If you’re a Pittsburgh sports fan of the Steelers, Pirates, or Penguins, when you can’t get tickets to a game, you make sure to watch the games on TV. But if you’re tired of paying for a bunch of cable channels you don’t watch, you might be wondering if you’d still be able to watch Pittsburgh sports without cable.
The Steelers are in for a battle to gain the top spot in the AFC North, with both the Browns and Ravens playing great football. Will Roethlisberger stay healthy all season? Cleveland is getting better and the Ravens are hard to stop with Lamar Jackson.
The Pirates are out of it this year, but each season brings renewed hope. The Penguins season starts next month so you don’t want to miss any of it.
The good news is that yes, you can watch your favorite Pittsburgh pro sports teams without cable – and we’ll show you how to do it step-by-step.
Why Leave Cable TV?
Each year it seems like you’re forced to pay higher and higher prices for many channels you never watch. You don’t need to pay for the random shopping channels when you just want to watch your favorite Pittsburgh teams.
There are also contract disputes between cable companies and sports teams. These disputes can leave you without the ability to watch your favorite team all season, and it’s happened before.
Cable outages seem to happen at the most inopportune times. All you can do is turn on the radio and hope the cable comes back on soon.
How to Stream Pittsburgh Steelers Games Without Cable
When you want to watch the Steelers without the hassle of a cable company, you have several choices. Streaming is the best way and thankfully there are several streaming services where you can watch sports and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hulu+ Live TV is one option you can watch the Steelers on along with other sports. For $64.99 per month, you can get the following sports channels in the Pittsburgh area:
- WTAE (ABC 4)
- KDKA (CBS 2)
- WPGH (Fox 53)
- WPXI (NBC 11)
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN, ESPN 2, EPSN U and ESPN News
- Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sport 2
- NFL Network
- NBCSN
- College Extra
- ACCN
- BCN
- SEC Network
- The Golf Channel
It was recently announced that NFL Network is available for subscribers with the $64.99 package. Hulu subscribers can also get NFL Redzone for an additional $9.99 per month.
Hulu+ Live TV
Hulu+ Live TV streaming service offers more than 75 channels with sports, movies and news. There are no hidden fees, cable box rentals, or waiting around for installers to show up. There is no contract to sign. Your subscription renews automatically each month until you decide to cancel.
Subscribers also get unlimited access to the Hulu streaming library that includes exclusive series, hit movies, current TV shows and original productions. You will be able to record live TV and watch it later at your convenience with cloud DVR storage. Hulu Live supports many devices including:
- Apple TV, iPad and iPod
- Android TV and devices
- Roku
- Amazon Fire and Amazon devices
- Chromecast
- Select models of Samsung, LG and Vizio televisions
- Xbox One and Xbox 360, Playstation 4 & 5 and Nintendo Switch
Hulu recommends that your device should have at least 3 Mbps for any streaming. You should probably have 8 Mbps for live streaming and 16 Mbps for 4k streaming.
Getting setup on Hulu+ Live TV is not complicated:
- After you log in, you will set up your home network. For the home network, you need a residential internet connection (not a mobile connection).
- Then, click on the Live TV icon and select the channel you want. Hulu will load the live TV guide.
Other options to stream Steelers games are to subscribe to FuboTV or NFL Game Pass. You can find out more about FuboTV below.
How to Stream the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins Without Cable
If you live in the Pittsburgh area and want to stream the Pirates or Penguins games, there are two choices.
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh owns the broadcasting rights to the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Penguins. They stream more than 350 live events each year throughout a five-state area. You can get the games by subscribing to either FuboTV or DIRECTV Stream.
DIRECTV Stream
DIRECTV carries most of the same sports channels as Hulu, the local Pittsburgh television stations, and AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. You don’t need a dish to get DIRECTV Stream.
They offer four packages to choose from. But to get AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, you have to select their Choice package or higher. The subscription cost for Choice is $89.99 per month. There is no annual contract to sign, and you can cancel whenever you want.
With this package, you will get over 65 channels, 40,000 on-demand titles, and 10 hours of Cloud DVR. For an additional $10 per month, you can get unlimited cloud DVR.
DIRECTV Stream requires high-speed internet. A minimum internet speed of 8Mbps per stream is recommended for optimal viewing, and can be used with the following devices:
- Fire TV
- Android devices
- Apple TV and Apple iOS
- Chromecast
- Roku
- Samsung
FuboTV
FuboTV is a cheaper option that carries AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, plus the following local Pittsburgh TV stations:
- KDKA (CBS 2)
- WTAE (ABC 4)
- WPGH (Fox 53)
- WPXI (NBC 11)
FuboTV also carries most of the same sports channels as Hulu + Live carries for $64.99, plus an additional $10.00 for NFL Redzone.
There is no contract to sign, and your subscription will renew automatically each month until you decide to cancel. For this price, you will get 115 channels, 130+ events in 4k, and 30 hours of cloud DVR space with the FuboTV starter package.
FuboTV works with basically the same devices as Hulu and DIRECTV Stream. The setup isn’t hard either, but it will depend on the device you’re using to stream FuboTV.
For example, the setup procedure for Samsung smart television is:
- Go to the Apps screen on the TV.
- Look for the magnifying glass icon on the screen and click it to search for FuboTV.
- Once FuboTV is found, select install, which then downloads the FuboTV app to your TV.
Summary
If you follow all of the Pittsburgh teams, your best choice is probably FuboTV, since they carry local channels, sports channels and the Pirates and Penguins games. You do not have to hassle with an outdoor antenna, a dish, or cable outages. You just need to choose a streaming service and sit back and enjoy all of the games.
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