How to watch baseball playoffs without cable

[clemrick]

We don't have cable and in the past have tried Sling and Hulu Live to watch the baseball playoffs, without much success. It has been a few years and I believe the problems were technical-couldn't watch live and games were on channels not carried by whichever service we were using.

On the thread about Sling TV several people mentioned that their service, Sling, Hulu, had improved over the years, so I am thinking about giving it another go.

We really only want access for baseball playoffs, March Madness, and the Olympics. Otherwise, we don't watch much tv.

Any suggestions? or are our wants too esoteric for any of the cable alternatives to handle.

Thanks.

[fabdog]

I am using Direct TV NOW for streaming, and it has improved quite a bit both in stream quality and station offerings

Specifically looking at the upcoming baseball playoffs, they have FS1, my local Fox Channel, ESPN, TBS, MLB Network, so you would be covered for all the games

They have my local NBC station streaming as well

They do not have CBS

Mike

[typical.investor]

tv.youtube.com worked great for the World Cup.

Easy to schedule a recording (no limit) or watch live. Easy to cancel when not in playoff season!

[Jordan4FI]

I use www.reddit.com you can find links to all sports and games there. Search in the search block.. ie.. MLBstreams, NFLstreams, GOLFstreams.. and it is all FREE!

[BashDash]

Are some on local channels? Antenna? Locast.org depending on the city you are in?

[barnaclebob]

I'm pretty sure the MLB has a subscription package that allows you to stream on a roku or other streaming device. It might cost like $100 to get all of the games or something like that though.

[tev9876]

Streaming services have improved signifigantly over the last few years. Other than the occasional two second hangup I don't have issues with my Sling Blue package which streams Fox (also get by antenna), the Fox Sports local and FS1/FS2, TBS (plus TNT and USA where I think some games get pushed if they overlap in the early rounds) for only $25/month. The other (orange?) package includes ESPN and probably MLB which I think is an extra $30.

Most of the streaming services offer free trials for at least a couple weeks. Should give you plenty of time to evaluate several of them without risking any funds.

[LawEgr1]

We cut the cord over a year ago.

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25. Although it struggles in some bad weather, overall I'm pleased with the performance. All major channels come in HD along with several other locals. Well worth it.


HOWEVER, I have a thing for college football. My team is not typically on ABC/CBS/NBC on a weekly basis, it's on FSN or BTN, etc. I also like watching other games.

To compensate, I purchased HULU Beta streaming for $39.99/month and will discontinue mid-December upon close of the college football season. In my view, it's well spent money. Plus you get 50 hours of DVR time included. Gives you most / all of the sports channels you would want. I doubt MLB network is included, but I didn't get it for baseball so you would need to verify.


I suspect HULU may be something that works for you. Check it out: great interface, nothing confusing about the subscription package, can cancel easily. I found a lot of other packages or streaming services to be confusing.

[MotoTrojan]

Fubo TV is another to consider. Should be easy enough to verify what provider has the best price and channel coverage for your needs. They all have free 7 day trials (just need to cancel) too.

[beyou]

I use hulu live and plan to watch baseball playoffs.

[doss]

I use www.reddit.com you can find links to all sports and games there. Search in the search block.. ie.. MLBstreams, NFLstreams, GOLFstreams.. and it is all FREE!

Not legal.

[John Doe 123]

www.mlb.tv

You can get a 1 week free trial and it is $26 for the rest of the season thereafter.

The only rub is that it is out of market games only. If you want to see your local team play then you are stuck buying a cable package.

Playoff baseball is magic. Enjoy!

[aristotelian]

I use www.reddit.com you can find links to all sports and games there. Search in the search block.. ie.. MLBstreams, NFLstreams, GOLFstreams.. and it is all FREE!

Not legal.

What law does watching (as opposed to hosting) the stream violate? And has anyone in the history of the world been prosecuted for violating this law?

www.mlb.tv

You can get a 1 week free trial and it is $26 for the rest of the season thereafter.

The only rub is that it is out of market games only. If you want to see your local team play then you are stuck buying a cable package.

Playoff baseball is magic. Enjoy!

MLB.tv is absolutely fantastic for the regular season but sometimes they stop after the divisional series or only offer "selected" playoff games.

[John Doe 123]

www.mlb.tv

You can get a 1 week free trial and it is $26 for the rest of the season thereafter.

The only rub is that it is out of market games only. If you want to see your local team play then you are stuck buying a cable package.

Playoff baseball is magic. Enjoy!

Looks like for playoffs they have www.Postseason.TV... per mlb.tv web site:

"Postseason.TV: Subscribers to Postseason.TV, available only during the MLB Postseason, will be able to view live alternative video feeds (excluding the broadcast feed) from MLB Postseason games without blackout restrictions."

[runner3081]

I use www.reddit.com you can find links to all sports and games there. Search in the search block.. ie.. MLBstreams, NFLstreams, GOLFstreams.. and it is all FREE!

Not legal.

Well... that is a slippery slope. The legal issue is with sharing, not necessarily watching.

