With the 2024 NBA playoffs well underway, fans worldwide are doing their best to keep up with the action. One of the most exciting ways to participate in betting on your favorite team.
Many fans turn to sportsbooks such as Betway on sites like Oddschecker for the latest odds and promotions, dedicated live streams, and in-play betting. The playoffs are often unpredictable, as we’ve already witnessed in the first round.
If you live in the US, you can watch a few games for free on local TV stations. However, if you’re rooting for teams outside your local market, you’ll need a cable subscription or an on-demand video streaming service to keep up with the live action. Keep reading to learn the many ways you can tune into live NBA games.
Can You Stream the NBA for Free?
There aren’t many legitimate methods available for streaming the NBA free. You’ll almost always have to sign up for a streaming service that includes the NBA to reliably watch all of your favorite teams battle it out on the court. There are a few exceptions. For example, you can take advantage of the free trial some websites offer to watch a few games and decide whether you’d like to pay for the subscription service. If you plan it right, it’s possible you could watch the playoffs and finals without spending a dime by taking advantage of multiple free trials across different platforms.
You could also purchase a digital antenna to stream the NBA live without paying for cable. With an antenna, you can watch channels like FOX, ABC, NBA, and CBS on your TV. Plus, an antenna picks up these networks’ over-the-air broadcasts and delivers them to your TV in HD. You can watch games on NBA and ABC weekly using an antenna. However, if you plan to binge the playoffs, this probably isn’t your best option because you’ll still miss out-of-market games. Instead, you’ll want to use a streaming platform so you won’t miss a game.
NBA League Pass + NBA TV
If you sleep, eat, and drink the NBA, this is the streaming platform for you. It’s also the best option if you live outside of the US. League Pass, League Pass Premium, League Pass Audio Team Pass, and NBA TV, are the subscription options offered by the NBA. These plans range from around ten dollars to a couple of hundred dollars per year. If you only want to watch the playoffs and finals, you can save a significant amount of money by taking advantage of the NBA’s 7-day trial offer and then paying for the rest of the season.
If you subscribe to NBA League Pass Audio, you’ll be able to tune into the live audio feed of any game you want and these broadcasts aren’t subject to blackouts. If you subscribe to NBA TV, you’ll have live access to out-of-market games aired on NBA TV and the channel’s studio shows. On the other hand, if you are a dedicated fan of one team like the Golden State Warriors or the Boston Celtics and don’t care much about watching other teams play, the Team Pass may be the best option for you. If you select Team Pass, you’ll be able to watch your favorite teams’ games outside of your local marke, live or on-demand.
The next tier is the NBA league pass, which gives you access to all the games you want from teams throughout the league. If you want a commercial-free experience, then the NBA League Pass Premium would be the best option; it allows streaming on two devices at the same time. Keep in mind that if a game airs in your local market you may not be able to watch it due to blackouts. Insted, you’ll have to watch those for three days following their live broadcast. If you live outside the US and Canada, you won’t have to worry about blackouts.
ABC Live
While ABC doesn’t have the long list of options that the NBA offers, the network does have the distinction of being the official TV network to host and stream the NBA Finals in 2024. If your cable provider includes the ABC network, you can stream the Finals across all of your devices. All you have to do is visit the ABC website during the Finals, click on the Live option, enter your information from your account with your cable provider’, and start watching.
Hulu
If you live in the US, the Hulu + Live TV lineup is one among the most popular ways to watch sports live, including the NBA. Hulu’s Live TV package includes NBA Sports regional sports network (RSN), ESPN, and ABC. However, NBA TV, Bally Sports, or SportsNet RSNs aren’t included in this package. Even without those channels, it’s hard to beat what Hulu offers.
If you subscribe to the Hulu + Live TV option, you’ll also get 50 hours of DVR storage. You can upgrade to the Enhanced Cloud DVR add-on to increase DVR storage to 200 hours if you need more. There’s also an Unlimited Screens add-on that allows you to stream to an unlimited number of devices on your home network and three devices not connected to it, so nobody misses a game.
FuboTV
The up-and-coming streaming platform FuboTV is also an excellent choice for streaming sports. Fubo TV’s basic package comes with ABC and ESPN. However, if you pay extra for the Sports Plus add-on, you get the NBA TV channel, MSG, NBC Sports RSNs, and Root Sports. Every Fubo TV subscription includes 250 hours of DVR storage that’s yours to keep, and if that’s not enough, you can upgrade to the Cloud DVR 1000 for 1000 hours of DVR storage.
The basic plan allows you to stream to three devices simultaneously, or you can upgrade to the unlimited screen plan that allows ten streams at the same time on your home network and you can stream to two device that aren’t connected to the network. The platform has a “Lookback” option that lets you watch some sporting events for as many as 72 hours after they’ve aired and a “Startover” option that lets you restart a live broadcast from where it began.
If you want to watch other sports besides the NBA, FuboTV is an excellent option.
