The Denver Nuggets start their regular season on Oct. 23 against the Warriors, the first of 82 games.
That’s why I just spent two hours figuring out how to watch the most ball for the fewest dollars. Maybe it will be helpful to you!
Long story short: You could pay $100 or more per month for a big TV package, or you could save some money by combining the local sports streaming service Altitude+ with a few other options.
First, the starting lineup on the media court:
- Over-the-air (OTA) channels are broadcast free … over the air. They include the major networks like ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS. They’re also carried in most major TV packages.
- ESPN Unlimited is the new streaming service from the ABC/Disney hydra, and it includes the many, many channels and sports events that now live under the ESPN brand.
- Prime Video is Amazon’s streaming service, which is included with an Amazon Prime subscription or can be bought separately.
- Peacock is NBC’s streaming service, and it will host a couple exclusive Nuggets games.
- Altitude+ is the streaming service operated by the Nuggets and Avalanche’s owners. It debuted last year.
- TV streaming services include options like Fubo TV, Xfinity and DirecTV. They are similar to traditional cable packages, but they also can be viewed with streaming devices.
If you want to watch (almost) every game in one package:
You have two routes.
For a single, convenient package, you could get Fubo TV, Xfinity or DirectTV at a cost of $100 per month or more. They will get you all the local channels, ESPN and all the Altitude games — good enough for nearly every Nuggets game. They should work on most any viewing device.
However, all three of the big TV packages will still be missing up to six games that are exclusive to either Amazon’s Prime Video or NBC’s Peacock. Those services would run you another $20 a month in total, although many people already have a Prime subscription. Alternatively, you could head to the bar and watch the game (over a few small beers?), or you could just not watch the game.
You can also get a cheaper TV streaming package from Sling, but I don’t think it’s a good option for the Nuggets this year.
If you want the cheapest price for the most games, you have to start combining stuff.
For a total between $20 and $70 a month, you can watch most or all of the games.
The key here is to pick and choose from this menu. Note that this is missing details for two games that haven’t been scheduled yet:
- Altitude+, the local streaming service, will get you at least 65 games for $20 a month. That’s the most bang-per-buck, although there are some lingering complaints about the technology. It doesn’t seem to allow live rewind, but it does now include replays-on-demand. It also includes Avalanche games. (About 30 games are exclusive to Altitude.)
- Prime Video will get you another four exclusive games that are not on Altitude. It’s $9 a month, or free to Amazon Prime subscribers. (Prime gets you five games in total, but one is shared with Altitude.)
- Free local OTA channels will add on another three games that are not on Altitude for $0, assuming you have the hardware. (A total of 30 games will air locally, but most are already covered by your Altitude subscription. An antenna will also get you almost every Broncos game. Local broadcasts are spread across NBC and ABC affiliates. The network-exclusive games are all on ABC. Local channels also are included in the big TV packages.)
- ESPN Unlimited will give you another three exclusive games for $30 a month, or effectively $20 a month if you’re bundling it with Disney+. (ESPN Unlimited will get you 11 games in total, but most are shared with Altitude and/or ABC. It also comes with a lot of college football and a truly bizarre number of other sporting events. ESPN is generally included in the big TV packages.)
- Peacock will get you another two exclusive games for $11 a month. (Peacock carries six games in total, but most will be shared with the local channels and Altitude.)
So, if you wanted to watch every single game, you would combine Altitude+, Prime Video, an antenna, ESPN Unlimited and Peacock for a total of about $70 a month.
Of course, you may already be paying for one or more of those services. And I would suggest you probably don’t need Peacock just to watch two games.
The major tradeoff for the mix-and-max strategy is that it’s making me feel crazy. (Ed. note: Same.)
How much basketball should I watch?
I actually would not recommend watching all 82 games of the Nuggets’ season. It’s a lot of basketball and it’s expensive. You can always just read the paper the next day. Or don’t.
But what about my hockey?
Most of this advice applies to the Avalanche, too. If you find a setup that gets you a lot of basketball, it will also get you a lot of hockey.
How do I watch local channels for free?
I mentioned this earlier, but dozens of basketball and hockey games, and almost every Broncos game, will be broadcast free over-the-air in the coming months. You also get award shows and other major events.
OTA signals are surprisingly good, especially in a bigger city like Denver. They can look almost as good as streaming. The trick is finding the hardware to watch them.
Many TVs have a built-in tuner. If yours does, you could simply buy a cheap digital antenna (which can be found for under $40) and connect it to your set.
If you want to get a little fancier, you could buy an over-the-air streaming box, also known as a network tuner. These are devices that take your local broadcast signal and convert it into a digital stream that can be shown on your phone, tablet, TV, even your smart fridge (maybe). Some include DVR functionality, allowing you to record and rewind.
Your main hardware options include Tablo and AirTV, which you can read about elsewhere. You may pay between $60 and $250 in hardware costs, but you should then be set for free local channels for the foreseeable future. Good investment for the TV-consuming public, in my book.
Find a mistake or a hidden fee that I missed? Let me know! This stuff is complicated.
