Awful Announcing’s 2026 streaming service rankings for sports fans

Welcome to Awful Announcing’s second annual streaming service rankings for sports fans.

Streamers play an ever-increasing role in sports fans’ lives, and each service offers varying value for money. More sports programming continues to shift from linear television to streaming, and streaming service prices continue to rise as a result. As such, our rankings have shifted since last August.

Paramount+, for instance, is now the exclusive home for the UFC. Netflix has more than doubled the number of NFL games it will air this season and will exclusively stream the Women’s World Cup next summer. Prime Video will air the NBA’s Eastern Conference Final for the first time.

These rankings are designed to help sports fans decide which streamers offer the best value for the upcoming year, based on both subscription price and the quality of live sports available on the platform.

So without further ado, here are AA’s top streaming services for 2026.

9. DAZN

Cost: $34.99 per month, or $24.99 per month for an annual contract.
Live Sports: Combat sports, niche soccer, international basketball, various local NBA rights
2025 Rank: 9th

As one of the more expensive offerings on this list, with only limited live rights in the United States, DAZN once again ranks last in our streaming service power rankings. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of the fifth tier of English soccer or simply need to catch FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers, there’s not a lot of reason to have DAZN.

The streamer is making a bit of a name for itself in the local rights department, however. This season, DAZN will likely have some local streaming rights for 10 NBA teams, with a handful of those teams streaming games exclusively on the platform. Those offerings will be available as standalone packages at different price points. Still, the move into local rights will at least make DAZN more relevant to American consumers than it has been.

8. Apple TV

Cost: $14.99 per month, or $119 for annual plan
Live Sports: MLS, MLB, Formula One
2025 Rank: 8th

Apple TV stays put at eighth in our rankings this year, though it has made strides since our first list came out last August. The streamer is still the exclusive home for MLS, but this season dropped the $ 99-per-year Season Pass requirement, instead making games available to all Apple TV subscribers. The monthly subscription, however, has increased from $12.99 to $14.99. Apple TV also gained exclusive Formula One rights this past year, making it a must-have for motorsport fans.

What holds Apple back in our rankings is that its sports offerings are relatively niche. Unless you’re a fan of MLS or F1, there’s little reason to purchase the streamer based on its live sports lineup alone. However, even if its ranking is stagnant at eighth, Apple TV is at least trending in the right direction.

7. Fox One

Cost: $19.99 per month, $199.99 annually
Live Sports: MLB, NASCAR, Big Ten, Big 12, Mountain West
2025 Rank: 6th

Fox One slips to seventh place from our inaugural rankings last year. The service remains relatively expensive for what you get. For this exercise, we removed live sports programming available on broadcast networks, since those games can be accessed for free with an antenna. That hurts Fox One because nearly all of its important sports programming is available for free on Fox.

What’s left is programming found on FS1, FS2, and Big Ten Network. FS1 still holds some vital postseason MLB inventory, which could make Fox One a worthy purchase in October. If you’re looking for Big Ten, Big 12, or Mountain West football or basketball games that aren’t slated for Fox’s broadcast network, Fox One will also come in handy. And the network still airs a handful of NASCAR Cup Series races each year.

But at $19.99 per month, Fox One is more of a streamer that sports fans might get for a month at a time rather than keeping for an entire year.

6. Paramount+

Cost: $8.99 per month with ads ($89.99 annual)
Live Sports: UFC, UEFA Champions League, various other international soccer
2025 Rank: 5th

Paramount+ also slides one spot in the rankings this year, though its value proposition has gotten better over the past 12 months if you’re a certain type of sports fan. At only $8.99 per month, Paramount+ is one of the more affordable streamers on the list. And as the new exclusive home for UFC, the streamer is an incredible value for combat sports fans who no longer need to pay huge pay-per-view bills for monthly numbered fight cards.

The same is true for fans of European soccer. Access to every UEFA Champions League match, plus other leagues and competitions like Serie A and the Europa League, is a really good deal.

The reason for Paramount+’s slide is that its offerings are rather segmented. Unless you’re a fan of UFC or Champions League, there’s not much reason to subscribe. To be sure, there are many UFC and/or Champions League fans in the United States, which is why Paramount+ remains a respectable sixth in our rankings. But if you’re a fan of multiple sports, Paramount+ is just one of many subscriptions you’ll need.

5. Netflix

Cost: $8.99 per month with ads
Live Sports: NFL mini-package (Week 1, Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas doubleheader, Week 18), WWE Monday Night Raw, MLB mini-package (Opening Night, Home Run Derby, special game), 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, boxing
2025 Rank: 7th

Netflix has made the biggest year-over-year jump in our rankings, from seventh to fifth. The reasoning is pretty straightforward. Netflix expanded its NFL package from two to five games this season, added a trio of MLB events, and will broadcast the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup next summer. And at $8.99 per month, Netflix is also one of the more affordable streamers on this list.

The key to Netflix’s ascension isn’t just that it added inventory; it added important NFL inventory that can’t be accessed anywhere else. (Remember, Fox One and Paramount+ aren’t getting credit for including NFL games when those games can already be accessed for free via antenna.) NFL fans who want to catch the second game of the season will need Netflix. If they want to watch the Thanksgiving Eve game, they’ll need Netflix. Christmas Day? Netflix. Even a key Week 18 game will be siloed away on Netflix.

