Streaming Sports You Should Watch in 2020

Streaming Sports in 2020, what to watch? Mainstream sports are some of the most expensive rights in television, with good reason. Sports can aggregate fans consistently every week in a way that other content wishes it could. You can’t download a whole season of the 49ers and binge watch over a weekend. Even the best, most creative drama series have to come to an end. Sports generate fresh new storylines season after season without a team of expensive writers.

 

Viewers have plenty of options for all kinds of US and European-centric sports. ESPN+, Hulu, Youtube, DAZN, FuboTV and even Amazon Prime Video have a huge selection of football, soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball and boxing at all levels and leagues.

 

But what about audiences with more “exotic” tastes in sports, at least from a US perspective? Where can we find the sports from home we grew up with, or play ourselves and want to watch the professionals in action? Below I take a look at some of the best OTT streaming services giving passionate fans what they want.

 

WILLOW TV

I have tried hard to explain cricket to my American friends, with limited success. With 2.5 billion fans, it ranks only behind soccer in terms of global popularity. While enjoying only a modest profile in the US, cricket is immensely popular in Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other Commonwealth countries.

The best place to watch in the US is on Willow, an app owned by the Indian media conglomerate Times Group. It features all the game formats: test matches, one day internationals and T20 Big Bash, with local commentary audio. The recent Australia/NZ test series came with Foxtel commentary which was fantastic. The only improvement I would suggest is full game replays, rather than highlights, as the matches are usually played late at night Pacific time. It’s $10 a month and available on most OTT devices.

OVO Play

 

This is a great strategy that connects unique sports with audiences both in Australia and globally (where they have the rights) and you don’t need to be a subscriber to OVO’s telco series. Available on web and mobile, fan passes start at $5.99 AUD.

WatchNRL

WatchNRL has the rights for the Australian National Rugby League outside of Australia, New Zealand and certain Pacific islands. It features all pre-season, Premiership and State of Origin games, plus women’s league games. WatchNRL also comes with Fox Sports Australia shows like NRL360, Sunday Night with Matty Johns, and League Life.