[Solved] How to Watch ESPN without Cable 2023 [Multiple Solutions]

Sports fans and movie lovers with a pay-TV subscription at home can enjoy all the latest sports events and the streaming library covered by ESPN. However, to those sports addicts who double as cord-cutters and also those who have already subscribed to one or two of the leading streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or others, how to watch ESPN without cable for free is certainly their most concerned question. Now here is this article, we are going to show you multiple solutions to download, watch, and stream ESPN live without a cable TV subscription at home.

Section 1. Download ESPN Sports Videos for Offline Viewing

What if sometimes you just don’t have time to live streaming the sporting event you’ve been waiting for so long? Don’t worry, you can choose to download the full-length sports video from ESPN’s streaming library where you can also find many other sport-related originals. Or, you can also choose to download the video clips from the ESPN website, instead of from its streaming library.

StreamFab ESPN Downloader: The best streaming downloader tailored for ESPN

No matter which approaches you opt for, you will need an ESPN downloader that enables you to download streaming videos from either the ESPN website or its streaming library, or even from its premium ESPN+ streaming service. StreamFab ESPN Downloader is the first fully-featured ESPN video downloader software that you can use to get ESPN without cable, hassle-free.

Note that this ESPN downloader is only one separately purchasable product module from its StreamFab Downloader suite, there are also other product modules, such as the video downloader module, the YouTube to MP3 converter module, best Netflix originals downloader module, Amazon downloader module, Disney plus downloader module, and more.

Pricing plans: $49.99/mo., $59.99/year, or $79.99 for a lifetime subscription with free upgrades. A 30-day free trial is also available when you can download three videos for free.

Key Features of this ESPN Downloader

① Download streaming videos of full-length sports events from ESPN and ESPN+
② Save the downloaded videos as premium 720p or 1080p MP4 videos
③ Download high-quality 5.1-channel audios in AAC format
④ Support batch-download mode to download 5 videos at one time
⑤ Benefit from your GPU hardware acceleration to download 2x faster
⑥ Download the subtitles of your preferred language
⑦ Download the complete metadata information of the videos

Extra Tips: As shown above, the downloaded ESPN videos will be saved as MP4 files, if you want them in other video formats, you can convert MP4 videos to WebM, MKV, AVI, and many others with a video converter software; and in terms of video resolution, if you want higher than 1080p so that you can get crisp image quality on you big-screen TV, you can opt for an AI-driven video upscaler that is capable of upscaling 1080p video to real 4K using the industry-leading super-resolution technology trained by neural networks.

Steps to Download ESPN Streaming Videos

To download the DRM-protected full-length sports videos from the ESPN streaming library or ESPN+ streaming service, refer to the steps below:

1. Open StreamFab Downloader, click VIP Services at the left pane.

2. Click the ESPN logo to open the ESPN website with the inbuilt browser.

3. Play the sports video from ESPN’s streaming library.

4. Click the Download Now button from the popup window to start downloading

Section 2. Stream ESPN live with streaming services

In an era when most diehard pay-TV fans are shifting to streaming, cable TVs are gradually becoming a past thing, especially among the younger generations. Can you still recall when the last time you plug the cable into the wall outlet is? Actually, without cable TV or satellite TV, there are multiple ways you can still watch your favorite ESPN sports events, shows, or movies online. Now here in this section, we are going to answer the question of how to watch ESPN without cable.

Stream with YouTube TV

As one of the most popular streaming service providers, not only can you watch millions of videos on this giant video-sharing platform, but with YouTube TV, you can also stream many live TV channels and that also includes the ESPN channel. So if you are already a YouTube TV subscriber that means your question of how to watch ESPN without cable for free has already got the answer.

With a YouTube TV subscription you can:

• Stream on-demand content on YouTube TV as you wish
• Get access to more than 70 streaming channels including but not limited to ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, ESPNews, SEC Network, and your local net
• work channels
• Unlock unlimited cloud DVR storage to record your favorite sport events
• Stream whatever you like simultaneously on three devices maximally

Pricing plans: $64.99 per month with a 7-day free trial available.
Available on: Android & iOS smartphones and tablets, Apple TV STB, Chromecast relevant devices, Roku devices, and more.