BUT if someone steals groceries, offers them to you and you take them... isn't there an issue?

With that said, I frequent the Reddit threads mentioned here.

[northtexan]

Playstation Vue is a month to month streaming that can be watched on a PS4, computer, and others. It will give you access to all the stations that carry the playoff games depending on which plan you choose. about 40-60 a month depending on the plan.

[Carter3]

Mlb.com

[sfchris]

Mlb.TV does not allow you to watch most playoff games as the USA rights have been sold to cable tv.

However if you are technically savvy you can set up a proxy in Asia and then use mlb.tv as there are no blackouts internationally.

[typical.investor]

tv.youtube.com worked great for the World Cup.

Easy to schedule a recording (no limit) or watch live. Easy to cancel when not in playoff season!

YouTube TV will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2018 and 2019 World Series.

Not sure if it's implemented yet but at some point in the future, YouTube TV members will also be able to add MLB.tv, the longest running sports streaming service in the U.S., for an additional fee.

https://www.mlb.com/news/youtube-tv--ma ... -268160628

[onourway]

YouTube TV is great. We tried a couple of other streaming services when dropping cable a year or so ago. YTTV is by far the best of them. This is clearly the future of TV. However none of them have the full channel selection at this time.

[wilked]

YouTube tv

You can have like 5 people on the account, so share the price with a few other cord cutters and it’s wicked cheap

[rich126]

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25

Although I'm an electrical engineer, antennas aren't my speciality, but I doubt you need an "HD" antenna. When I first got an HD tv in Arizona I was still waiting on getting Directv set up so I connected it to a standard antenna and had zero problems getting great HD pictures (I think in most cases the OTA picture is better since it isn't compressed like it is via satellite/cable).

So if you are paying more for an HD antenna you are just wasting money.

I did a quick google search and found that to be true -

There is no difference between a regular and a HDTV antenna. ... Any antenna can pick up HDTV signals. They are broadcast on the same frequencies that even the classic rabbit ears can pick up. The digital signal is, however, much less forgiving of bad antenna placement than analog signals were.

[LawEgr1]

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25

Although I'm an electrical engineer, antennas aren't my speciality, but I doubt you need an "HD" antenna. When I first got an HD tv in Arizona I was still waiting on getting Directv set up so I connected it to a standard antenna and had zero problems getting great HD pictures (I think in most cases the OTA picture is better since it isn't compressed like it is via satellite/cable).

So if you are paying more for an HD antenna you are just wasting money.

I did a quick google search and found that to be true -

There is no difference between a regular and a HDTV antenna. ... Any antenna can pick up HDTV signals. They are broadcast on the same frequencies that even the classic rabbit ears can pick up. The digital signal is, however, much less forgiving of bad antenna placement than analog signals were.

Well this is interesting. I didn't know this.

I don't recall seeing anything branded as a non "HDTV" or "HD" antenna, so I wonder if it is just a marketing thing. To be fair, I would've bought the "HD" version anyway because I didn't know any better at the time.

[Ice-9]

Sling TV actually has two plans - Blue and Orange. Fox Sports 1, which carries MLB playoffs, is on the Blue plan.

[magazinewriter]

I use hulu live and plan to watch baseball playoffs.

Another vote for Hulu Live. I used the service this past February to watch the Winter Olympics on NBCSN and cancelled it when they were over.

[tennisplyr]

Not sure if this would work but the ESPN3 app was good for the US Open.

[Road2Freedom]

Would also recommend YouTube TV. Trialed several of them and they seemed to be the best. You can do a free 7-day trial. It is also $40/mo and you can cancel at any time.

[clemrick]

www.mlb.tv

You can get a 1 week free trial and it is $26 for the rest of the season thereafter.

The only rub is that it is out of market games only. If you want to see your local team play then you are stuck buying a cable package.

Playoff baseball is magic. Enjoy!

Looks like for playoffs they have www.Postseason.TV... per mlb.tv web site:

"Postseason.TV: Subscribers to Postseason.TV, available only during the MLB Postseason, will be able to view live alternative video feeds (excluding the broadcast feed) from MLB Postseason games without blackout restrictions."

Thank you for that. I will have my husband look for it. He gets the mlb.com audio subscription every year because he likes to work on other things and listen so he doesn't pay for the more expensive video.

[clemrick]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will wade through them and see what works for us.

[criticalmass]

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25

Although I'm an electrical engineer, antennas aren't my speciality, but I doubt you need an "HD" antenna. When I first got an HD tv in Arizona I was still waiting on getting Directv set up so I connected it to a standard antenna and had zero problems getting great HD pictures (I think in most cases the OTA picture is better since it isn't compressed like it is via satellite/cable).

So if you are paying more for an HD antenna you are just wasting money.

I did a quick google search and found that to be true -

There is no difference between a regular and a HDTV antenna. ... Any antenna can pick up HDTV signals. They are broadcast on the same frequencies that even the classic rabbit ears can pick up. The digital signal is, however, much less forgiving of bad antenna placement than analog signals were.

