We’d like to drop our Directv service but wonder how we could stream selected NFL games as well as major league baseball playoff games. How many channels would we have to subscribe to?
More than you’d like to pay for.
Here’s an alternative:
We cut our cable, and I did an analysis on the costs of streaming just pro baseball and football games…
… versus the cost of me going to the local pub and getting a beer, burger and fries.
Hanging out at the bar saved us $700 just on NFL games, and another $500 on baseball games. And my wife appreciates having quiet, sports-free Sundays.
Not quite what you asked, but it’s my personal key to happiness.
If the games are local or on prime time, then you can likely get one of the streaming packages like YouTube TV, Hulu, Fubo, etc. They have local channels, plus usually a few ESPNs. I have Fubo, and it’s missing one of the cable channels that one of the big networks own (maybe USA? I can’t remember), so I couldn’t watch some hockey games there.
I get Fubo for MSG Network (and other stuff), one of the few ways I can watch the Islanders without having cable.
There are also certain games in MLB that are exclusive to Apple TV+, and NFL games exclusive to Amazon Prime Video. I don’t think you could get them with DirecTV as it is.
I’m fortunate that we already have access to those streaming services for other reasons, so we don’t have to miss those games.
You and I are built different.
Clarification question: Are you looking for in-market or out-of-market games?
In-market and out-market for both NFL and MLB. From what I’m learning here and elsewhere it’s starting to look as if we’re stuck with DirecTV.
For the NFL it only costs around $8 a month, but there are two catches: You have to buy a year for $100 to get that price, and you can’t watch the games live. It’s called NFL+ Premium.
Around 10 minutes after a game ends it gets added to the service for you to watch at your leisure, anytime. Of note is that they initially put up the raw video, complete with preamble, commercials and halftime. Later (a day later, maybe?) they edit them down to remove commercials, preamble and halftime. You can fast forward through commercials as needed.
They also offer condensed games, which is primarily snap-to-whistle, snap-to-whistle. Occasionally they’ll toss in replay for a good play. These condensed games show you every single play, and for a typical game it’s around 37 minutes long. It’s like potato chips: can’t eat just one. Condensed games become available within around an hour of the game ending. Faster for standalone (night) games, longer for the Sunday 1pm group of games.
It doesn’t matter what network or streaming service carries the game: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, Amazon, Peacock, etc… ALL games are available on NFL+ Premium, and they never get removed from the service. Every preseason, regular season and post-season game going back to 2009 is available.
I can’t recommend it highly enough. Every other option for out of market games is over $100 a month. (Sunday ticket is like $30 but requires youtube live or whatever, which itself costs $80 a month.) $100 a year is a steal by comparison. You just have wait to watch the game ~3.5 hours after kickoff.
EDIT: The interface goes out of its way to hide scores from you so you don’t have to worry about being spoiled who wins. Overtime games are spoiled in terms of “hey, why is this game three hours and forty minutes long?” But there’s not really a good way to avoid that.
Google AI slop says that the MLB version of NFL+ Premium is called MLB.tv. I have no knowledge of it or baseball.
MLB.TV works for me as I am a Nationals fan (yes, I know) living in Boston. I do not know if in-market telecasts are available at all but I get to see almost every game for something like $130 for the whole season.
It’s a game with a stick and a ball…
But, seriously, THANK YOU for the news about NFL + PREMIUM. I’ve loved catching up on a game I’d missed by watching the recap online.
But a whole season without all the downtime (that “color commentators” have to fill with idiotic comments*) would be great!
*One from the last game I watched: “They’ve been behind most of this quarter, but it looks like they’re going to try to catch up.”
MLB.tv is the best secret in sports viewing, with a few caveats:
- It doesn’t apply to the post-season, which the OP specified
- There are blackout restrictions for the local (for wildly inconsistent uses of the term “local”) market
- National broadcasts are also blacked out
Another point in its favor: if you (or someone you know) is a T-Mobile subscriber, it’s 100% free.
#s 1 and 3 don’t ordinarily apply to the Nationals. 
So I’m good there. I forgot #2. On the rare occasions when they play the Red Sox, I’m outta luck.
Does that mean they don’t offer postseason games at all, or just that they don’t offer postseason games live and you have to wait for them to end like NFL+ Premium?
You can watch highlights, condensed games and the full game once it’s done (I’m not sure how quickly it’s put up). But you cannot watch live (but you can listen to the radio feed of your choice live).
Condensed games in baseball mean last pitch in each at-bat?
Mostly, yeah. They boil it down to about 20 minutes, so there’s still some narrative to it. I just watched the first inning from last night on condensed, and they show the game intro, some commentating. The st bats were one pitch/seing, but they show replays of the home runs.