Since the news about Sling TV was announced in January, we’ve received a lot of questions about the service, what it means for soccer fans and how it works, so instead of continuing to reply to each comment or e-mail individually, we thought it’d be more helpful to share the answers with everyone in this public post.
If you have any questions that aren’t answered on this page, post them in the comments section below and we’ll do our best to answer them via the article.
First, the basics. What is Sling TV?
Sling TV is an online streaming service that allows you to watch 20 or more channels on your computer, smartphone, tablet or set top box without requiring a cable or satellite TV subscription.
All you need is an Internet connection, and to pay a monthly subscriber fee.
The biggest differentiator about Sling TV is that it offers ESPN to subscribers, which is the only way to get the number one sports network in the US without requiring a cable or TV subscription.
What channels does Sling TV offer?
There are a variety of packages to choose from, which offer the following channels:
‘Sling Blue’ Package ($25/month): NBCSN, NBC, USA, FS1, FS2, FOX and many more.
‘Sling Orange’ Package ($20/month): ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, CNN, Disney Network, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, El Rey Network, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, ABC Family, Maker and Galavision.
‘Sports Extra’ Package ($5 extra/month): beIN SPORTS, ESPNEWS, Univision Deportes Network (UDN), ESPN U, Universal Sports, SEC Network, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Bases Loaded and ESPN Goal Line.
‘News & Info Extra’ Package ($5 extra/month): HLN, Cooking Channel, DIY Network and Bloomberg.
‘Kids Extra’ Package ($5 extra/month): Disney Jr., Disney XD, Boomerang, Baby TV and Duck TV.
More channels will be added in the future, too.
Does Sling TV offer UniMas and ESPN Deportes?
Yes. Take a look at the packages they have available (lots of options to choose from).
Is it legal?
Absolutely, 100% yes. Not only is it legal, but you don’t have to deal with the pop-ups, malware and annoying advertising you would see on illegal streams.
How does it work?
Sling TV (owned by DISH) has agreements in place with the major broadcasters to offer the channels online to you via your favorite device (computer, Roku, smartphone, tablet, etc).
Are there any restrictions?
The ESPN channels aren’t available on-demand, so you’ll have to watch those live (without rewind or fast forward controls) to catch your sports fix. The other channels on Sling TV allow you to rewind, fast forward and watch on-demand programming.
So when FOX announces that any number of the World Cup games involving the USMNT will be on FOX Sports 1, this won’t be any good, right?
Not for a bit. Fox and Dish get along together as well as oil and water, to put it nicely. Fox has been having a hissy fit for a while about some Dish products. That may change once the agreement for FS1 (actually it was for some other channel, but Fox decided to change things up), then maybe it could become available on SlingTV.
World Cup 2018 is 3 years away for the USMNT, so a lot can happen between now and then.
FOX has FOX Sports GO, their live streaming app. But if Sling TV takes off, it’s possible that Sling TV could be a viable partner for them.
“No. The only way to watch Premier League games online in the United States is via NBC Sports Live Extra, and NBC has no plans to make its programming available on Sling TV anytime soon.”
Is that because Comcast won’t allow it or that Dish and Comcast’s agreement for NBCSN isn’t up for renewal for a while?
SlingTV is great for some cord cutters. Just not EPL and classic film fans.
I really, really wish NBC would make its Live Extra platform accessible to Roku or Chromecast, or something like SlingTV. It’s frustrating as a cord-cutter to not be able to watch EPL on TV without going to the bar. Would gladly pay $10-15/month for that alone, but not willing to pay a $100 cable bill for 1 channel.
Since Comcast owns NBC it is not likely they would ever want to help you cut the cable.
Will I get access to the beinsport app on roku and computer if I get slingtv subscription
You’ll get access to the Sling TV app on Roku. On that Sling TV app, you can watch beIN SPORTS.
I’m not familiar with beIN SPORTS’ app specifically.
If i would be getting this subscription to watch the 2015 women’s world cup would I see any games?
