Streaming Service Question(s) for 25-26 Season

[Sargassoc]

This is a topic I routinely come back to, but I'm looking for the most current information from this group. I still have Xfinity cable, but am considering a streaming service. As far as I can tell, only DirectTV and FUBO's lineups offer both UConn WBB and the YES Network (Yankees fan too).

1. Now that SNY is no longer going to be broadcasting UConn WBB, how will you be watching them this coming season?

2. If you don't use cable, what streaming service do you use?

3. What do you pay for that streaming service?


TIA

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m worried that not all games will be televised.

 

[Majic Hands]

1. Now that SNY is no longer going to be broadcasting UConn WBB, how will you be watching them this coming season?

I have no idea.

For several years I used an IPTV service which had SNY and every other channel except when the game was on Flohoops.

About 5 months to figure it out?

My only concern is that without SNY we will find ourselves like fans of other teams where we have to purchase multiple services to watch our team.

Personally I think not having SNY, fewer people will see UConn games.

 

[hoopsdiva]

What streaming services will be carrying Big East games? Fox Sports? Aren't some of the big OOC games being carried by ESPN, CBS Sports and the like. Any others?

 

[Steelerone]

And once again the powers that be have, without any concern for the hardcore fan base, decided to shove it to the people who have helped build the loyal following. And God knows how many years now I've (and when I say I've I'm talking about the majority of people who are members of the Boneyard) supported the team by paying extra for a cable channel that televises the games, bought the Uconn Women's merchandise, gone to live games and sang the praises of Geno and the team. And the response of the PTB is to try to figure out a way to make the most money and if in doing so they rob the fan base, so what?

 

[hoopsdiva]

And once again the powers that be have, without any concern for the hardcore fan base, decided to shove it to the people who have helped build the loyal following. And God knows how many years now I've (and when I say I've I'm talking about the majority of people who are members of the Boneyard) supported the team by paying extra for a cable channel that televises the games, bought the Uconn Women's merchandise, gone to live games and sang the praises of Geno and the team. And the response of the PTB is to try to figure out a way to make the most money and if in doing so they rob the fan base, so what?

If you mean the powers that be at UConn, I don't think they had any choice in the matter. As I understand it, this was a Big East decision for the conference television rights. It sucks, but it's not UConn's fault.

 

[BobbyJ]

And once again the powers that be have, without any concern for the hardcore fan base, decided to shove it to the people who have helped build the loyal following. And God knows how many years now I've (and when I say I've I'm talking about the majority of people who are members of the Boneyard) supported the team by paying extra for a cable channel that televises the games, bought the Uconn Women's merchandise, gone to live games and sang the praises of Geno and the team. And the response of the PTB is to try to figure out a way to make the most money and if in doing so they rob the fan base, so what?

The Big East, which controls and sells the rights to it’s conference games, doesn’t care what team you or anyone else supports.

 

[Monte]

It's PART of UCONN's fault, because they are PART of the Big East.

 

[Golden Husky]

1. Now that SNY is no longer going to be broadcasting UConn WBB, how will you be watching them this coming season?

2. If you don't use cable, what streaming service do you use?

3. What do you pay for that streaming service?

Same as last season: You Tube

 

[Sargassoc]

1. Now that SNY is no longer going to be broadcasting UConn WBB, how will you be watching them this coming season?

2. If you don't use cable, what streaming service do you use?

3. What do you pay for that streaming service?

Same as last season: You Tube

Thanks. I looked at it (but I believe it doesn't also offer the YES Network).

 

[Bone Dog]

Same as last season: You Tube

I used YouTubeTV last season, because it’s equivalent to a cable service. But that only worked because it allowed me to login to the FoxSports app, which carried all the Big East games not available elsewhere based on a deal with SNY.

Now that SNY no longer has a contract with the Big East, it isn’t clear YouTubeTV will be a solution for those games. I don’t doubt that most of the Out Of Conference games will be carried by one or another network that will be viewable on YouTubeTV. But I also want to be able to watch the early season games against teams like Xavier, DePaul, Marquette and so on.

In the absence of a contract with a network small enough to want to televise those games, like SNY, I’m not confident that we’ll be able to watch some (or even many) of them even on replays on regular YouTube.

Is the YES network the new SNY? Will they have a contract with one or the other of the major networks, like Fox, that might carry their feed on a streaming app like FoxSports?

