The 2025-2026 NBA season kicked off on October 21, and you can watch the matchups even if you’ve ditched your cable subscription—all you need is the right video streaming service. However, you should know what constitutes a streaming service suitable for basketball fans before pulling out the plastic. We’re here to help, with more than a decade’s worth of streaming video coverage under our belts. With this guide, we help you determine everything needed to stream the upcoming hoops season, from the top channels to the best service for recording games. Read on for the best NBA streaming services, including Editors’ Choice winners Hulu, Peacock, and YouTube TV, and what you need to know to watch pro hoops online.
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
EDITORS’ NOTE
October 26, 2025: With this update, our lineup of recommended NBA streaming services remains unchanged. We have vetted the existing picks for currency and availability.
Best for On-Demand and Live TV Streaming
Hulu
- Excellent TV series selection
- Extensive live TV channel lineup
- Robust cloud DVR option
- Available on nearly every media streaming device
- Appealing bundle deals
- Base plan includes ads
- Offline downloads require a premium account
- Missing all Bally Sports and most SportsNet RSNs
Hulu is an excellent streaming service for sports fans, with a basketball lineup that includes ABC, ESPN, and NBC (but not NBA TV). It has NBC Sports RSNs but lacks Bally Sports and SportsNet RSNs. All subscribers enjoy the Enhanced Cloud DVR functionality, which increases the available DVR storage from 50 hours to 200 hours.
Anyone seeking streaming convenience without abandoning traditional, live TV. Hulu’s basic on-demand streaming plan currently costs $11.99 per month, while the ad-free version is $18.99 per month. College students can get Hulu’s ad-supported version for a ridiculously low $1.99 per month. The Hulu + Live TV plan costs $76.99 per month and combines Hulu’s live TV service with the ad-supported streaming plan. Have a large family? Add the Unlimited Screens package, which gives you an unlimited number of concurrent device streams in your home (and up to three outside of it) for $9.99 per month.
Starting Price
$11.99 per month; $88.99 per month
Regular Season National NBA Coverage
ABC, ESPN, and TNT
RSN Coverage
NBC Sports
NBA Finals
ABC
DVR Storage & Retention
Unlimited; 9 Months
Concurrent Streams
2 or Unlimited (at home) and 3 (mobile devices)
Best for Monday Night Games
Peacock
- Many popular movies and network shows
- Live sports
- Flexible plan pricing
- Supports multiple account profiles
- Constantly changing movie library
- New users can’t create a free account
A new deal with the league means you can now watch numerous live NBA games on NBC, and you can watch many of those games online through NBC’s Peacock streaming service. During the season, Peacock streams doubleheaders every Monday night. Peacock will also air select playoff games.
B-ball veterans. NBA on Peacock is a homecoming of sorts, with NBC even bringing back the classic John Tesh-penned theme from when the sport aired on the channel years ago. Fans from the NBA’s TBS/TNT era must now include Peacock in their viewing mix, as the exclusive Monday games make the service a must-watch. The $16.99-per-month Premium Plus tier doesn’t offer additional sports coverage, but it allows you to download titles for offline viewing on mobile platforms and watch most on-demand content without ads.
Starting Price
$7.99 per month
RSN Coverage
None
DVR Storage & Retention
None
Concurrent Streams
3
Learn More
Peacock Review
- Excellent lineup of sports, news, and entertainment channels
- Impressive viewing features for sports fans
- Robust and easy-to-use DVR features
- Intuitive interface
- Supports three simultaneous streams per account by default
- Excellent add-ons
- Expensive
- Lacks most SportsNet and all Bally Sports RSNs
YouTube TV offers a diverse selection of TV networks that cater to basketball fans, such as ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, and NBC. On the regional sports network front, YouTube TV has all NBC Sports RSNs, but not the Bally Sports RSNs or SportsNet RSNs.
YouTube TV is for people who want to record basketball action. With YouTube TV, you get unlimited cloud DVR storage (recordings are kept for up to nine months), up to three simultaneous device streams, and support for six user accounts. All those features are useful when family members want to watch different programs that are set to air at the same time. Additionally, YouTube TV is one of the few services that streams live channels in 1080p. The 4K Plus add-on has many benefits, including 4K streams and the ability to watch DVR recordings offline.
