Which streaming service should I choose for the World Cup?

November 10, 2022 6:26 AM

I'm looking to watch every game of the World Cup on my desktop computer (in the U.S.), and am wondering which streaming service I should choose to subscribe to, given some very specific feature requirements/wishes I have. Please advise!

Yes, I hate Qatar as host and everything that went into that reality... but I also hate a reality in which I don't watch the World Cup. So please let's leave that aside.

From what I gather, World Cup games will be aired on Fox Sports (Fox and FS1), and I understand that I can potentially access those channels through services like YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling, etc.

Then there is also Peacock, but I think they're only going to be broadcasting in Spanish, which doesn't work for me.

And then there is Fubo, which I have thought was a sports streaming service, but appears to just be an all-kinds-of-tv streaming service...? Like Sling? I also saw something about Vidgo, which I've never heard of, and additionally Tubi somehow will have all the games for free, but just not live? How on earth did Tubi find the money to get those rights? I'm guessing maybe it's free but constantly interrupted by ads?

But anyway, here's what I want in my chosen streaming solution:

- English-speaking commentators. Bonus point for British ones.

- The ability to watch games live, but ALSO as on-demand video available right after each game concludes and for several days after it happened.

- When using the on-demand feature, I want there to be no news about the scores (or anything else) in any games anywhere near the page(s) I'm having to navigate in order to access and play the games. NBC Olympics are a huge fail in this regard every time.

- Very good video quality by default, but ALSO the ability to turn down the streaming quality in order to save bandwidth, similar to what you can do on any pre-recorded YouTube video (ie the player has an option to downgrade video quality from 4k or HD all the way down to 480p and 360p).

- As few ads as possible. Absolutely no commercial interruptions during any half of football.

- Ideally only one service to deal with, rather than a combination of several.

- Ideally the broadcasts would include pre-game, halftime and post-game analysis/banter by a panel at a typically gaudy TV sports desk.


I am intrigued by the Tubi thing — if it really is free to watch, and if they have decent commentators, and don't interrupt any half of football with ads, and don't overlay giant ad banners during the game, and will have the games available to watch soon after they conclude, I'd consider foregoing the live option. Does anyone have any intel on what these broadcasts will be like?

But more importantly, assuming the Tubi thing is not going to be super ideal, which service(s) should I go with in order to meet the requirements above? Price is not a massive consideration if the free Tubi option is no good.

Thanks in advance for any and all insights!

posted by edlundart to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Looks like Tubi is owned by FOX Entertainment, so they're able to piggyback on whatever streaming agreement they made with FIFA. But reviewing the press release indicates that Tubi will only have replays available on-demand, not the live games. "Additionally, every FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ match will be available for free on-demand and programmed into the channel as replays."

If you want English-speaking commentators in the US, you're going to be getting the FOX feed unless you want to mess around with VPNs to try to get British or Canadian feeds. So I would pick whatever service gets you your local FOX broadcast channel (the US games will almost certainly be available over-the-air) and FOX Sports 1. You can also access direct streaming of those channels if you have a cable login and password, both on a computer or on a Roku. They should not run ads during the action, though I'm expecting splitscreens if there are water breaks at the midpoint of each half.

But let me add: don't knock the Spanish feed. I watched the Telemundo feed in 2018 after a year or so of half-heartedly doing Duolingo, because it didn't require a cable login (and also, I believe, because the Fox streaming site was still using Silverlight four years ago?). I didn't understand a ton of the commentary at the time--even the play-by-play was challenging--but it lit a spark in me to really dive into learning the language. Today I'm around a B1/B2 level and I'll be watching the Spanish feed by choice this month. I don't know if it will be free again in 2022, though.
posted by thecaddy at 7:14 AM on November 10, 2022

Fubo is a streaming cable service like Sling, YouTube TV, etc. I think they're owned by AT&T or something so they get more cable-only channels, like anything owned by Paramount. There's a bunch of these different services now, most have FS1 and Fox.

I'm apparently addicted to streaming because I have both Hulu and Fubo. Hulu only has World Cup with their live TV option, which is Hulu plus streaming cable like Sling, et al.

Sling has two versions Orange and Blue. They have different content with Blue having Fox Sports 1 and Fox TV. It's probably the cheapest way to get FS1 other than borrowing someone's cable login and watching directly on FS1's website, or getting an antenna and watching whatever is over the air on your local Fox station.

Most streaming services have a free trial period so I guess you could try a few and see how it works. TBH, YouTube TV had the best interface so far but they don't have the Pac12 or Root networks so we had to use Fubo.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:55 AM on November 10, 2022

I should add, all of the services should allow up or downscaling for bandwidth purposes. Some of them like YouTube TV offer 4k options even. You will have no control over the ads, they're set at the broadcaster level. My best suggestion for avoiding them is to DVR any game you're interested in and then fast forwarding through them. Watching on demand will also subject you to ads, only set by the provider. It's usually as many or more ads as watching live.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:00 AM on November 10, 2022

Sling has two versions Orange and Blue. They have different content with Blue having Fox Sports 1 and Fox TV

Seconding Sling for ease-of-use - I recently got them for the World Series, on advice of mefites. They also have a DVR feature.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:22 AM on November 10, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice so far. So the DVR thing on Sling and other services — is that in place of having all the games available on demand automatically? So like, I have to tell the service to record the games for me?

And, which of these services are least likely to ruin everything by telling me the score of the games before I get a chance to watch them? YouTube TV seems dangerous in that regard, in that I'm guessing they will still recommend other videos which will no doubt be reaction videos and highlight videos etc.

I have used Sling TV before through free trials (but didn't touch or know about the DVR feature), though only on my actual TV (I'll be watching these games mostly on my computer). It does seem relatively likely that they wouldn't put game results everywhere just based on what I've seen of their interface...
posted by edlundart at 11:15 AM on November 10, 2022

I have YouTube TV and record sports on it pretty regularly. (It is not the same thing as regular Youtube and will not show you random videos.) To record something, just go to an event on the TV schedule and add it to your "library." If it's part of a tournament, you'll get a prompt asking if you want to record just that event, every event for either team, or every event for the entire tournament. Select the whole tournament and it'll add recordings of every game to your library as they finish (storage is unlimited, though I think they eventually delete recordings after a certain length of time). When you view your library, there's no indication of scores or anything. That said, some games will be played simultaneously, so you're likely to be spoiled occasionally because the commentators will give updates on the other games as part of the broadcast.

Speaking of commentators, if you're in the US and watching on any of the services you're considering, you're getting the Fox commentators. You can see all the announcing teams here. It could be worse, though! Some of them are British, and JP Dellacamera and Aly Wagner are both great (and most importantly, none of them are Alexi Lalas).
posted by catoclock at 12:33 PM on November 10, 2022

Sometimes you can use someone else's cable/ISP login outside of their house. For example, I use someone else's login to watch World Cup and Euro Cup matches on Fox, I think. I have a Fox app on my Fire stick that does that. I haven't tried it since we got a Roku, though.

I have no idea about on demand and replay, though.
posted by Snowishberlin at 2:38 PM on November 10, 2022

Response by poster: catoclock, that's really useful info about YouTube TV, thanks! Seems like an appealing way to go for me, so maybe I'll choose between that and Sling.

Snowishberlin, I may have a situation like that, but yes, I think the on-demand part of that solution is either not there or less-than-great. Good point though that the live aspect of it may be a part of my solution.

Thanks to everyone else who has chimed in!
posted by edlundart at 2:25 AM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]