As someone living in the San Francisco area, NBC Sports Bay Area is an essential channel for Giants and Warriors fans. The good news is that several streaming options are available for those of us who’ve moved away from traditional cable TV. I provide details below.
In a hurry? All of these services provide NBC Sports Bay Area:
- Hulu + Live TV: Provides the two Bay Area RSNs in its 95+-channel lineup along with ESPN+ and Disney+. Try the Hulu Live free 3-day trial.
- DIRECTV STREAM: Offers all the channels you would want in its Choice package. Perfect for fans in Nevada and Hawaii. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
- Fubo: This sports-first streaming service offers 50+ sports channels in its 150+ total channel lineup. A good choice for those in Oregon. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
Are you a fan of the San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors, or San Francisco 49ers? If you are, particularly in the case of the Giants and Warriors, you want to ensure that you have access to NBC Sports Bay Area. It broadcasts a significant percentage of those two teams’ games. Non-game coverage of the 49ers is shown as well.
Streaming NBC Sports Bay Area
The number of streaming services that offer access to NBC Sports Bay Area used to be more numerous, but that number has dwindled over the years. There are still four that provide it and NBC Sports California:
| Service | Price | Channels | DVR (hrs) | Screens |
 | $82.99 | 95+ | unlimited | 2 |
 | $94.98 | 150+ | unlimited | 10 |
 | $114.99 | 125+ | unlimited | unlimited |
 | $82.99 | 100+ | unlimited | 3 |
Streaming Features
A free cloud DVR with unlimited storage is included in the base plans of all these streaming services. You can also stream on multiple devices at the same time.
There is universal support for most streaming devices: the stick devices Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Roku; mobile devices based on Android and iOS; smart TVs from Samsung and those built on Android TV; and Xbox gaming systems. There is less support for other devices like the PlayStation.
Alternatives to NBC Sports Bay Area
You could limit yourself to an antenna and television, which will guarantee access to the biggest games that the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors play. That is because the entire World Series is on Fox and the entire NBA Finals are on ABC. Also, a number of Giants and Warriors regular-season games are shown on those respective channels.
In addition, the local NBC affiliate, KNTV, broadcasts a fair number of Giants games each year — up to a quarter of them. These are taken from NBC Sports Bay Area, their sister station.
Another option is using a different streaming service. Sling TV offers ABC, FOX, and NBC in select markets and FS1, TBS, and TNT everywhere in its Blue plan for $45.99/month.
Lastly, if you are outside of the blackout area of the Giants and Warriors, which includes Sacramento for the Warriors, you can subscribe to MLB.TV ($29.99/month) or NBA League Pass ($16.99/month). You can get MLB.TV through Fubo and NBA League Pass through Fubo, DIRECTV STREAM, and YouTube TV.
What Is NBC Sports Bay Area?
NBC Sports Bay Area is an American regional sports network (RSN) that covers professional sports in Northern California. It is an NBCUniversal channel.
Since it is an RSN, streaming services are only allowed to offer it to those located in its broadcast area — which is large.
Where Is NBC Sports Bay Area Available?
NBC Sports Bay Area is available throughout Northern California and all the way south past Bakersfield or San Luis Obispo. It is also available throughout Nevada and Hawaii and in southern Oregon.
Note that some of its teams are blacked out in some areas. For example, Warriors games are blacked out in the Sacramento area as NBC Sports California’s Sacramento Kings coverage is the only NBA team to be designated as in-market there.
Which Sports Teams Are Shown on NBC Sports Bay Area?
NBC Sports Bay Area is primarily focused on the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors, the two major league sports teams based (technically) within the city of San Francisco. A considerable majority of regular-season games played by those franchises is shown on this channel. This includes Spring Training games for the Giants and then most games from Opening Day until the start of the playoffs.
Finally, NBC Sports Bay Area shows occasional events featuring the San Jose State Spartans and West Coast Conference teams. It even shows high school games now and then.
Because of the schedules of the two leagues, there basically isn’t an offseason for NBC Sports Bay Area. It is focused on the Warriors in the Fall and Winter and the Giants in the Spring and Summer. There is also a lot of analysis of the 49ers during the Summer, Fall, and Winter.
NBC Sports Bay Area Plus
When conflicts arise, such as the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors playing at the same time, one of the games will be moved to NBC Sports Bay Area Plus.
NBC Sports California
NBC Sports California is NBC Sports Bay Area’s sister channel. These two are always included together in a streaming subscription. Note however, games can be blacked out based on your location.
NBC Sports California handles coverage of Northern California’s other major league sports teams, the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, and Sacramento Kings.
It has two overflow channels, NBC Sports California Plus and NBC Sports California Plus 3.
NBC Sports Bay Area Shows
NBC Sports Bay Area features a number of podcasts that are broadcast on the channel. These are Dubs Talk, 49ers Talk, and Giants Talk.
There are pregame and post-game shows for all Giants and Warriors games.
San Francisco 49ers fans also regularly head to NBC Sports Bay Area. Although no games are shown on this channel, extensive non-game coverage is, such as 49ers: Ask Papa, 49ers Talk, 49ers Game Plan, 49ers: In the Huddle, 49ers Pre-game, and 49ers Post-game.
Our Choice
Any of the services I’ve discussed will work well as a source of NBC Sports Bay Area and as a general live TV streaming service. My top pick is Hulu + Live TV ($82.99/month) for those in Northern California since there are no other RSNs offered there.
In Hawaii and Nevada, I recommend DIRECTV STREAM ($114.99/month) because it offers the FanDuel Sports Network and Spectrum SportsNet channels. In Oregon, Fubo ($94.98/month) would be my choice because it provides ROOT Sports Northwest.
FAQs
What is the cheapest way to stream NBC Sports Bay Area?
Hulu + Live TV is the cheapest way to get NBC Sports Bay Area with a base plan starting at $82.99/month. It also provides ESPN+ and Disney+. There are other considerations, however.
If you live outside northern California, you likely qualify for other RSNs that it lacks. For example, subscribers in Oregon will also get ROOT Sports Northwest. You will get it with Fubo for $94.98/month.
Similarly, subscribers in Honolulu also get the southern California FanDuel Sports channels as well as Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA with DIRECTV STREAM for $114.99/month.
Does NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast San Jose Earthquakes games?
NBC Sports Bay Area does not broadcast San Jose Earthquakes games. It did previously, sharing the load with NBC Sports California. You can now watch San Jose through MLS Season Pass. It costs $14.99/mo or $99.99 for the year and has no blackouts.
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My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.
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