Why You Can Trust CNET How to watch New York Knicks games in 2019 without cable
The Knicks are a tough watch this season, in more ways than one.
The Knicks are in for another long season in Madison Square Garden.
Poor Knicks fans. After the team missed out on free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this past offseason and failed to win the Zion Williamson lottery, it looks to be another lost season for the New York Knicks. The team almost assuredly will run its sad streak to seven consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs. The team is tough to watch, not only because the on-court product (and ownership) is lacking, but also for the fact that the team's regional sports network is not widely available for cord cutters.
Knicks fans have a few ways to watch the team's games live this season without a cable or satellite TV subscription. Only two live TV streaming services carry the RSN that broadcasts the team's games in the New York area. Die-hard Knicks fans can subscribe to NBA League Pass to watch the team's games live, but only if you live outside the New York market. And fans are unlikely to see the team make many appearances on national NBA broadcasts, which are shown on ABC , ESPN, TNT and NBA TV.
Stream Knicks games live in New York
In 2019, Knicks games will be shown on MSG, an RSN available only in the New York area. Of the major live TV streaming services, AT&T TV Now and FuboTV are the only two that carry MSG. Check out your cord-cutting options below for the packages that carry MSG. I've also included information for ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV for live national broadcasts. Not every service carries every local network, however, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries ABC and MSG in your area.
FuboTV costs $55 a month and includes MSG, TNT and NBA TV, but not ABC or ESPN. Click here to see which local channels you get.
AT&T TV Now's basic $65-a-month Plus package includes ABC, ESPN and TNT. The $80-a-month Max package adds MSG. Neither plan, however, includes NBA TV. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live.
YouTube TV costs $50 a month and includes ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV, but not MSG. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local channels are available in your area.
Hulu with Live TV costs $45 a month and includes ABC, ESPN and TNT. It does not offer MSG or NBA TV. Click the "View all channels in your area" link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code. Hulu with Live TV is raising its prices next month to $55 a month.
PlayStation Vue's basic $50-a-month Access plan includes ESPN, TNT and ABC. The $55-a-month Core plan adds NBA TV. None of its plans include MSG. You can see which local channels are available in your area here. Note that Vue will shut down in January 2020, but in the meantime it's still available.
Sling TV's $25-a-month Sling Orange package includes ESPN and TNT. None of Sling TV's plans includes ABC or MSG, but you can get NBA TV with the $10-a-month Sports Extra add-on. (Sling TV is currently discounted by 40% for the first month.)
All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide.
Out-of-market live streaming of Knicks games
If you outside the New York market, you can't get MSG. You can, however, stream Knicks games live with an NBA League Pass subscription. Or resign yourself to watching the team only when it's featured on a national NBA broadcast.
With NBA League Pass, your local team's games are blacked out along with nationally televised games. You can watch all out-of-market games (unless they're on ESPN, TNT or another national broadcast) for $250 for the season (or $40 a month) with no commercials, or $200 for the season (or $29 a month) with commercial breaks. You can sign up to watch only your favorite out-of-market team's games for $120 for the season (or $18 a month). Or you can get just NBA TV for the channel's coverage of the league and the live games it shows for $60 a year or $7 a month. NBA League Pass is supported on a number of devices.