Stream with Hulu's Live TV

If we say the on-demand service is the core part of a streaming service, then the live channels add another layer of flavor to the subscribers’ streaming life by allowing them to live stream more live programs that are only available to pay-TV services in the past. There’s no exception while streaming Hulu. Through its Live TV service, you can watch everything on the broadcasting channel of ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNU, ESPNews, among many other options. In other words, if you already have a Hulu Live TV subscription, then you no longer need to worry about how to watch ESPN online without cable, as you can already do that without extra cost.

With Hulu’s Live TV subscription you can:

• Enjoy live programs from more than 60 channels including ESPN networks, ESPNews, ACC Network, SEC Network, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox, etc. Note that some channels may or may not open in your location yet.
• Get access to 50 hours of cloud DVR storage for recording the live programs
• Concurrently proceed two streams at the same time
• Get access to all the shows and movies on Hulu’s on-demand streaming library

Pricing plans: $64.99 per month with a 7-day free trial available.
Available on: Android & iOS smartphones and tablets, Chromecast, 4th Gen Apple TV STB, Xbox One, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV/stick.

Stream with AT&T TV

As a telecommunications company, AT&T also has its live TV service called AT&T TV. With four different subscription packages to cater to users from different walks of life, the very basic package named Entertainment can give you full access to ESPN and ESPN2 channels, along with 65+ others, plus 40000 on-demand streaming titles. This means AT&T TV users who are eyeing the latest sports events on ESPN shall have no problem streaming them at all.

With AT&T TV’s base subscription you can:

• Get access to 65+ live channels including ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, HGTV, Discovery, and more
• Get 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage to record live TV programs
• Stream simultaneously from up to 3 devices at the same time

Pricing plans: $69.99 per month with a 7-day free trial available.
Available on: AppleTV STB, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more.

Stream with T-Mobile’s TVision

AT&T TV is not the only telecommunication company embracing streaming, another mobile giant T-Mobile also has its competitor, namely, TVision, which is a beautiful name by the way. So, as a TVision customer, how to watch ESPN without cable? Well, all of its three packages cover the local and national news and live sports channels including ESPN. In other words, no matter which package you subscribed to, you shall have no hassle watching your favorite sports events, live from ESPN.

With a T-Mobile TVision subscription you can:

• Get access to 30+ live channels including ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, and more
• Get 100 hours of Cloud DVR storage to record live TV programs
• Stream from 3 devices concurrently

Pricing plans: Starting from only $40 per month with a 7-day free trial available.
Available on: AppleTV STB, Chromecast, Amazon FireTV, iOS & Android devices, and more.

Stream with Sling TV

Born in 2015, Sling TV is the pioneer of the internet-based live TV that can be the early alternatives to traditional cable and satellite TVs. With its App installed on the supported streaming device, such as a Roku device or Amazon Fire TV, you can get access to different live TV channels, depending on which subscription package you choose. In our case, in order to solve your problem of how to watch ESPN without cable, you will need to choose the plans containing ESPN. And if you only need the ESPN, no more other channels from ESPN networks, then the Orange plan should be enough.

With the Sling TV Orange plan you can:

• Get access to 33 live channels including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Disney, AMC, HGTV, CNN, Investigation Discovery, TNT, A&E, TBS, and more
• Get 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage to record live TV programs
• Stream from only 1 device at a time, but multiple devices if not simultaneously

Pricing plans: Only $35 per month with a 3-day free trial available.
Available on: Windows and Mac PCs and laptops, Android and iOS devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Nexus player, Xbox One, 4th Generation Apple TV STB, Chromecast, and more.