 

[Tisbutascratch]

Found this on the BigEast website:

The new agreement, which will span from 2025-26 through 2030-31, encompasses coverage on FOX Sports (FOX, FS1, FS2), NBC Sports (NBC, Peacock) and TNT Sports (TNT, TBS, truTV and Max). The agreement will provide major national broadcast, cable and direct-to-consumer streaming coverage of BIG EAST men’s and women’s basketball games and Olympic sport championship contests.

 

[meyers7]

Found this on the BigEast website:

The new agreement, which will span from 2025-26 through 2030-31, encompasses coverage on FOX Sports (FOX, FS1, FS2), NBC Sports (NBC, Peacock) and TNT Sports (TNT, TBS, truTV and Max). The agreement will provide major national broadcast, cable and direct-to-consumer streaming coverage of BIG EAST men’s and women’s basketball games and Olympic sport championship contests.

For a lot of us, this is going to be better. There were many games last year I could not see live. I had no way to access SNY. I had to wait and hope they showed up on YouTube.

I can get any of those channels/streaming services (listed above), unlike SNY.

 

[BRS24]

When the schedule is finalized and posted online, I usually sync it to my iphone/mac calendars, and then look at each event to figure out what network. It will be tough keep track of all the different networks involved this year, lol.

 

[Golden Husky]

I used YouTubeTV last season, because it’s equivalent to a cable service. But that only worked because it allowed me to login to the FoxSports app, which carried all the Big East games not available elsewhere based on a deal with SNY.

Now that SNY no longer has a contract with the Big East, it isn’t clear YouTubeTV will be a solution for those games. I don’t doubt that most of the Out Of Conference games will be carried by one or another network that will be viewable on YouTubeTV. But I also want to be able to watch the early season games against teams like Xavier, DePaul, Marquette and so on.

In the absence of a contract with a network small enough to want to televise those games, like SNY, I’m not confident that we’ll be able to watch some (or even many) of them even on replays on regular YouTube.

Is the YES network the new SNY? Will they have a contract with one or the other of the major networks, like Fox, that might carry their feed on a streaming app like FoxSports?

Hey, @Bone Dog:

I'm afraid my lack of tech savvy may have misinformed. I don't know what YouTubeTV is. I simply go to the YouTube site and watch the games a few hours after they're played. I realize that not viewing the games as they're being played is unacceptable for most UConn women's basketball devotees. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[ec33]

Just a guess, but if you want to watch all the games you are going to need access to some form of live TV platform (YouTubeTV/Hulu Live/Xfinity/Frontier, etc.) that gives you ESPN, NBC, TNT/TruTV, and the Fox Sports networks. You will also likely need Peacock and a way to watch games on the FoxSports app (I am assuming that any games on Max will be simulcast on the TNT or TruTV).

Last year on the men's side, there were a few games exclusively on Peacock. For the UConn men, it was against DePaul, Butler, and one other lesser Big East competitor.

Peacock will likely be running a sale in the next few weeks ahead of the Tour de France offering a good rate for a year's subscription.

 

[Henry]

Peacock ran a sale last month. I signed up then figuring it would get me through all of basketball season. They usually run a sale around Black Friday.

 

[Bone Dog]

Hey, @Bone Dog:

I'm afraid my lack of tech savvy may have misinformed. I don't know what YouTubeTV is. I simply go to the YouTube site and watch the games a few hours after they're played. I realize that not viewing the games as they're being played is unacceptable for most UConn women's basketball devotees. Sorry for the confusion.

Before the advent of YoutubeTV, that's what I did. But over time, fewer and fewer of those games were available as replays. I'm sure @MJL243 can say something about this. I believe SNY wanted to restrict unauthorized replays of its broadcasts. I'm sure it will be possible to watch a lot of next season's games as a replays on YouTube. But probably not all of them. Even last season's games are not all available as replays even now.

As for what YouTubeTV is, in case you're curious, it's a streaming service that gives you access to live tv broadcasts in much the same way a cable provider (like Comcast or Verizon might), but without having to get cable service. I get it through a Roku streamer on my TV. It's a paid subscription likely in the $80-90/month range, which means I only get it for the few months of the season and then cancel it. HuluLive works more or less the same way.

And to avoid confusion, Peacock and FoxSports are not cable providers or streaming alternatives to cable like YouTubeTV. They are more like channels that you access through cable but have to play an extra premium for.

 

[CL82]

This is a topic I routinely come back to, but I'm looking for the most current information from this group. I still have Xfinity cable, but am considering a streaming service. As far as I can tell, only DirectTV and FUBO's lineups offer both UConn WBB and the YES Network (Yankees fan too).