Starting Price
$82.99 per month
Regular Season National NBA Coverage
ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, and TNT
RSN Coverage
NBC Sports
NBA Finals
ABC
DVR Storage & Retention
Unlimited; 9 Months
Concurrent Streams
3 or Unlimited (at home)
Learn More
YouTube TV Review
Best for NBA Fans Who Don’t Want to Miss a Moment
Fubo
- Many live sports and on-demand entertainment options
- Reliable streaming in testing
- Excellent web interface
- Capable DVR functionality
- Some 4K content
- Most live streams are limited to 720p
- Lacks A&E, Turner, and WBD channels
- Lookback mode limitations
Fubo has ABC and ESPN sports programs, as well as some Bally RSNs. MSG (New York Knicks), NBC Sports RSNs, and Root Sports (Portland Trailblazers) are part of the lineup, too. Want NBA TV? Plunk down an extra $10.99 per month for the Sports Plus add-on.
Fubo is for sports fans who don’t want to miss a beat. Its plans let you record unlimited hours of DVR content and stream on three screens simultaneously. Its other cool features include Lookback (which lets you watch select sports programs up to 72 hours after they’ve aired) and Startover (which enables you to restart certain live events from the beginning).
Starting Price
$84.99 per month
Regular Season National NBA Coverage
ABC and ESPN; NBA TV (via Add-On)
RSN Coverage
AT&T SportsNet and some NBC Sports
NBA Finals
ABC
DVR Storage & Retention
Unlimited
Concurrent Streams
2 or 10
Best for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Games
Prime Video
- Excellent original content
- 4K and HDR streaming
- Live Thursday Night Football and WNBA games
- Supports offline downloads, multiple viewer profiles, and audio descriptions
- Lets you rent or buy movies and TV shows
- Streams select movies currently in theaters
- Continues to lose third-party content to other services
- Not as many high-quality TV shows as competitors
Amazon has partnered with the NBA to stream select live games throughout the season on Prime Video. Amazon airs Thursday doubleheaders, Saturday afternoon games, and special Black Friday matchups. All this makes Prime Video an essential streaming platform for NBA fans.
Amazon is ideal for watching notable matchups as part of your Prime subscription services. But that’s not all; Amazon also produces the All or Nothing series, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at various professional sports teams. With Prime Video, you can stream content on up to three devices at the same time.
Starting Price
$8.99 per month
DVR Storage & Retention
None
Concurrent Streams
3
Learn More
Prime Video Review
- Reliable streaming performance
- Supports 20 simultaneous streams
- Lineup includes RSNs from Comcast, Sinclair, and Spectrum
- Parental control options
- No longer has a two-year subscription requirement
- More affordable Genre Pack options
- Expensive
- Some interface quirks
DirecTV’s entry-level Entertainment tier ($84.99 per month) includes several essential sports channels, including ABC, ESPN, and NBC. However, it lacks NBA TV. To get that channel and RSNs, you must upgrade to the $114.99-per-month Choice plan. The RSNs are provided by Comcast (although a few NBC Sports RSNs are missing), Spectrum, and Sinclair.
With its local and national channels, DirecTV is ideal for basketball fans who need help navigating the complex world of regional sports networks. It also offers unlimited DVR storage and keeps recordings for up to nine months.
Starting Price
$101.98 per month
Regular Season National NBA Coverage
ABC, ESPN, and TNT
RSN Coverage
AT&T SportsNet, Bally Sports, and some NBC Sports
NBA Finals
ABC
DVR Storage & Retention
20 hours or Unlimited, nine months
Concurrent Streams
20 (at home) and 3 (away from home)
Learn More
DirecTV Review
- Good channel selection
- Flexible subscription options
- Free tier
- Reliable streaming performance
- Prices continue to increase
- Limited offering of local channels and regional sports networks
- Confusing channel distribution
Sling TV’s Orange plan includes ESPN, but you must pay for the $11-per-month Sports Extra to get NBA TV. Sling TV doesn’t include your local ABC channel, but you can set up an antenna and receiver to watch ABC via Sling. However, that process requires you to spend money on additional hardware. To get more channels and a few NBC Sports RSNs (and keep all the channels from the Orange plan), upgrade to Sling TV’s combined Orange + Blue plan ($60 per month).
Sling TV is great for viewers who want to customize their streaming sports package. Sling TV includes 50 hours of DVR storage with a subscription, but you can increase that limit to unlimited hours for an extra $5 per month. Currently, you can’t stream any live content above 720p.