True you just need a VHF/UHF tv antenna tuned for the broadcast bands. The UHF band is used more than it used to for major channels since rebanding but VHF is still in use.

But many sellers market them as HD since that’s how they are used these days. The HD label doesn’t provide any benefit, but a good amplifier may.

[rich126]

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25

Although I'm an electrical engineer, antennas aren't my speciality, but I doubt you need an "HD" antenna. When I first got an HD tv in Arizona I was still waiting on getting Directv set up so I connected it to a standard antenna and had zero problems getting great HD pictures (I think in most cases the OTA picture is better since it isn't compressed like it is via satellite/cable).

So if you are paying more for an HD antenna you are just wasting money.

I did a quick google search and found that to be true -

There is no difference between a regular and a HDTV antenna. ... Any antenna can pick up HDTV signals. They are broadcast on the same frequencies that even the classic rabbit ears can pick up. The digital signal is, however, much less forgiving of bad antenna placement than analog signals were.

True you just need a VHF/UHF tv antenna tuned for the broadcast bands. The UHF band is used more than it used to for major channels since rebanding but VHF is still in use.

But many sellers market them as HD since that’s how they are used these days. The HD label doesn’t provide any benefit, but a good amplifier may.

That may be true now (i.e., marketing them as HD since few would use them as UHF/VHF or may not even know what uhf/vhf is/was) but when they first came out it was now to fool people into buying something they didn't need for more money. Instead of a cheap $10 antenna but this expensive $35 special HD antenna!

[criticalmass]

To compensate, I bought an HD antenna for ~ $25

Although I'm an electrical engineer, antennas aren't my speciality, but I doubt you need an "HD" antenna. When I first got an HD tv in Arizona I was still waiting on getting Directv set up so I connected it to a standard antenna and had zero problems getting great HD pictures (I think in most cases the OTA picture is better since it isn't compressed like it is via satellite/cable).

So if you are paying more for an HD antenna you are just wasting money.

I did a quick google search and found that to be true -

There is no difference between a regular and a HDTV antenna. ... Any antenna can pick up HDTV signals. They are broadcast on the same frequencies that even the classic rabbit ears can pick up. The digital signal is, however, much less forgiving of bad antenna placement than analog signals were.

True you just need a VHF/UHF tv antenna tuned for the broadcast bands. The UHF band is used more than it used to for major channels since rebanding but VHF is still in use.

But many sellers market them as HD since that’s how they are used these days. The HD label doesn’t provide any benefit, but a good amplifier may.

That may be true now (i.e., marketing them as HD since few would use them as UHF/VHF or may not even know what uhf/vhf is/was) but when they first came out it was now to fool people into buying something they didn't need for more money. Instead of a cheap $10 antenna but this expensive $35 special HD antenna!

I’m not so sure, VHF and UHF broadcast tv bands have been labeled as such (accurately even!) for longer than I’ve known what a tv is. The HD label arrived when broadcasts began in digital format (often HD) about a decade ago. I fussed around with cheap $10 “hd ” antennas (remember meritline?) but am much happier with an amplified model. I’ve been using Leaf ($50, not sure if it was labeled hd) but if anyone has had better experiences with another make, I’d be happy to hear. My leaf mohu usually works well, but sometimes not. Best solution would be a big antenna in the attic, but running the coax between there and my televisions is an issue.

[rich126]

I haven't used it but some have suggested (elsewhere) checking out http://www.tvfool.com/

Provides info on channels in various areas.

[dm200]

We don't have cable and in the past have tried Sling and Hulu Live to watch the baseball playoffs, without much success. It has been a few years and I believe the problems were technical-couldn't watch live and games were on channels not carried by whichever service we were using.

On the thread about Sling TV several people mentioned that their service, Sling, Hulu, had improved over the years, so I am thinking about giving it another go.

We really only want access for baseball playoffs, March Madness, and the Olympics. Otherwise, we don't watch much tv.

Any suggestions? or are our wants too esoteric for any of the cable alternatives to handle.

Thanks.

try mlb.com - tv 'package'

[ADower]

Super easy!

If you have an iPhone you need to buy an HDMI to DVR cable. They're ~40$. Next, go buy a gold tip HDMI Cord.

Search on reddit for live feeds of the game on your phone. Plug the phone into the HDMI to dvr cable and the HDMI cord into the tv and you've got free games.

[wilked]

Super easy!

If you have an iPhone you need to buy an HDMI to DVR cable. They're ~40$. Next, go buy a gold tip HDMI Cord.

Search on reddit for live feeds of the game on your phone. Plug the phone into the HDMI to dvr cable and the HDMI cord into the tv and you've got free games.

not legal

[bh7785]

YouTube TV is great. We tried a couple of other streaming services when dropping cable a year or so ago. YTTV is by far the best of them. This is clearly the future of TV. However none of them have the full channel selection at this time.

This. I've tried all the major streaming providers extensively. In my opinion Youtube TV has them all beat by a fair margin. Both in terms of quality and features.