March is almost upon us, and that means the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship – AKA “March Madness” is about to kick off. This year, CBS and Turner Sports have broadcasting rights. Many of the top matchups including the “Final Four” and championship game will be broadcast on TBS, with some other games being spread across CBS, TNT, and TruTV.
With that in mind, you have a lot of options for watching the 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship live without cable. Our top picks are Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, and Paramount+. Let’s discuss each one, and help you decide which live TV streaming service is right for you.
Watch The 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship Live For Free
If you want to stream March Madness this year, you may be able to watch some of the biggest games for free if you take advantage of the free trials offered by some of these internet TV services. This year, the 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship will run from March 17th through April 4th.
So what are your options? First, Sling TV currently offers a free 3-day trial. You can also get a 5-day free trial of DirecTV Stream. YouTube TV, fuboTV, and Paramount+ have slightly more generous offers, since you can get a free 7-day trial of all 3 services. Hulu With Live TV currently doesn’t offer any kind of free trial.
So depending on whether you want to watch the whole tournament, or just the final games in late March or April, you may be able to watch the entire 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship for free without cable.
However, keep in mind that each of the above services requires you to enter a credit card when you sign up. If you don’t cancel before your free trial ends, you’ll be charged for a full month of service. With that in mind, let’s go over your options for watching March Madness in more detail.
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on Sling TV
Sling TV is the most affordable way to watch the 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship without cable. You can get the Sling Blue or Sling Orange package for $35/month, or combine both for $50/month. We recommend Sling Blue, since it has TBS, TNT, and TruTV, which will cover most of this year’s March Madness games.
As far as features go, Sling TV is no slouch, either. You can watch Sling Orange on 1 device at a time, or watch Sling Blue on up to 3 devices at a time. You’ll get a free 50-hour DVR, and you can upgrade to 200 hours for an extra $5/month fee.
Device support is also solid for Sling TV. You can watch on iOS, Android, web browsers, Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and plenty of other top devices. Click here to get your free trial, and see if you like what Sling TV has to offer.
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on fuboTV
fuboTV is not the best choice for watching the NCAA Basketball Championship. That’s because while it has CBS and CBS Sports, it lost TNT, TBS, and TruTV due to a carrier dispute in early 2021. Currently, there are no signs that these channels will be added back into the service in the near future. So for $64.99/month, you’ll get 100+ channels, but you’ll only be able to watch the March Madness games broadcast on CBS.
fuboTV lets you stream on up to 3 devices at once, and allows you to record 250 hours of DVR content with its base-tier plan. You can pay to upgrade to 10 devices or 1,000 hours, or upgrade to a higher-tier plan to unlock these features.
Device support for fuboTV is great, too. You can watch on web browsers, Android, iOS, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV, as well as some other devices like smart TVs. If you’d like to try it, you can click here to get a free week-long trial.
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on Hulu With Live TV
Hulu With Live TV is another decent option for watching March Madness this year. It costs $69.99/month and has 75+ channels, including CBS, TNT, TruTV, and TBS, so you can watch all the games in this year’s NCAA Basketball Championship.
Along with these channels, you’ll get a free 50-hour DVR, and you can pay $9.99 to upgrade to 200 hours of space. You can watch on just 2 screens by default, but you can also pay $9.99 to watch on unlimited screens in your home WiFi network. These upgrades can be combined for $14.99.
You can watch Hulu With Live TV on all major streaming devices, both at home and on the go. It supports web browsers, iOS, Android, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and quite a few other devices, smart TVs, and gaming consoles. Hulu With Live TV doesn’t currently offer a free trial, but you can click here to sign up and see if it’s right for you.
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream is also a solid choice for watching this year’s tournament. It costs $69.99/month for the cheapest “Entertainment” package, which includes 65+ channels. You’ll get CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, so you’ll get full coverage of March Madness.
As far as features go, DirecTV Stream gives you up to 20 simultaneous streams within your WiFi network. You also get unlimited DVR space, though your oldest recordings will be deleted after 90 days, and you’re limited to 30 episodes of any given show.
DirecTV Stream supports pretty much all the devices you’d expect, too. You can watch on Android, iOS, web browsers, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, and Apple TV, among some others. Click here to check it out with a free trial and see if you like DirecTV Stream.
Free 7-day Trial
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on YouTube TV
YouTube TV isn’t the cheapest way to watch March Madness, but it may just be the best value. For $64.99/month, you’ll get over 85 channels. This includes TNT, TBS, TruTV, and CBS, so you can watch every game of the NCAA Basketball Championship this year.
You’ll also get one of the best DVRs in the business. YouTube TV lets you record unlimited content for up to 9 months, with no other limitations or restrictions. You’ll also be able to watch on up to 3 devices at once, so even larger families shouldn’t have trouble sharing their membership.
As you’d expect from a Google-owned service, YouTube TV also has excellent device support. You can watch it on iOS, Android, web browsers, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Apple TV, as well as lots other devices like some smart TVs and gaming consoles. Wondering if it’s right for you? You can sign up for a free week-long trial by clicking here.
Watch The NCAA Basketball Championship on Paramount+
Technically, Paramount+ is the cheapest way to watch March Madness without cable. It starts at just $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. But it’s a bit further down on our list because, while it’s affordable, it’s got a big caveat – you can only watch games broadcast on CBS.
Paramount+ is the replacement for CBS All Access. It offers tens of thousands of hours of on-demand content from Paramount. But it also includes a live stream of your local CBS station.
This means you can watch some of the games aired during the 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship. However, lots of the games in the tournament will only air on TBS and other cable networks, including the Final Four and the championship matchup.
So Paramount+ may be a good option if you get a service like Sling TV, which includes TNT, TBS, and TruTV, but doesn’t have CBS. By itself, though, it’s harder to recommend as an option for the March Madness tournament, since you’ll miss so many games. Still, it has a free trial, and it’s a good value, so you can click here to sign up and see if Paramount+ is right for you.
How To Watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Amazon Fire TV
You can watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Amazon Fire TV with one of these streaming services: Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, or Paramount+. Download the app from the Amazon App Store, sign in, and enjoy.
How To Watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Roku
You can watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Roku with one of these streaming services: Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, or Paramount+. Just add the appropriate channel from the Roku Channel Store, then catch all the action.
How To Watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Apple TV
You can watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Apple TV with one of these streaming services: Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, YouTube TV, or Paramount+. Download the appropriate app from the App Store, sign in, and start watching immediately.
