NESN is essential for watching the Red Sox and Bruins in the Boston area, and I’m going to break down the two best streaming options available.

In a hurry? These streaming services offer NESN along with an excellent selection of other channels:

Fubo: It has all the New England-area RSNs (NESN, NESN+, NBC Sports Boston) and 15+ channels for $94.98/month.
DIRECTV STREAM: The Choice plan has 105+ channels including NESN and NESN+. The plan costs $86.99/month.

Table Of Contents

1 How to Stream NESN
2 Streaming Details
3 Where is NESN Available?
4 Out-of-Market NESN Alternatives
5 Our Choice
6 FAQs

How to Stream NESN

NESN (The New England Sports Network) is dedicated to Red Sox baseball, Bruins hockey, and other Boston sports.

Should I Get NESN 360?

Most people will want to get NESN via Fubo or DIRECTV STREAM. But it is possible to get it directly by signing up for NESN 360. If you sign up for the yearly plan ($329.99) you save a month and also get 4 Red Sox game tickets.

NESN 360 also gives you on-demand access to Red Sox and Bruins games after games are completed. You can sign in to NESN 360 with your Fubo or DIRECTV STREAM credentials, so those services have you covered too.

There are some downsides of NESN 360, which you should consider:

You don’t get NBC Sports Boston, which airs virtually all Boston Celtics games.
You don’t get other channels like CBS Sports Network, ESPN, or FS1.
NESN 360 offers limited support of streaming devices.

Streaming Details

Fubo, DIRECTV STREAM, and NESN 360 include unlimited cloud DVR storage. NESN also offers on-demand access to completed games.

The number of screens you get by service is:

DIRECTV STREAM: Unlimited screens
Fubo: 10 screens, depending on the plan
NESN 360: 4 screens

Devices

Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM support most devices and smart TVs. Fubo supports the Xbox gaming console.

NESN 360 only supports viewing through its website or with apps on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Android TV, or mobile devices with Android or iOS (iPhone, iPad).

Other Available RSNs

If you want to watch the Celtics, Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM include all New England RSNs: NESN, NESN+, and NBC Sports Boston. They also include others that you may qualify for depending on your location.

NESN 360 only includes NESN and NESN+; it doesn’t include NBC Sports Boston.

Where is NESN Available?

NESN is available to subscribers throughout New England:

Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont

It is also available throughout Connecticut except for the southwest corner of the state, which is part of the New York broadcasting area (MSG, SportsNet New York, and YES Network).

Out-of-Market NESN Alternatives

There are two options to watch live Red Sox and Bruins games if you don’t live in the New England area:

MLB.TV: This service gives you live access to every out-of-market game in the regular baseball season that isn’t also nationally televised.
ESPN+: This service carries every out-of-market NHL game, including the Bruins if you aren’t in the Boston area.

Our Choice

Editor’s Choice: Fubo (starting at $79.99/month)

Best for: New England-area sports fans.

Get all the Boston area sports, including the Celtics
Fubo is the undisputed best sports streaming service
150+ channels
Unlimited cloud DVR and up to 10 screens
Free trial available

Budget Pick: NESN 360 ($29.99 monthly)

Best for: New England-area sports fans who don’t watch NBA

Watch Boston-area pro hockey and baseball games
Comes with Red Sox home game tickets
Unlimited cloud DVR storage
On-demand access to completed games
Doesn’t include local Celtics NBA games

FAQs

Does NESN air New England Patriots games?

NESN does not air any New England Patriots games. In fact, no RSN airs NFL games. Instead, these games are featured on Amazon Prime (Thursday Night Football), NBC (Sunday Night Football), ESPN (Monday Night Football), or regionally on Sunday afternoons through local CBS and Fox affiliates. NESN does, however, provide news and commentary related to the Patriots.

Does NESN broadcast Red Sox spring training games?

NESN normally broadcasts the vast majority of Red Sox spring training games. In 2023, this included 27 out of a total of 32 games. The other games will usually be found on MLB Network. It comes with the DIRECTV STREAM Choice package. And you can add it to Fubo for $7.99/mo with the Fubo Extra plan.

Can I Get NESN on Hulu?

NESN is not currently available on Hulu + Live TV. However, that could change in the future. Hulu currently provides RSNs for San Francisco Bay Area, California, Chicago, New York (SportsNet but not MSG or YES), Northwest (Portland), Philadelphia, and Washington DC. So it’s worth checking back.

Does NESN broadcast Boston Celtics games?

Although NESN is focused on Boston sports, it does not broadcast Celtics games. Instead, the Boston Celtics are broadcast on NBC Sports Boston. But this really isn’t a problem because both DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo offer NBC Sports Boston to subscribers in the New England area.

Does NESN broadcast the New England Revolution?

NESN has never broadcast New England Revolution games — or any Major League Soccer (MLS) matches. That honor used to go to NBC Sports Boston but the Revolution left for the new MLS Season Pass. If you are a serious Revolution fan, you can watch every match for $14.99/mo or $99/yr.

Page Updates ▼▲

Nov 12, 2024

Overhauled the page and streamlined it. Added services to the comparison table. Added streaming services and more details.
Mar 19, 2024

Updated for the 2024 MLB season.
Apr 11, 2023

Added buttons for streaming services. Updated some sub-sections. Updated some section headings. Changes to some sections. Deleted unneeded sub-section.
Oct 6, 2022

Added new section. Added VPN info. Added sub-section. Updated some section headings. Added useful links. Various content updates.
Aug 21, 2022

Added buttons for streaming services. Added sub-section. Linking. Pricing updates. Changed a few bits of content.
Jun 9, 2022

Added sub-section. Added useful links. Pricing updates. Image changes.
Apr 21, 2022

Updated some sub-sections. Updated some section headings. Pricing updates.
Jan 21, 2022

Added sub-section. Updated some sub-sections. Pricing updates. Mentioned offers.
Jul 26, 2021

Updates to a section. Updated one section.
May 13, 2021

Updated one section. Mentioned offers. Pricing updates.

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Frank Moraes

I am a Senior Content Editor at Hotdog.com, specializing in sports streaming and regional programming issues. With a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and extensive experience in remote sensing technology, including early video streaming, I bring a unique technical perspective to the streaming industry.

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.