1. Now that SNY is no longer going to be broadcasting UConn WBB, how will you be watching them this coming season?

2. If you don't use cable, what streaming service do you use?

3. What do you pay for that streaming service?


TIA

I used Hulu live last season and I will probably stay with it. My subscription cost $83 a month. That includes ESPN+ which lets me watch other sports like baseball and hockey, but only the away games. It also includes Disney+. I watched a few things on it, but I really click over to it. It also includes 'regular' Hulu content, which includes ABC shows a day late and a wide range of movies and unique content.

I would also suggest that you download UConn+ to your smart TV so that it's only an easy click away. It's free and there is a lot of UConn women's basketball content on it. While I don't know this for sure, I suspect that a lot of the content that we are used to watching on SNY, coaches shows, etc., may end up on the UConn+ app.

Finally, I also subscribe to the Peacock app. This gives you NBC content, movies, etc., but last year had a few men's games on it. The quality is good in the cost pretty reasonable if you look for a sale. For example, less Thanksgiving, I paid $20 for a full year subscription. I'm not sure whether any women's games will be broadcast on it this year, but we will know that by next November. Right now the Peacock app can be purchased for $25 for a full year. At two dollars a month it's worth it.

I consider YouTube live and Hulu+ basically a wash. Either will give you access to the bulk of the women's games. I've ended up going with Hulu+ because of the access to ESPN+ which I find useful.

If you've never streamed before, as long as you have a relatively recent makes smart TV and a good Internet connection. It is visually no different from watching cable, in fact, arguably, you may actually end up watching games at a higher resolution. I remember making the choice myself to "cut the cord" and I wasn't at all convinced I would be happy with the product, but I am. I think you will be too once you get used to it.

I hope this helped.

 

[Zarathustra]

Hey, @Bone Dog:

I'm afraid my lack of tech savvy may have misinformed. I don't know what YouTubeTV is. I simply go to the YouTube site and watch the games a few hours after they're played. I realize that not viewing the games as they're being played is unacceptable for most UConn women's basketball devotees. Sorry for the confusion.

When the games are NOT on some live broadcast available to me, I listen
to the radio play by play (an internet link up) and then watched the full
game replay when it becomes available. I simply will not play for
multiple platforms.

 

[Steelerone]

If you mean the powers that be at UConn, I don't think they had any choice in the matter. As I understand it, this was a Big East decision for the conference television rights. It sucks, but it's not UConn's fault.

HD, let's not kid ourselves. If Uconn wants something the rest of the Big East will go along with it because we are the only drawing card in the conference.

 

[hoopsfan22]

HD, let's not kid ourselves. If Uconn wants something the rest of the Big East will go along with it because we are the only drawing card in the conference.

I think you greatly overestimate UConn's leverage.

 

[DefenseBB]

As noted, the Big East is now on Fox (and has been) so it should be available on the app that if you subscribe to a service with Fox Sports, you should be able to access. I cut the cable this past year and migrated to FUBO and got all the SEC, Big 10 and ACC conferences. I already had ESPN+ so I got the Big 12 as well. FUBO has TERRIBLE customer service but has great recording options and vast recording space.

Overall, I am not worried for this coming year. I did renew my XL and Gampel season tickets and have the HOF set of games as well. And do plan on the BE Tourney again. All in all, I am very much looking forward to the season.

I have already started memorizing the numbers- Blanca #4, Serah #22, Gandy #42, Kayleigh #9 and Kelis #7

 

[Bone Dog]

As noted, the Big East is now on Fox (and has been) so it should be available on the app that if you subscribe to a service with Fox Sports, you should be able to access. I cut the cable this past year and migrated to FUBO and got all the SEC, Big 10 and ACC conferences. I already had ESPN+ so I got the Big 12 as well. FUBO has TERRIBLE customer service but has great recording options and vast recording space.

Overall, I am not worried for this coming year. I did renew my XL and Gampel season tickets and have the HOF set of games as well. And do plan on the BE Tourney again. All in all, I am very much looking forward to the season.

I have already started memorizing the numbers- Blanca #4, Serah #22, Gandy #42, Kayleigh #9 and Kelis #7

Thanks. This is helpful. I'll check out FUBO for this season.

 

[Swish It 88]

Thanks. This is helpful. I'll check out FUBO for this season.

Beware! FUBO does not carry TNT,TBS,Tru, or MAX. These are all networks that UCONN can and will be on. You're better off staying with YoutubeTV or Hulu+Live.