While this will certainly frustrate many NFL fans, the league’s relative popularity compared to other sports leagues gives Netflix a boost.

Then, of course, the streamer will be home to the biggest sporting event of the summer in the Women’s World Cup.

Netflix doesn’t have much in the way of sports by volume, but the sports rights it does have are high-value to most fans, making its fifth-place spot justifiable in 2026.

4. Peacock

Cost: $12.99 per month, or $129.99 per year
Live Sports: NBA, MLB, Big Ten, English Premier League, Olympics, WNBA, Week 17 NFL game, various others
2025 Rank: 2nd

Peacock slides two spots from second to fourth in this year’s rankings, partly because of its recent (and frequent) price hikes, but also because of a couple of things out of its control.

For starters, Peacock has a formidable lineup of exclusive live sports. Select postseason NBA games, select MLB regular-season and Wild Card games, select Big Ten football and basketball, the English Premier League, Olympics, and even an exclusive NFL game in Week 17.

Unfortunately, the next 12 months will not feature the Olympics, which significantly hurts Peacock’s consumer-value outlook. It will also not feature a World Cup, as Spanish-language rights for the Women’s World Cup are held by Netflix next summer. That means two of the biggest reasons Peacock was a must-have streaming service for sports fans last year don’t apply to the upcoming year.

As such, the streamer is heavily reliant on early-round NBA and MLB playoff games getting people in the door. There’s also the Week 17 NFL exclusive, which is of value to fans. But even Peacock’s old standby, the English Premier League, is now fractured after NBC spun off USA Network as part of Versant, meaning the streamer no longer has all of the league’s games.

3. HBO Max

Cost: $18.49 per month for Standard plan (lowest-priced option to include live sports), or $184.99 per year
Live Sports: College Football Playoff, March Madness, MLB, NASCAR, NHL, French Open, various others
2025 Rank: 4th

In terms of raw sports-rights quality, HBO Max is probably equal to the streamer slotted ahead of it in second. HBO Max subscribers will get access to five College Football Playoff games this season: two first-round matchups, a pair of quarterfinal games, and a semifinal game. The streamer also has about 70% of March Madness inventory (every game that isn’t on CBS), the NHL postseason, including the Stanley Cup Final in 2027, the MLB postseason, five NASCAR Cup Series races, the French Open, and a variety of regular-season college football and basketball games.

None of these games are available for free on broadcast television, so fans must choose between an HBO Max subscription or a pay-TV bundle to get them. Most sports fans would agree that nearly half the College Football Playoff and over half of March Madness is must-have inventory.

What places HBO Max in third is the price. At $18.49 per month, it is not cheap to get all these live sports. However, if timed correctly, sports fans can pick and choose a few months each year to subscribe to HBO Max without missing too many critical live sporting events.

2. Prime Video

Cost: $8.99 per month (or included in standard Amazon Prime membership)
Live Sports: NFL, NBA, WNBA, NASCAR, Masters
2025 Rank: 3rd

Rising one spot to second place is Prime Video. The streamer remains an essential part of a sports fan’s setup, even if that fan subscribes to a pay-TV bundle, because of its weekly NFL package and exclusive NFL Wild Card game. At $8.99 per month, it is one of the most affordable streamers on the list, and many people get it at no additional cost through a standard Amazon Prime membership.

Crucially, this upcoming NBA season will be the first time Prime Video exclusively airs the Eastern Conference Final, adding yet another reason for sports fans to get the streamer.

Prime Video has also made some smaller moves recently to up its value proposition. It added early-round coverage of the Masters. It will have significant WNBA postseason inventory. And it’s in its second year of broadcasting five NASCAR Cup Series races.

Given the importance of the NFL and NBA inventory it holds, combined with its comparatively affordable price, Prime Video is a deserving second on this year’s list.

1. ESPN

Cost: $31.99 per month, or $319.99 per year
Live Sports: Almost everything
2025 Rank: 1st

Even with its recent price hikes, it’s hard to place ESPN’s direct-to-consumer offering anywhere but at the top. Even when subtracting events that air on ABC, which now include much of the College Football Playoff, the NBA Finals, and about half of ESPN’s Monday Night Football games, the sheer amount of live sports rights ESPN has makes it impossible for a sports fan to live without the four-letter network.

Any number of college football games air on the ESPN family of networks. About half of Monday Night Football is exclusive to ESPN. Tennis grand slams? ESPN. NBA regular season? ESPN. NHL postseason? ESPN. Any NCAA championship event that isn’t men’s college basketball? ESPN.

That’s not to mention the outrageous amount of live sports content exclusive to the app itself. ESPN subscribers access the NHL out-of-market package for free. The app is home to every WWE Premium Live Event. If you want to watch any match of a Grand Slam tennis tournament (other than the French Open), the ESPN app is the only place to do it. Early-round PGA Tour coverage? Only on the ESPN app.

This list doesn’t even really scratch the surface. Think about the amount of live sports that air on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, or ACC Network in a given week. It’s hard to think of a sports fan who can live without all of those channels and still get everything they want.

One way or another, whether through the app or a pay-TV bundle, sports fans need ESPN. There’s simply no way around it.