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Streaming NBC Sports Bay Area Online Cheaper Than Cable: Best Plans & Prices

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If you are a sports fan in and around San Francisco, then NBC Sports Bay Area is an essential channel. And thankfully, cord-cutters have a few options available.

In a hurry? The live TV streaming services that offer NBC Sports Bay Area are all solid contenders. You won’t go wrong with any of them.

  • Fubo: This streaming service is especially good for sports fans even though it has a broad selection of 150+ channels in its base plan. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
  • DIRECTV STREAM: More expensive but with other regional channels depending on your location. Also includes over 100 other channels in its Choice Plan. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
  • Hulu + Live TV: This total entertainment streaming service provides a great on-demand selection and all the essential live TV channels.

If you can’t watch your favorite sports because of your location, get ExpressVPN to access the content you deserve.

In a hurry? Unfortunately, we don’t know a streaming service in that offers this TV channel/sport. But if you’ve already paid for the right service, and just can’t watch because of your location, there is an easy way to get the sports, movies, and TV you deserve. You need a VPN, like one of the following.

ExpressVPN

1. ExpressVPN: Established VPN provider in 105 countries. Smart DNS, a built-in ad-blocker, and unlimited bandwidth. Try it with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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If you’re overwhelmed and not sure where to begin, you’ll find all the answers in our full VPN guide.

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.

The Giants are fighting hard to get to the top six of the league. The MLB Playoffs start October 3 — watch every round on Sling TV!

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

Streaming services that provide access to NBC Sports Bay Area include Fubo ($79.99/mo), Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo), and DIRECTV STREAM ($108.99/mo).

Golden State Warriors
Cropped from Pistons at Warriors by Mike D under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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 to three after YouTube TV dropped it.

Fubo

fubotv logo

Fubo (formerly FuboTV) not only provides access to both NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California, but it offers a lot more. Its 150+ channel package includes all the local affiliates ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC plus The CW, Telemundo, Univsion, and UniMas where it is available. You also get the sports channels CBS Sports Network (CBSSN, Fox Sports (FS1 and FS2), ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network, and multiple channels of beIN Sports and TUDN.

Additionally, if you are outside the Bay Area (NBCSBA has a large regional extent), you will likely get other RSNs. For most people, the total cost is $94.98/mo (including the RSN fee).

If you upgrade with the Fubo Extra ($7.99/mo) or Sports Plus ($10.99/mo), you get MLB Network and NBA TV, ensuring access to many nationally telecast Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Giants games. You can also get NBA League Pass for $14.99/mo to watch all the out-of-market games.

All Fubo plans come with 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage and the ability to stream on up to 10 devices simultaneously. See our Fubo review for all the details.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM (formerly AT&T TV) for $108.99/mo is the most expensive option of these three, but it offers all the channels you want including ABC, Fox, ESPN, FS1, MLB Network, NBA TV, TBS, and TNT. It also offers other RSNs for fans located in far-flung areas like Fresno, Las Vegas, and Honolulu.

You can also get NBA League Pass through DIRECTV STREAM.

All DIRECTV STREAM plans come with unlimited cloud DVR storage (online signup only) and the ability to stream on unlimited devices at once. For more details, see our DIRECTV STREAM review.

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days

Hulu + Live TV

hulu logo

Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo) starts with its standard on-demand service and adds an 85+ live TV channel lineup. These include both NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California. Plus you get the Big Four network affiliates as well as CBSSN, FS1, FS2, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, TBS, and TNT, making it a particularly good choice for baseball and basketball fans. It also comes with ESPN+ and Disney+.

Hulu Live TV comes with unlimited DVR with 9 month storage. You also get up to two streaming devices at once. For more information, see our Hulu + Live TV review.

Try Hulu + Live TV Today!

Other Options

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, the entire NBA Finals are on ABC, and MLS Cup is on Fox or 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. Vidgo ($69.99/mo) provides you with access to nationally telecast games on ABC, Fox, ESPN, and FS1 but not those on the MLB Network, TBS, or TNT. Meanwhile, Sling TV offers Fox, ESPN, FS1, TBS, and TNT with a purchase of the combined Orange and Blue plan ($55.00/mo). You can also integrate an antenna with Sling to get ABC and CBS.

Note that Peacock offered exclusive access to the three-game series between the Giants and Phillies that was played from June 18-20, 2021, in San Francisco. Although those contests were available through its free version, paying for Peacock Premium ($5.99/mo) may be necessary for similar situations in the future.

Lastly, if you are outside of the blackout areas of the Giants or Warriors, which includes Sacramento for the Warriors, you can subscribe to MLB.tv ($24.99/mo) or NBA League Pass ($28.99/mo) to receive access to those respective out-of-market broadcasts. You can get NBA League Pass through FuboTV and DIRECTV STREAM.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

Live Stream NBC Sports Bay Area With These Devices

All three of the streaming services we’ve discussed support these devices:

  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Android mobile devices
  • Android TV smart TVs
  • Apple TV
  • Chromecast
  • iOS mobile devices
  • Roku
  • Samsung smart TVs
  • Web browsers.

DIRECTV STREAM also works with the DirecTV device. You can purchase it for $120 or for $5/mo for 24 months (but this does tie you into a kind of contract).

FuboTV and Hulu both support other devices beyond what DIRECTV STREAM does:

  • LG smart TVs
  • Vizio SmartCast TVs
  • Xbox One gaming systems.

FuboTV also supports Hisense smart TVs. And Hulu supports the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch gaming systems.

Not that you can also watch games via TV Everywhere with the NBC Sports app and on NBCSports.com.

