What’s New for the 2018-2019 NBA Season?
- You can stream 25 of 30 NBA teams locally with Live TV Streaming Service
- You can subscribe to NBA League Pass directly from fuboTV, YouTube TV, and Sling TV
- You can purchase the 4th Quarter of Games for $1.99 from NBA.com & B/R Live
If you Live in the Same Market as Your Favorite Team
The NBA season is finally here — and over the past 12 months it’s become even easier to watch your favorite basketball team even if you’ve cut the cord.
There are six major streaming providers that offer Live TV Streaming. These allow you to watch games live using iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Chromecast, and Web.
This is the best option for fans that want to watch local in-market games, as well as nationally televised games on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV.
Starting at ~$25 a month, it’s an inexpensive way to stream your team’s games without having to commit to a cable subscription. When the season is over, you can cancel your subscription and save some money during the offseason.
| AT&T NOW | Fubo | Hulu | PS Vue | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sign Up | Free Trial | Free Trial | Sign Up | Get 50% Off | Sign Up | |||
| $54.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $50 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| ABC | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ESPN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| TNT | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NBA TV | - | + $8 | - | + $5 | + $11 | + $11 | ✓ | |
Our Pick
PlayStation Vue
You’ll get ABC, ESPN, TNT, NBA TV, and local coverage of your favorite team.
National Telecasts
ABC, ESPN & TNT
Most services include ABC, ESPN, and TNT in their basic plan.
ESPN and ABC will feature 101 live regular season games, up to 44 NBA Playoffs telecasting, including the NBA Finals.
ESPN will broadcast 84 of those games, with the remaining 17 ABC — mostly on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons starting in January.
TNT will feature 66 regular season games including an opening night double header. The schedule will feature 13 appearances by Lebron James and 12 appearances by Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and the Golden State Warriors.
In addition to the regular season games, TNT will be the home to the NBA All-Star Game and more than 40 NBA Playoffs games including the entire NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
You will either be able to stream these games with your streaming service or by authenticating with your credentials in the Watch TNT App or Watch ESPN App.
NBA TV
NBA TV will broadcast ~65 non-exclusive telecasts this season. They will also air the NBA Mexico City & London games.
For the general basketball fan, this is a good option to see teams that play outside of your home market.
You won’t be able to watch your local team though, as games of teams in your local market will be blacked out if the game is also being broadcast on your local RSN.
At $50 a month, PlayStation Vue is most comprehensive package for the sports fan who also wants NBA TV.
Hulu Live TV is the only service that doesn’t offer NBA TV.
Regional Telecasts
Regional Sports Networks
If you live in the same market as your favorite team, most of the games will be on a local regional sports network. You can stream 26 of 30 NBA teams locally on Live TV Streaming Services.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to stream Denver Nuggets (Altitude), Houston Rockets (AT&T SportsNet Southwest), Los Angeles Lakers (Spectrum SportsNet), or Utah Jazz (AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain) games in your local market.
For New York Knicks fans, only fuboTV ($45) and DIRECTV NOW ($55) offer MSG/MSG+ for coverage in the New York Area.
In Canada, we suggest checking out Sportsnet NOW for 100+ NBA games including 42 Toronto Raptors games this season.
Since every service doesn’t carries every RSN, the handy chart below shows which teams are available on each service. Click on the team name to see the full schedule and which games you’ll be able to watch with each provider.
Overflow Channels
Some games that appear on overflow channels may require you to watch on Fox Sports Go or NBCSports App.
TBD
All Live Streaming Options
You can stream live NBA games with Playstation Vue, Hulu Live TV, fuboTV, Sling TV, DIRECTV NOW, and YouTube TV.
Hulu Live TV
Price: $40
Includes: Local RSN, ESPN, TNT, ABC
fuboTV
Price: $45
Includes: Local RSN, TNT, NBA TV
PlayStation Vue
Price: $50
Includes: Local RSN, ESPN, TNT, ABC, NBA TV
DIRECTV NOW
Price: $55
Includes: Local RSN, ESPN, TNT, ABC, NBA TV (+$10)
YouTube TV
Price: $40
Includes: Local RSN, ESPN, TNT, ABC, NBA TV
Sling Orange + Blue
Price: $40
Includes: Local RSN, ESPN, TNT, NBA TV (+$10)
If you Live in a Different Market as Your Favorite Team
NBA League Pass
If you live away from your favorite team, you can still catch nearly every game. The NBA offers it’s out-of-market package, NBA League Pass, for $200 to watch every team, NBA Team Pass for $120 for a single team, or $6.99 for an single game.
Fans can upgrade to NBA League Pass Premium which replaces commercials with an in-arena stream for $50 per season.
Starting this season, at the end of the third quarter, fans will be able to buy the rest of the game for $1.99. Later this year, you will be able to buy individual quarters and halves at a lower price than the $6.99 they charge per game.
NBA League Pass will offer a free preview from October 16 through October 23.
Just like last season, you will be able to select home or away broadcasts, watch multiple games at the same time, and watch select games in VR.
You can stream on all major devices like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PS4, Xbox, iOS, Android, and Web.
Unfortunately, all games on NBA TV, TNT, ESPN, ABC, and local telecasts will be blacked out. You will need a Live TV Streaming Service for that.
If you already subscribe fuboTV, YouTube TV, or Sling TV, you will be able to purchase NBA League Pass directly from the service. The advantage to this is that you will be able to watch the games in your familiar streaming interface.