Stream with fuboTV

Originally intended for sports fans to live stream their favorite events from the internet everywhere on the go instead of from a cable TV only at home, fuboTV is another popular live TV streaming service sports fans can chase after live sports events from most of the sport TV channels, which of course includes ESPN. But as its business grows, there are more other channels joining fuboTV. To address your concern as a sports fan of how to watch ESPN without cable, the Family Plan is the option you should stick with.

With FuboTV Family plan you can:

• Get access to 87 live TV channels including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Disney, AMC, Animal Planet, BBC America, CBS, CBS Sports Network, NBC, NBC Universo, MSNBC, HGTV, Fox, National Geographic, A&E, the CW, and more
• Get 250 hours of Cloud DVR storage to record live TV programs
• Stream from 3 devices at a time, and more if not simultaneously

Pricing plans: Only $64.99 per month with a 7-day free trial available.
Available on: Android smartphones & tablets, iPhones & iPads, Apple TV STB (4th Gen and later), Amazon Fire TV & Fire Stick, Roku, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, and Xbox One.

Stream with Vidgo

Compared with Sling TV and fuboTV, Vidgo is a comparatively new live TV streaming service mainly focusing on English and Spanish live channels. There are more than 80 English channels covered by its Core plan, which contains several channels from ESPN networks. Hence, Vidgo can also be your answer to how to watch ESPN without cable TV or satellite TV at home.

With Vidgo Core plan you can:

• Get access to 86 live English TV channels including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN U, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews, ABC, Animal Planet, CMT, Discovery, Fox, Fox News, FS1, FS2, HGTV, Paramount Network, and more, plus nearly 30 Spanish channels
• Get access to the free content in the video-on-demand library of its channel lineup
• Stream simultaneously from 3 devices at a time

Pricing plans: Only $55 per month with a 3-day free trial available.
Available on: Android smartphones & tablets, iPhones & iPads, Apple TV STB, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.

Alright, those streaming services mentioned above are all the solutions you can opt for to watch ESPN without a cable subscription. As you may have noticed, all of these proven solutions also require a subscription, too. This means, there is no way as to how to watch and get ESPN without cable unless you consider the free trial period of those streaming services the work-around. Even in this way, you have to sign up for a plan sooner or later after your free trial expires and you want to stick with one that satisfies your demands best.

Section 3. Steps to Watch ESPN on Apple TV

Suppose you finally pick up one candidate from the above-mentioned live TV streaming services, then it’s time to get to know how you can stream your favorite live sports events from one of the supported devices. Given the fact that all the streaming services can work on Apple TV Set Top Box, then we shall take Apple TV as an example to show you how to watch ESPN without cable with step-by-step guidance. Steps on other supported devices shall have similar procedures, so we’ll leave it to you to figure out on your own.

50. Subscribe to one of the live TV streaming services mentioned in Section 1, YouTube TV, for example.
50. Open Apple TV, navigate to the search icon at the upper-left corner of the screen.
50. Enter YouTube TV in the search bar, then click the cloud icon beside the YouTube TV to install the channel on your Apple TV.
50. Open and log in to the YouTube TV app, find and locate the ESPN channel through the app’s live TV guide.
50. Start streaming your favorite sports event on ESPN.

Final Wrap Up

ESPN has played a very important role among sports fans and will surely continue to attract more users in the future thanks to its extensive live coverage of all types of sports events, and its exclusive streaming libraries containing the full-length sports events that you can hardly find on other platforms.

However, if you don’t have a paid cable TV subscription at home and neither are you willing to miss out on your favorite events, then you can stream ESPN from any of the live-TV streaming services on any of the supported devices mentioned in this article. And practically forget about your query of how to watch ESPN without cable, because there is simply no proven way of doing that.

Aside from watching ESPN live from one of those mentioned services, you can also consider downloading ESPN videos for never-expired offline viewing with the ESPN downloader software introduced in this article, which allows you to get ESPN without cable. Moreover, if you want to watch the downloaded ESPN videos on your home DVD player, you can burn the downloaded MP4 videos to blank DVD discs with the DVD authoring software from StreamFab 12.