Best free option
Fubo
Fubo hands you a full week of NBCSN free, the longest no-cost run of any service that carries it.
Start free trial →
You don't need a cable bill to keep watching NBCSN. Here's every way to stream it online, and how to do it for free.
Reviewed and updated September 2026 by our cord-cutting team · 6 options
You can watch NBCSN without cable with a free trial on YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, and Fubo, or with a subscription to Sling Orange + Blue. Below, we count down the best ways to watch NBCSN that cord-cutters use. We made this ranking based on each service's value: how many other channels each dollar of subscription will get you.
The fastest ways to watch NBCSN without cable, at a glance
Fubo hands you a full week of NBCSN free, the longest no-cost run of any service that carries it.
Start free trial →
Nothing else on this page carries NBCSN for less each month.
Get YouTube TV Sports Plan →The widest lineup of the services carrying NBCSN, which is the one to pick if you are replacing cable rather than chasing a single channel.
Get YouTube TV →| Service | From | Free trial |
|---|---|---|
 Fubo |
$79.99/mo | 7 days |
 DIRECTV |
$89.99/mo | 5 days |
 Hulu + Live TV |
$89.99/mo | 3 days |
 YouTube TV |
$82.99/mo | 7 days |
 YouTube TV Sports Plan |
$64.99/mo | None |
| Youtube TV Sports + News Plan |
$71.99/mo | None |
 YouTube TV Sports + News + Entertainment Plan |
$77.99/mo | None |
We routinely follow over a hundred live TV and streaming services in the US, closely monitoring their plans, features, and channel lineups. All of that work is on our cord-cutting hub.
Beyond this, we have been reviewing the best on streaming services since 2013, recommending highly-rated but little-known movies and shows: we find the gems that you haven't yet watched, that you will probably like.
Fubo is a live TV and on-demand streaming service. The platform had it beginning as a soccer stream service, but it quickly became popular as a viable alternative to expensive cable subscriptions in the U.S, offering an attractive bundle of more than 100 live channels as well as an endless array of on-demand movies.
Fubo plans
DIRECTV plans
The “Hulu + Live TV” plan mixes Hulu’s exclusive offering of Originals with around 90 TV channels (the channels available depend on where you live). If you already have Hulu, getting the Live TV addition is usually cheaper than subscribing to another Live TV service. And if when you want to cancel the Live TV plan, you can click “cancel” on Hulu which will give you the option to keep the On-Demand part while canceling the Live TV.
Hulu + Live TV plans
Our breakdown of Hulu + Live TV →
Youtube TV has quickly grown into one of the best choices for Live TV, offering both local and national channels like ESPN, CNN, Comedy Central, and others. Youtube TV’s marketing claims that by getting the platform, you could save up to $500 a year on cable. One major draw of the platform is unlimited cloud DVR storage that’s included in the $82.99 plan.
It’s also one of the most widely available Live TV streaming services, as you can get it on virtually every device from Fire TV to XBOX to Smart TV brands like LG.
YouTube TV plans
It might take a while to roll out in your area, but YouTube TV is offering a skinny bundle curated just for sports fans. The YouTube TV Sports Plan gives fans access to all the major sports networks at $18 less than the original YouTube TV base plan. That means fans can watch FS1, NBC Sports Network, and all of the ESPN networks on their intuitive platform at a cheaper price.
This plan can also be combined with the NFL Sunday Ticket, which YouTube TV still holds exclusive rights to. This fall, they’ll also be adding access to ESPN Unlimited.
YouTube TV Sports Plan plans
Our breakdown of YouTube TV Sports Plan →
What if you can enjoy YouTube TV, but only pay for the channels you actually watch? YouTube TV’s Sports + News Plan is one of the many cheaper skinny bundles the streamer released this year, and as you can probably tell from the name, the line-up includes channels from ESPN and Fox Sports, as well as major news networks like CNN, ABC, and NBC. That makes this plan a great choice for sports fans who still want to stay up-to-date with what’s going on around the world.
With YouTube TV’s multiview feature, subscribers could even keep up with matches and breaking news at the same time. Only interested in sports? You can check out our notes on the YouTube TV Sports Plan here.
Youtube TV Sports + News Plan plans
Our breakdown of Youtube TV Sports + News Plan →
While one of the skinnier bundles now offered by YouTube TV, this plan is rather unexpected. After all, isn’t the point of making smaller, more affordable streaming plans? The combination of all three surely would cost a lot. Sports + News + Entertainment = Expensive? Surprisingly not. Despite combining all the three, somehow the cost is five whole dollars short of the original YouTube TV monthly base plan. It’s almost like getting a discount. If your plan will only be used by adults– there’s not much child-friendly channels in the line-up– swapping to this plan saves you a little for a rainy day.
Not interested in entertainment? Check out YouTube TV Sports + News Plan.
YouTube TV Sports + News + Entertainment Plan plans
Our breakdown of YouTube TV Sports + News + Entertainment Plan →
The honest way to watch NBCSN for free is a free trial, and the trick is not to spend them one at a time. Start one, then start the next when it ends, and you can string together a few weeks of free live TV back to back, usually enough to cover a tournament or a playoff run without paying for a month.
NBCSN and the US services that carry it are geo-locked to the United States, so your login stops working the moment you leave the country. A VPN fixes that: connect to a US server and the service sees a US address again. The catch is that streaming platforms actively block most VPN traffic, so the VPN you pick matters far more than the service does. These three reliably get back in:
A huge US server network (thousands of IPs across 15-plus cities) with SmartPlay DNS baked into every server, so streaming just works without extra setup. The best value of the top tier on a two-year plan.
Best for streaming NBCSN with: Hulu + Live TV
Get NordVPN →The budget pick, and the one to get if the whole household travels: it allows unlimited simultaneous devices on one account, plus a Smart DNS for TVs. Reliable with the on-demand and lifestyle services.
Best for streaming NBCSN with: Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV
Get Surfshark →Whichever you pick, connect to a US city first, then sign in to NBCSN or the service that carries it as normal. Choose a VPN with a money-back window so you can confirm it un-blocks NBCSN before you commit.
No. NBCSN is a cable channel and doesn't broadcast over the air, so an antenna can't pick it up. An antenna only gets the free broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, The CW), which pair nicely with one of the services above; check which of those reach your address here.
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you sign up through one. That money is part of how we pay writers and keep the site free to read.
The people who test, price-check, and update our cord-cutting coverage.
Four criteria, each out of 100. The overall score is their weighted average: content 38%, value 27%, apps 22%, streaming quality 13%.
Value for money
0The most expensive service of its kind.
100The cheapest service of its kind.
Content quality
0None of the ten most-watched cable channels, or nothing from our recommended list.
100All ten channels, or the deepest catalog of titles we recommend.
Apps and devices
0A one-star app that runs on none of the 12 major devices.
100Five-star apps on all 12 major devices.
Streaming quality
0Below 720p.
1004K on the plan we price.