It’s difficult enough trying to keep up with all of the different international soccer leagues and tournaments, the points scored, and the injury reports. Trying to actually watch all of the games is another matter altogether. But you don’t need a massive cable package to keep up. Sling TV makes it easy to watch your favorite clubs, whether you’re into La Liga, Premier League, or MLS.
Here’s everything you need to know about Sling TV and how to watch some of the world’s best soccer leagues and tournaments through the service.
What is Sling TV?
- Sling TV pricing: $25-$40 per month (after a 7-day free trial)
- Sling TV devices: Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Xbox One, Google Chromecast, Oculus Go, Microsoft Edge, and iOS and Android devices
- Sling TV local channels: NBC, Fox (check your local availability here)
Sling TV provides two base channel package options, each priced at $25 per month. Sling Orange includes three ESPN channels and Disney, while Sling Blue offers sports channels like NFL Network, FS1 and FS2 (where much of the Women’s World Cup action will be), NBCSN, and local channels. If you’re Team “Why Not Both,” Sling Orange + Blue combines the two for just $40 per month. To add beIN SPORTS and maximize your soccer-watching potential, you’ll want to add either Sports Extra: Sling Orange ($5 per month) or Sports Extra: Sling Blue ($10 per month). (The latter also includes NFL RedZone.) Sling Orange + Blue also lets you stream on up to four devices at once.
Spanish-speaking viewers have quite a few options. For bilingual families, you might consider the Español: Best of Spanish TV package for either Sling Orange or Sling Blue for 24/7 specialty channel LaLiga TV and beIN SPORTS Connect: Channels 4-9, which features matches from LaLiga, Ligue 1 and Copa del Rey, among others. Both packages cost $5 per month after your free trial. Sling TV Latino is another Spanish-language package for $10 per month, including NBC Universo, History en Español, and—of import to soccer fans—four beIN SPORTS channels. (And choosing Sling TV Latino + Sling Orange for $30 per month gives you access to ESPN Deportes.) For more information, check out our guide to Sling TV channels and our Sling TV review.
How to watch soccer on Sling TV
1) Premier League
Channels: NBCSN, NBC
Sling TV packages: Sling Blue, Sling Orange + Blue
The highly entertaining and popular Premier League, featuring some of the world’s best players and best-constructed club teams, is available in the United States via NBCSN, available to Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue users. The occasional match will air on NBC. Completists will need to get a direct app from NBC to see all 20 teams in action each week, but NBCSN provides solid coverage of the league’s most popular teams—namely, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur—on a weekly basis. Though most of the action takes place for American audiences on Saturday and Sunday mornings, you may need to clear the occasional Monday afternoon or other random weekday to see your chosen team in action.
2) La Liga
Channels: beIN Sports
Sling TV package: Best of Spanish TV add-on
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla are among the top draws in Spain’s top league, and the twice-a-season El Clasico between Barca and Real is one of the highest-drawing matches in all of soccer whenever it occurs. American audiences can tune in to beIN Sports channels on weekend mornings and afternoons to catch La Liga action. The Español: Best of Spanish TV not only gives access to La Liga matches, but also to LaLiga TV, a network dedicated to the teams and players that make up Spain’s top-flight division.
3) Bundesliga
Channels: FS1, FS2, Fox
Sling TV packages: Sling Blue, Sling Orange + Blue
Germany’s top league, which features Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as a number of up-and-coming U.S. players (like Schalke’s Weston McKennie and Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent), can be found weekend mornings on FS1 and FS2, with the occasional match graduating to Fox. If you’re equipped with Sling Blue or Sling Orange + Blue, you’re well-positioned to watch Bundesliga action.
4) MLS
Channels: ESPN, FS1
Sling TV packages: Sling Orange + Blue
The top soccer league in North America (with three Canadian teams and an ever-growing number of American teams) has an array of broadcast partners involved, but some of the best matches are reserved for Sunday afternoons and evenings, typically with one marquee on ESPN and the other on FS1. That means a Sling Blue + Orange package keeps your Sundays open for checking out a league that is getting better all the time, between its exciting drive-for-the-playoffs format and its expanding pool of talent.
5) Champions League
Channel: TNT
Sling TV packages: Sling Orange, Sling Blue, Sling Orange + Blue
The best club teams in Europe compete each year for a particularly coveted trophy called the Champions League, and the matches provide a chance to see global mega-stars facing off against each other. For American fans, TNT (available with either Sling Blue or Sling Orange) is the place to catch Champions League action. This past year, it produced a dramatic run to the semi-finals by Ajax, two of the best comeback matches in world soccer history, and a memorable all-English finals won by Liverpool. It’ll be a hard tournament, but teams will be on the quest to do so starting next month.
6) World Cup
Channels: Fox, FS1, FS2
Sling TV package: Sling Blue or Sling Orange + Blue
Both the men’s and women’s versions of the FIFA World Cup are under contract to Fox, which means that much of the action—including the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup lighting up the globe right now—is on FS1 and FS2, with Fox’s flagship station picking up the biggest matches. The men won’t play until November 2022, when the tournament makes its first-ever winter start in Qatar, but soccer fans around the world are already beginning to make their plans.
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