Starting Price
$46 per month; $66 per month
Regular Season National NBA Coverage
ESPN and TNT; NBA TV (via Add-On); ABC (via Antenna)
RSN Coverage
None
NBA Finals
ESPN3 (simulcasts of ABC)
DVR Storage & Retention
50 hours or unlimited; Indefinitely
Concurrent Streams
1 (for Sling Orange channels), 3 (for Sling Blue channels)
Learn More
Sling TV Review
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The Best NBA Streaming Services for 2025
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Buying Guide: The Best NBA Streaming Services for 2025
How to Watch the NBA Without Cable
If you don’t want to miss a minute of the on-court action, you need a live TV service that covers the games in your market, or subscribe to one of the NBA-owned services that lets you watch your favorite out-of-market team. Unlike NFL games, not all NBA matchups air on national channels. Instead, many games are broadcast on regional sports networks (RSNs) that are available only to subscribers who reside in the local markets those channels cover.
Most RSNs are owned either by AT&T (SportsNet), Comcast (NBC Sports), or Sinclair (Bally Sports). A few of the SportsNet RSNs and others are Bally Sports affiliates, while other RSNs are joint ventures between media companies and individual teams. Don’t confuse RSNs with your local broadcast affiliate; NBC Sports Philadelphia is different from that city’s local NBC station.
Some competitions air on national channels, such as ABC, ESPN, NBC, and NBA TV, but you likely won’t be able to watch your local team on those channels due to blackout restrictions. That’s why it’s important to know which RSN owns broadcast rights for your local team.
Currently, DirecTV includes Bally Sports, NBC Sports (though it is missing a few of these), and SportsNet RSNs. Fubo now has Bally Sports RSNs, but Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV do not. Again, the RSN you need depends on your location, so don’t immediately discount a service that lacks a particular set of RSNs. For more information, search for a specific team using a streaming guide.
Note that starting with the 2025-2026 season, live NBA games will no longer air on Warner Bros. Discovery channels, which include TBS, TNT, truTV, and the HBO Max streaming service. You can find the marquee NBA games on ESPN, NBC, Peacock, and Prime Video.
What Is NBA League Pass?
The NBA has several subscription options: NBA TV ($8.99 per month), Team Pass ($13.99 per month), League Pass ($16.99 per month), and League Pass Premium ($24.99 per month). You must choose one of these plans to watch (or listen to) out-of-market games.
The NBA TV option provides access to live, out-of-market games and studio shows. Team Pass lets you watch live, out-of-market games for one squad. The League Pass has hundreds of out-of-market games from around the league. Meanwhile, the League Pass Premium tier gives you the same perks without commercials (and lets you simultaneously stream on two devices).
Note that none of the League Pass subscriptions lets you watch any nationally broadcast games live (those that air on ABC, ESPN, NBC, or NBA TV). Replays of those games are available three hours after the broadcast concludes. In-market games that are subject to local blackouts (those that air on your local regional sports network, or RSN) are available to watch three days after the live broadcast ends.
What Is the Best NBA Streaming Service?
It depends on what you want from a basketball streaming platform, but there are a few essentials. First, compare the services’ feature sets. For example, if you want to record and re-watch games regularly, explore a service’s DVR storage limits. If multiple people in your home want to watch games simultaneously, you need a service that supports multiple concurrent streams. Verify that the service you choose also supports your media streaming devices.
Recommended by Our Editors
There’s one last consideration: streaming resolutions. Fubo and YouTube TV support 4K live streams, but neither is set to broadcast NBA games at this resolution. That could change, however. Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV support 1080p/60fps streams on select channels and devices, while DirecTV Stream, Fubo (for non-4K broadcasts), and Sling TV top out at around 720p resolution. Higher-resolution streams produce crisper images, while faster refresh rates help smooth out fast action.
Video Streaming Services: What You Should Know
How to Watch the NBA on Cable and Over the Air
Another way to ensure you can watch all the regular-season NBA games in your area is to sign up for a cable plan with a premium sports package that includes all the local RSNs. A cable plan is typically more expensive than live-streaming alternatives, but it’s ideal for die-hard fans who want to access the broadest possible games for one price. Note that if you have a digital antenna, you can watch some of the games on ABC, assuming they aren’t airing on your local RSN.
More into college basketball? Here’s how to watch March Madness online. If you want to watch sports other than the NBA, check out our roundup of the best sports streaming services.