Superpower Your Live TV Streaming With a VPN

You can’t beat a VPN for privacy, security, and access. We have used them for years as an important part of our streaming toolkit and we recommend ExpressVPN. Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.

i See our VPN Buyer’s Guide for complete information on how to choose the best VPN for your needs.

What Is NBC Sports Bay Area?

NBC Sports Bay Area is a regional sports network (RSN) that covers professional sports in the Bay Area. It is an NBCUniversal channel but it is partly owned by the San Francisco Giants.

Since it is an RSN, streaming services are only allowed to offer it to those located in its broadcast area.

Where Is NBC Sports Bay Area Available?

NBC Sports Bay Area is available throughout Northern California, including Fresno but not including Bakersfield or San Luis Obispo. It is also available throughout Nevada and Hawaii and in Oregon up to and including Eugene but not in Corvallis and points north of there.

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 within the city of San Francisco. A considerable majority of regular-season games played by those franchises is shown on this channel.

The Dubs won the NBA championship over the Boston Celtics last year. But despite maintaining stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, head coach Steve Kerr has had difficulty with the team throughout the season when playing away from the Chase Center.

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.

Finally, NBC Sports Bay Area shows occasional games from West Coast Conference teams and even high school games.

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, NBC Sports Bay Area’s sister channel, is generally provided to anyone who gets NBC Sports Bay Area.

It handles coverage of Northern California’s other major league sports teams, the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, and Sacramento Kings. Those in the Bay Area should note that Kings games broadcast on NBC Sports California are blacked out there.

It has two overflow channels, NBC Sports California Plus and NBC Sports California Plus 3.

San Francisco Giants
Cropped from Pablo Sandoval San Francisco Giants by Dirk DBQ under CC BY 2.0.

NBC Sports Bay Area Commentators

Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper team up to call San Francisco Giants games that are broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area. On several occasions, Jon Miller and Dave Flemming spend time in the booth as well.

Bob Fitzgerald serves as the voice of the Golden State Warriors; he has done so for decades. Kelenna Azubuike, a former Warriors player (2007-10), joins him courtside as analyst.

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Other brands worth checking out include Hotspot Shield and CyberGhost.

Wrapping Up

To watch NBC Sports Bay Area get Fubo ($79.99/mo), Hulu + Live TV ($76.99/mo), or DIRECTV STREAM ($108.99/mo).

Because of its sports-focus, FuboTV is our top choice for NBC Bay Area. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

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 $76.99/mo. 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 Las Vegas will also get AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain and a number of Bally Sports channels. You can get them all with FuboTV for $94.98/mo.

Similarly, subscribers in Honolulu also get the southern California Bally Sports channels as well as Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA with DIRECTV STREAM for $108.99/mo.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

Can I watch NBC Sports Bay Area on the NBC Sports app?

Streaming service or other TV provider subscribers have access to NBC Sports Bay Area through the NBC Sports app. Their plans must include NBC Sports Bay Area and must log in to the app using TV Everywhere. You can also watch sports-specific outlets such as the Golf Channel through this app if you subscribe to them elsewhere.

What is NBC Sports California?

It is easy to get NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California mixed up as they both cover major league sports franchises based in Northern California. NBC Sports California is focused on the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, and Sacramento Kings. Keep in mind that its Kings broadcasts are blacked out in the Bay Area.

What is CSN Bay Area?

CSN Bay Area is short for Comcast SportsNet. NBC Sports Bay Area was called CSN Bay Area from 2008. In 2011, Comcast purchased NBC. But it wasn’t until 2017 that the name was changed to its current moniker. Here is a rundown of the names the channel has had over the last 3+ decades:

  • 1989: Pacific Sports Network
  • 1990: SportsChannel Bay Area
  • 1991: SportsChannel Pacific
  • 1998: Fox Sports Bay Area
  • 1999: Fox Sports Net Bay Area
  • 2004: FSN Bay Area
  • 2008: Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (CSN Bay Area)
  • 2017: NBC Sports Bay Area.

Does Sling TV offer NBC Sports Bay Area?

Sling TV does not offer NBC Sports Bay Area or any other RSN. Sling is focused on providing low-cost streaming and RSNs are among the most expensive channels to license. So you will generally have to pay at least twice as much as Sling’s base $40.00/mo to get NBC Sports Bay Area or any other RSN.

How can I watch the Giants’ divisional rivals?

The other teams in the National League West can be viewed with info contained in the following team and channel pages:

How can I watch the Sharks’ divisional rivals?

The other teams in the Pacific Division can be viewed with info contained in the following channel pages:

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

How can I watch the Warriors’ divisional rivals?

The other teams in the Pacific Division can be viewed with info contained in the following channel pages:

Does NBC Sports Bay Area broadcast San Jose Earthquakes games?

NBC Sports Bay Area does not broadcast San Jose Earthquakes games. It did through last season, 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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0 replies on “Streaming NBC Sports Bay Area Online Cheaper Than Cable: Best Plans & Prices”

All these are basically cables subscriptions. There’s no way just to pay for nbc sports streaming?

You get all NBC Sports with a Peacock Premium subscription. I know it’s kind of confusing because much of Peacock is free but it doesn’t include much live sports. But it offers a lot for just $4.99/mo.

How can I watch NBC Bay Area Sports on a streaming service when I live outside of California?

Alas, you cannot. You need to live in Northern California to get NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California. If you are looking for Giants coverage, however, you can sign up for MLB.TV. If you are a Warriors fan, NBA League Pass is the way to go. You can watch Earthquakes games on ESPN+. Strangely, being out of the area actually makes it easier to be a fan!

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