For the Women’s World Cup games, they’re all on FOX. See http://worldsoccertalk.com/2015/05/20/us-tv-schedule-for-2015-womens-world-cup-on-fox-sports/
Sling TV doesn’t provide access to that. You would need FOX Sports GO to watch FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. A TV subscription is required however.
Why isn’t beIn sports in HD in spanish? will sling ever fix this?
Sling TV doesn’t offer beIN SPORTS en Espańol, but Sling International and fuboTV do (in HD).
can someone confirm this? When I tried Sling International, Bein Sports Español WAS NOT on HD. Have they changed it?
I dont thing so. Its SD for me also
You’re correct. beIN SPORTS Espańol is no longer in HD with Sling International. I believe it used to be when it was on DishWorld. However, fuboTV offers beIN SPORTS Espańol. See the video demo of it.
Nope. Wasnt then either.
i recently found out that the channels on sling tv is a bit behind than other networks for instance i would get notified when a team scores and I’m on BeIn sports it won’t happen until like 2 minutes later. is this my internet connection or the network?
It’s likely the Internet connection that may buffer from time to time and cause a slight delay.
Does beIN sports broadcast live games? I wanted to watch my team play today. They’re showing them, but it’s a broadcast of the last match they played instead of the one they’re playing now.
beIN SPORTS broadcasts games live and on-delay. Which one are you talking about specifically?
Researching this for soccer purposes and have a related question.
I like to watch sports on a TV. If I stream soccer from my using a slingbox and the watch it on a laptop. How does soccer look when I plug that laptop into a TV?
Some Web player software just doesn’t look good when transferred to the big screen and makes me feel slightly car sick when watching it.
For example sending nbc Sports from pc to chromecast doesn’t look great on TV.
Hi ,
Are you going to broadcast EURO 2016 on your site this summer .
Thank you ,
Yes. Sling TV is streaming the competition. The schedule is at http://worldsoccertalk.com/euro-2016-tv-schedule/
Hello, I have NBCSN legally through Sling TV. So why cant I use my Sling TV account to activate NBC Live Extra App on the Roku? It seems I still need a cable subscription to activate that. Why?
Correct, at least for the time being. Presumably NBC Sports Live Extra wasn’t part of Sling TV’s contract. Why? It’s possible that they weren’t able to negotiate a deal for it at this time.
It may be added in the future though. Stay tuned.
Thank you
NBC sports is now available on sling. However it seems only one channel is available whereas on regular cable a whole range of channels/games can be viewed.. Anyone know how to get to the additional channels on Sling?
At this time, you can get NBCSN, CNBC, USA and NBC (in select cities) with Sling Blue. The only one you’re missing is NBC Sports App, which should be added in the near future.
Hello sir, will the El Clasico be on demand after its played??…so as to watch it later in the day when I get off work.
beIN SPORTS en Español will re-run the game from 9-11:20pm ET on Sunday night. Or, if you have fuboTV, you can use fuboTV’s DVR to record the game and then watch it when you get home. More info about fuboTV is at http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/04/22/find-real-madrid-barcelona-el-clasico-us-tv-streaming/
If I subscribe to Sling on my Roku can I still use the NBC Sports App & NBC Sports Gold App to watch live & replays or do I have to have a traditional cable or satelite provider to use the apps?
With a subscription to Sling Blue via Roku, you can use your Sling TV login credentials to log into the NBC Sports App. For NBC Sports Gold, that’s a separate subscription. But with Sling TV and NBC Sports Gold, you wouldn’t need a cable or a satellite TV subscription.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is what to do for the games that are shown on the over-the-air NBC channel (sometimes on Saturdays from 12:30-2:30pm ET). Sling Blue currently offers live programming for NBC in the following cities:
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
Dallas-Ft. Worth
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
Washington DC
Boston (Manchester)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale
San Diego
Hartford-New Haven
If your city is not one of the above, you can watch your local NBC with a $10 HD indoor antenna. More info about that is available at http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/01/24/watch-premier-league-nbc-network-hd-indoor-tv-antenna/
Thanks. I paid my $50 and got the Gold App. I have 1 year left on a 3 year bundle deal from my cable company. Just trying to weight all my options. There will always be something you want in a package, no matter from whoever, you won’t be able to get.