Sling International Product Review

For soccer fans in the United States, live streaming of beIN SPORT is now available for $10/month via a new service named Sling International.

I had a chance to test drive the service this weekend, and here’s how it works. Sling International, not to be confused with DISH Network although they’re part of the same company (you don’t have to be a DISH subscriber in order to use Sling International), and not to be confused with beIN SPORT Play (they’re completely different products), is a live streaming service that features sports and international channels that you can watch on your TV, phone or Roku device.

Once you sign up for the Sling International package via the Sling International website (no contracts required; $10/month), setup takes a few minutes. You download an app via their website (the app is available for PC, Mac, Android tablet or phone, iPad, iPhone, iOS, Roku and Samsung TV or Samsung Blu-Ray devices).

Then you log in (see screenshot below) with the username and password you created when you signed up for the service, and you’re in.

The interface is easy to use and not overwhelming. And the streaming quality when I used the app was superb. No buffering. No pixelation. Just very high quality video and audio.

There’s also a “Watchlist” feature if you want to mark certain programming for viewing at a later date.

A brilliant feature is that you can go back through the TV guide for the last 8 days to play any of the programming you may have missed, or want to watch again.

Another neat feature is that when you join programming that has already started, you can select to either watch it from the beginning or join it live in progress (see screenshot below).

With the Sports package, you can watch programming from any of the following channels: beIN SPORT, beIN SPORT Espanol, One World Sports, Universal Sports (which offers rugby, cycling and other sports) and the Nautical Channel. With One World Sports, you can watch Arsenal TV, Chelsea TV and Bayern Munich TV.

With your Sports package subscription, you also have access (at no additional cost) to movies and English-speaking international channels. With the way the dashboard is designed, you can watch live programming (see below) on the left screen, while browsing through what other content is available in the right window.

Or you can focus on the game you’re watching by closing the right window pane, or you can view the match via full-screen.

Sling International fills a void for two completely different types of customers: (1) for soccer fans who unable to subscribe to beIN SPORT because their TV provider doesn’t offer it (COX, Charter, etc), and (2) for cordcutters, who want to free themselves from a TV contract but are interested in a streaming only package.

With a 30-day subscription to Sling International, you can select from a ton of games via beIN SPORT.

Check out Sling International today for more information. And when you’re ready to sign up, visit this page.

beIN SPORT has the exclusive rights to La Liga, Serie A, Ligue Un, Africa World Cup qualifiers, Copa America 2015, Championship, League Cup, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey and more. One World Sports has the rights to Chelsea TV, Arsenal TV, Bayern Munich TV, NASL, J-League and more.

Sling International is only available to residents of the United States.

Listen to our interview with Sling International to learn more about the service.