Sports frustration

In the 10+ years that I've been streaming as my primary method of watching TV, there have been little frustrations along the way. The biggest frustration for me has been accessing sports.

Now, I know, for college football it's not that difficult to watch a game. But, if I want the ability to watch every game that's available, I have to pony up a bit of money each month. I looked it things regarding watching last week's games, and the total to get access was at least $87/month. That seems like a lot.

You see, I don't want access to a bunch of live streaming channels. Hulu is $6/month and gets me the regular TV shows I want. No, not live, but I don't care. A few hours later, just like as if I recorded it with a DVR, gets me what I want. I don't need the channels from a $25/month Philo package, which does not include sports. For me, the content from the free TV services -- Pluto TV, IMDB TV, The Roku Channel, Stirr, Crackle, Tubi, Xumo, among others -- get me what I want. Maybe not the same channels, but the same kind of content. Throw in my over the air antenna, and I can watch what I want.

Except for sports, and that generally means college football.

ESPN does not have a standalone sports service. No, ESPN+ doesn't count, because it's a supplement to ESPN, not a replacement for the service. Standard ESPN content is not included with an ESPN+ subscription.

Then there is CBS Sports Network, and the other conference networks, to deal with, and the cheapest way to get them are through a large live streaming service.

You remember the days when you had cable? Of today, if you still have cable? You have a lot of channels, and you only watch a few. That's me with streaming. If I pay for a live streaming service to get a handful of sports channels, I'm doing the same thing. I don't want or need the rest of those channels, because the free ad-supported or over the air content gets me what I want.

I do so wish there was a way of getting just the sports services I want. The closest is Fubo, which is a live streaming service. I may end up switching from Sling TV to Fubo because of this. But if the sports channels were available standalone, that would make my Streaming Life so much easier.