College football is officially back, which means you’ve got plans for about the next 20 weeks. Whether it’s a Top-10 blockbuster or an underrated FCS showdown, there will be a reason to tune in each and every Saturday.
In 2024, games will be televised across the following networks: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, CW, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC, truTV or SEC Network. Other games will stream exclusively on ESPN+, Peacock, Max, FloFootball or Facebook Live. As such, the live stream options can be numerous and sometimes confusing, but we have a full rundown on all the best ways to watch college football games online this season.
You won’t be able to watch for free for the entire college football season. However, if there’s a single game or a week’s worth of games that you’re trying to watch at no cost, you can sign up for a live-TV streaming service that comes with your intended channel and a free trial. There are three options in that category:
Fubo: The “Pro” channel package includes ABC (live in most markets), Big Ten Network (and alts), CBS (live in most markets), CBS Sports Network, CW (select markets), ESPN, ESPN2, Fox (live in most markets), Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 and NBC (live in most markets). The “Sports Lite” add-on will get you ACC Network, ESPNU and SEC Network. It’s a total of $90 per month, but the Fubo free trial is seven days.
YouTube TV: The “Base Plan” includes ABC (live in most markets), ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS (live in most markets), CBS Sports Network, CW (select markets), ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, Fox (live in most markets), Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC (live in most markets), truTV and SEC Network. The regular price is $73 per month, but there’s a free five-day trial, and then it’s just $53 per month for your first four months.
DirecTV Stream: The “Entertainment” channel bundle includes ABC (live in most markets), CBS (live in most markets), CW (select markets), ESPN, ESPN2, Fox (live in most markets), Fox Sports 1 and NBC (live in most markets). You’ll need to go up to the “Choice” for ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, truTV and SEC Network, and up to “Ultimate” for CBS Sports Network and Fox Sports 2. “Entertainment” is $50 per month, “Choice” is $70 per month and “Ultimate” is $90 per month, but you can include any of them in your five-day free trial.
Most games that aren’t televised will stream exclusively on ESPN+. This includes most FBS games, as well as many SEC, ACC and Big 12 games. It’s dozens of games every weekend, and several hundred-plus for the entire season. ESPN+ is absolutely a must-have for college football fans, and while there’s no free trial, it costs just $11 per month or $110 for the entire year.
That price is easily worth it just for the all the college football, but it also includes dozens of other live sports, original shows, 30-for-30 documentaries, written content and more.
If you’re a Notre Dame fan or a fan of a team in the Big Ten, you’ll likely want to familiarize yourself with Peacock. Most of Notre Dame’s games will stream on Peacock, while the Big Ten will typically have two or three games on Peacock every week. Some of these games will be simulcast on NBC, while others will be exclusively on the streaming service.
There’s no free trial for Peacock, but all you need to watch these games is the “Premium” tier, which costs $8 per month or $80 for the year.
If you’re outside the United States, you can use a virtual private network (VPN) to hide your IP address/location and connect to a digital server in the US. This allows you to bypass any location restrictions and access US-only streaming services (which all of the aforementioned options are) as if you were physically in the country.
NordVPN is our recommendation thanks to its safety, speed and ease of use. However, we’ve also put together lists of the best VPN services and the best VPN deals if you want to take a look at those for some other options.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
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YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.