000 hours of cloud DVR, customizable multiview (only on Apple TV)

Fubo is a popular option for Pac-12 purposes — Ari Wasserman and I used a free trial to watch USC–San Jose State on the Pac-12 Network on Saturday. It does not have LHN for Texas or The CW for ACC games, but The CW is available with an antenna or its free TV/mobile app.

Another Fubo selling point is customizable multiview, but that's only available on Apple TV hardware right now. Android TV and Amazon Fire TV are reportedly in beta testing for multiview. (For other sports, Fubo does offer regional sports networks but does not have TBS and TNT.)

Sling TV

Price: $65/month
Does include: Pac-12 Networks and Longhorn Network
Does not include: CBS, CBS Sports Network, The CW; ABC, Fox and NBC only available in certain markets*
Features: Up to four screens at once, 50 hours of cloud DVR (200 hours for $5/month), no multiview

Sling will give you access to hard-to-find games on Pac-12 Network, but it has limited direct agreements with the broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW. For example, it only offers Fox and NBC in Dallas. Sling also doesn't include CBS Sports Network or other sports channels like regional sports networks.

*Sling does offer a free HD antenna (a supposed $44.99 value) that gives you access to the broadcast networks on a different TV input. That can ultimately make this the cheapest option, just without as many bells and whistles (and without CBSSN).

Hulu + Live TV

Price:
Live TV + Disney bundle with ads: $69.99/month
Live TV + Disney bundle without ads + ESPN+ with ads: $82.99/month
Doesn't include: Pac-12 Networks, Longhorn Network
Features: Two screens at once (unlimited screens for $9.99/month), unlimited cloud DVR, no multiview

Hulu's selling point is that it comes with the Disney bundle (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+), a $12.99/month or $19.99/month value that gives you access to the many ESPN+ exclusive games and the Disney/Hulu libraries. The unlimited DVR is also useful, though you might need to spend the $9.99/month extra for more than two screens at once. At the lowest tier with ads, this may be the cheapest overall college football option when taking ESPN+ into account, but it doesn't offer Pac-12 and LHN. (It also doesn't include most local regional sports networks like Bally.)

DirecTV Stream

Price: $109.99/month (Ultimate tier)
Doesn't include: The CW, Pac-12 Networks, Longhorn Network
Features: Unlimited DVR, up to three screens at once.

The most expensive of the options, but it has unlimited DVR. The CW is accessible with an antenna or its free TV/mobile app.

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Now for the exclusive streaming services.

ESPN+

Price:
$9.99/month (or $99.99/year)
Disney bundle with ads: $12.99/month
Disney bundle without ads: $19.99/month
Features: Customizable ESPN multiview on Apple TV or XBox

ESPN+ will be the exclusive home to loads of games involving the Big 12, AAC, Conference USA, MAC and Sun Belt. That includes Oklahoma vs. SMU in Week 2. There are also some SEC nonconference games exclusive to streaming (called SEC Network+), but people who have SEC Network on a TV package can watch those games in the ESPN app without having to pay for ESPN+. If you're a Verizon customer, you can get the Disney bundle included as part of certain phone plans.

ESPN+ has also had a customizable multiview in the ESPN app on Apple TVs since way back in 2017. It recently added the same feature for XBox.

Peacock

Price:
With ads; $5.99/month
Without ads: $11.99/month
Features: Provides access to all NBC games

Peacock will be the exclusive place for Notre Dame vs. Central Michigan and several Big Ten games this year, most notably Michigan State vs. Washington. It also gives you access to other Notre Dame home games, Peacock's library of movies and TV shows, English Premier League soccer, Sunday Night Football and WWE.

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So what's the best choice?

There's no clear winner. If you want most but not all games, the overall cheapest option is either Sling (with antenna) or Hulu + Live TV (with ads). If you want multiview without Apple TV, unlimited DVR and the most games in the cleanest interface, YouTube TV is probably the pick. If you want Pac-12 Networks, it's Fubo, Sling or certain cable services. If you want the largest total number of games within the same service, Fubo or Hulu could be the option. If you want every single channel that has college football this year, certain cable services are the only choice, to go along with streamers.

The rise of streaming has put more strain on fans, some of whom now have to pay extra for games they used to get in a normal cable package. But the nice thing about college football compared to the NFL is you can generally get as much or as little as you want. As long as you pay for it.

(Photo: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)