Being a fan of US sports in Australia is always going to be somewhat challenging, mostly due to the distance and the timezones involved, but time and the internet have made it much, much better than it used to be. In 2026, it’s generally possible to watch any game you want - given enough effort, money, or both - but your experience will vary according to which sport (and often which team) you follow.

Baseball

Easily the most bang for buck sport. As previously mentioned there’s 162 games in the regular season, plus a long postseason - opening day was March 29th, and the World Series could run as late as October 31st. MLB.TV is the gold standard for televised sports because they’ve been at it the longest; Major League Baseball spun up their own streaming infrastructure decades ago, and have recently taken control back from regional sports networks for most teams. Video quality is super high with very little latency, and you can usually choose between the home and away broadcast feeds unless it’s being carried by one of the major networks. There are very few blackouts, with the Friday Night Baseball games on Apple TV being the main exception (and the production quality on those games is even higher).

Broadcast times in Australia vary widely, depending on which team you follow. Local start times range from noon to 7PM, so if you follow an east coast team that’s going to mean a lot of games while you’re asleep. If you’re a Detroit Tigers fan, then a) condolences, and b) 28/162 of your games finish before 6am; compare that with 2/162 for Mariners fans. (11 out of 162 for the Cards is not ideal, but tolerable.)

An annual subscription runs around $150 USD / $210 AUD, but it’s often possible to pick up a redemption code for dirt cheap from T-Mobile customers in the US (who get MLB.TV for free) who aren’t baseball fans - the last two full seasons have cost me $30 AUD combined.

Side note: If you’re a baseball fan, get on the Mosaic beta.

Basketball

Who gives a shit. Sorry hoops fans, don’t know and don’t care.

College Football

Historically the worst sport to follow from Australia, college football has come a long way. It’s still the trickiest one, as team location, flexible scheduling, and the short season combine to make things very unpredictable. CFB games can start as early as 10AM, teams play 10-12 games (unless they are eligible for a bowl game, or the playoffs), and the chaotic nature of college football means TV coverage and game times are not always set in advance.

However, ESPN’s investment in their ESPN+ service in the US now pays dividends for us in Australia - their blanket coverage means even the smallest of schools is televised, and if it’s on ESPN+ (or ESPN, ABC or the ACC and SEC networks) then it usually means we get it on Disney+.

For other games carried on FOX (or FS1/FS2), CBS (or CBS Sports Network), NBC (or Peacock/NBC Sports Network), or others (e.g Big Ten Network) then you are generally shit out of luck… unless you invest time and effort (and money) into an IPTV setup. Doing this is a bit¹ involved and beyond the scope of this post, but my setup is designed around my Colorado Buffaloes and if their game is broadcast in Colorado, I can watch it.

My annual investment here is under $200 (and pays off for more than just CFB).

Edited to add: DAZN have just announced a College Sports subscription, which is a) long overdue, b) great value for money if your team is in the Big Ten Conference, so-so value if your team is in the Big 12 or Mountain West conferences (as those games are only available if broadcast on Fox), and apparently worthless for anyone else.

Hockey

It’s a good time to be a hockey fan. In Australia we used to rely on NHL GameCenter Live, which was $150-ish per year, and it was good - it used MLB Advanced Media’s infrastructure, so the quality was great. Then last year the league made the, shall we say, questionable decision to switch to DAZN² as their streaming partner - a shitty move for reasons I will soon discuss.

But, in a surprise move, Australia was not on the list of countries for which DAZN took over streaming games. Instead, Disney+ carries every NHL game - usually with a choice of home or away broadcasts. Given that I was already paying for Disney+, the net additional cost of $0 to watch every NHL game (across the two teams in our household) was a huge win. I do have some frustrations with the UX, but again… $0 additional cost.

Oh, and Nine broadcasts games here now!

Dedicated commentators providing play-by-play commentary and analysis tailored for the Australian audience.

Ah… never mind then.

Hockey games are almost always evening affairs - my Avalanche only have five games this season (out of 84) which start before 7am Melbourne time - so that works out in our favour. Again, the further east your team is, the more likely they’ll play in the wee hours.

NFL Football

The best-represented sport on Australian TV (and without dumbed-down commentary!) and potentially the most expensive one if you want to follow your particular team.

If you have Disney+, then you get the Thursday, Sunday, and Monday night games, plus one game in each of the Sunday morning and afternoon timeslots, plus RedZone (the single best way to watch football when your team isn’t playing). Not bad… but there’s no guarantee you’ll see your team play.

We Broncos fans are usually pretty spoiled when it comes to prime-time games, and this season is no exception with five games guaranteed to be on Disney+ (or Netflix, in the case of the Christmas game). But there are eight other games where there would be a one-in-four chance of the game being shown, two with a one-in-eight chance, and two on flexible scheduling which could be shown anytime. Too unpredictable.³

DAZN is the streaming partner for the NFL, and they are making the most of it. NFL GamePass is $340 AUD for the season (or $35/month, on a 12-month contract), which is pretty eye-popping for a 17-game regular season - and especially so when ESPN or 7 will have most or all playoff games. What you’re really paying for is being a fan of a less-popular team - one that doesn’t play much on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday nights - in which case you’re gambling on whether ESPN or 7 will choose your team’s game among the 12 choices they have to fill two timeslots. Not good odds.

DAZN also have a well-earned reputation for customer-unfriendly behaviour and needlessly difficult cancellation processes - so much so that the general advice on Reddit is to only use a disposable credit card. Caveat emptor.

Luckily, that IPTV setup I mentioned comes in handy here as well. Of those ten games, nine are on CBS and one on Fox, and I can watch those on the local Denver affiliate. Streaming quality and latency aren’t as good as Disney+ so that’s still the first choice - but I don’t have to miss games because some inferior team got chosen this week.

The early part of the season is challenging timezone-wise, especially if you follow an east coast team; once DST kicks in, the early Sunday games start at 5am Monday which is much more doable. (Football being on Monday sucks though, it’s just not the same.)

Conclusion

Do I think about this too much? Potentially. But watching my teams makes me happy, and the challenge of getting things set up just right is a fun one. If there’s interest, I may write another post about my setup.

Very. ↩
LOL at the “Unfortunately, Australia is not one of those countries or territories.” Woe is us for not having to pay £110 upfront! ↩
No word yet on what the implications might be of ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Network and RedZone, but a similar situation to the NHL, with every game for no additional cost, would be *chef’s kiss*. ↩