College football season is upon us, and as teams have jumped conferences, so too have the conferences shuffled their television providers. Here’s a quick look at where things stand in terms of what conference is on which networks entering the 2024 season:
What conference is on which networks entering the 2024 season
To be able to watch every college football game this season, you need access to several networks and streaming services
To be able to watch every college football game this season, you need access to the above networks plus the following streaming services:
Peacock ($7.99 per month): Nine games featuring at least one Big Ten team, the Apple Cup rivalry game between Washington and Washington State (Sept. 14) and Notre Dame’s Sept. 28 game vs. Louisville will stream exclusively on NBC’s streaming service.
ESPN Plus ($10.99 per month): ESPN’s streaming service will be the lone option for many games, including contests from the ACC, SEC, Big 12, MAC, AAC, Conference USA and Sun Belt.
Mountain West Network (free): The Mountain West’s streaming service will be the lone option for a handful of games from that conference.
Team1Sports (free): You’ll need to download the Team1Sports app to watch six games featuring Hawaii, and then only on a cellphone.
To figure out the most economical options for college football fans, we are going to operate under the assumption that cable will be more expensive than streaming, which I can verify from my own experience. While researching this story, I got rid of cable and will save about $100 per month moving forward.
Knowing that, here are the two best streaming options that will get you every college football game this season. (For the sake of this exercise, we are not including the cost of home internet, so add whatever you pay to the numbers below.) One of the options will be cheaper during college football season, but the other will be cheaper down the line.
YouTube TV/Peacock/ESPN Plus
YouTube’s streaming service — which has all the networks one would need to watch most college football games — is offering a deal for new users: $52.99 per month for the first four months, which would cover college football season. After that, it rises to $72.99 per month.
YouTube TV (first four months, new users only): $52.99/month
Peacock: $7.99/month
ESPN Plus: $10.99/month
Total (first four months): $71.97/month. After four months, the cost rises to $91.97 per month.
Hulu + Live TV/Peacock
Hulu’s live-TV streaming service also offers all the networks one would need to watch the bulk of the college football action, with the added bonus that the monthly rate also includes a subscription to ESPN Plus (and Hulu and Disney Plus, for that matter, if those services interest you).
Hulu + Live TV (includes ESPN Plus): $76.99/month
Peacock: $7.99/month
Total: $84.98/month
But what about Venu Sports?
Venu Sports, a new streaming service from Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, was slated to launch this month. But Aug. 16, a federal judge issued an injunction against the venture amid an antitrust lawsuit filed by FuboTV, another streaming service. Until that legal matter is cleared up, Venu cannot begin operations.
The plan was for Venu to cost $42.99 per month and include the following networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ABC, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Big Ten Network and truTV. A Venu Sports subscription also includes access to ESPN Plus.
However, Venu Sports will not provide access to games on CBS/CBS Sports Network or NBC/Peacock. To get around the CBS issue, you could purchase an HDTV antenna to pull in your local affiliate. A good one can be purchased for around $25, so we’ll use that in our price estimate. However, there is no truly inexpensive way to get CBS Sports Network without paying for another streaming service, so the Venu Sports route will leave a fairly sizable hole. (CBS Sports Network is a prime source of Mountain West, Mid-American and AAC action.) But if you can get by without it — and don’t mind going with a sports-only package — here’s what it would cost if Venu Sports ever gets off the ground:
Venu Sports: $42.99/month
HDTV antenna: $25 (one-time payment)
Peacock: $7.99/month
Total: $75.98 for the first month, $50.98/month after that
