MGoHelp: Can I live without cable?

I would like everyone's view on this as well

You can watch pretty much anything you want if you do a bit of Googling. I haven't watched sports on TV in years, and yet I watch more games than ever. Just make sure you have a pretty hefty ad blocker installed on your browser - most of the streaming sites are unusable without one.

$20/month is Sling TV. That includes ESPN, ESPN 2.
Digital cable antenna is a one time payment of $50-$100 for a good one, and can get you all local channels. Now all you'll miss is fox sports and BTN. For $20 a month total. If you're worried about missing TV shows, HULU is a max of $10 a month and Netflix is another $8. You just need a good streaming device to stream all the services, and good internet.

Have you considered telling your wife "no"?

you and her watch that much content and sports are important to you getting rid of cable would probably an unreasonable undertaking. There are big changes to cable coming where you will be able to get just the content you want affordably, so I would wait a year and see where things stand at that point.

Search for "cutting the cable" or "roku"...been discussed many times.  Many of us here do not have cable.

Live sports are the only thing preventing me from cutting the cord. Until BTN offers live streaming without a cable subscription, I'm stuck. Can't miss Michigan football and hoops, and I'm not gonna stream illegally

My only problem with not having cable is that I live on Central European Time right now, which means I'm asleep during live streams of basketball games, and I'm not sure where I can watch them for free when I'm actually awake.

Yes you can live without cable. Buy a Mohu Leaf HD Antenna to get you ABC CBS FOX and NBC. I also have a Roku so I can use the WatchESPN app. That will only work if you have a log in for a cable subscription though. I use my parents. If you have a friend or relative who will give you their log in information, you will be set. If not, there are a lot of streaming options out there.

If all you watch is live sports, then yes, you'll be fine. There are free streams (of varying A/V quality) all over the internet of basically any sporting event on the planet. Also, ESPN streams games that are broadcast on ABC for free and in HD. You don't have to have a cable description to watch those. 

If you watch the NBA or MLB a lot, then you can purchase their respective league passes. 

I have Hulu and deal with it fine.

For Big10 network games you can stream AUDIO via TuneIn radio to your Roku live free. 

I have a Home theater, Roku3, Digital antenna and SlingTV streaming...so I get about 75% of all games.  90% with the Big10 streaming.

And I fire up YouTube on my home theater 60" plasma to watch Michigan replay on games I may have missed (Utah Fox Sports Network for instance).

$20/month

Did that back in November...haven't had a complaint really. Have Sling, Netflix, and hulu. also channel pear sometimes works as well with btn and such.

Interestingly the quality of digital over the air antenna signal is better than cable HD signal.  Over the air is 1080p and dolby 5.1 so sitting in my HT watching a game it feels like I am there.  I can hear the crowd cheering all around me....digital signal is the best thing since the wheel.

I don't have cable... you gain so much time and money by not being a slave to TV. Netflix or AppleTV is good enough to allow you to watch shows during down time. For all UM football games, I go out with friends or hit the bar. 

I cut the cord about 6 months ago. HD antenna works great for broadcast networks, and Netflix for movies (I'm adding Apple TV this holiday season mostly for the HBO app).

But sports... livestreams are extremely unreliable in my opinion. You'll always find one, but they're usually lousy quality, often interuppted/frozen at the worst times, and yes, illegal. 

I've found it's worth it to just get out of the house for games and go to a Michigan bar or a friend's place. Pain in the arse? Yes. But I'm hoping within a year, BTN/ESPN will offer a standalone subscription service ala HBO (I understand at least ESPN is available through Sling TV without a cable subscription, but that leaves BTN).

Just do it if you have alternative locations outside the home for a few games a year.

Sometimes you just have to man up. I know how to get free cable but I am not going to pass out that advice here. However, I am certain there are some things that she "needs" on a monthly basis that you have no use for whatsoever. Marriage is about compromise. I cannot imagine a spouse that would be so intolerant as to not allow you to have Cable for the football season. Cable, unlike Direct, which I have, and other satellite companies, does not require a time commitment. If you don't believe me, let a month's payment slide and see how long before you are watching the local ABC affiliate only.  You are talking 4 months and then you can simply hop to the local sports bar for the bowl game. That is also an avenue you could pursue through the fb season if she is that unreasonable.

Simply remind her of why you work and I am sure she will come around. Just let her know that cable is your only alternative, if you want to watch it on your television and, as I said above, you can do it on a month-to-month basis which is not available thru statellite providers. I simply make a phone call and stop my DIRECT TV every winter, and another phone call connects me immediately upon my return from Mexico in late Spring or early Summer. But you cannot do that until you've been a customer for a year so I would suggest the above scenario. She has no right to dictate your viewing needs anyway. 

I don't have cable. Sling tv gives you all espn channels. BTN is an issue, as was FS1. Honestly, we loved the idea of it, but at the end of the day on not sure how much money we actually save with the various subscriptions we have. The advantage is you can start and stop at will, which I plan on doing with sling outside of football season.

I'd say you could, if you have a friend that'll give you his Comcast password to watch online.

Yes. I've been doing it for 6 years now... But I also have HBO to Go and all the sports I can stream thanks to my brother and sister-in-law's account login. All I pay for is internet service and Netflix.

I got rid of cable. Bought a chromecast and hd antenna. I get free high def CBS NBC FOX and ABC. So I get the NFL games on Sunday and the big college games on Saturday. Stole my parents directv login for NFL network, ESPN and BTN

No

I have a cheaper cable package with no ESPN or BTN, I need to suck it up and just cancel altogether.  I rely on firstrowsports a lot, though their quality is questionable.  Also use parents login for BTN.

Depends on internet quality. I have sling and that works well if we aren't on BTN. The issue is that ATT is the exclusive provider of my apartment complex and when everyone is streaming and gaming my 24Mbps connection goes to shit. If you can stream video during all game times, you should be fine.

I was in the same boat and just left Directv after 10 years and went to Dish. For the duration of my 2 year contract my bill will be $51 per month (taxes included). I get free HD/DVR, and free installation. I also get free Netflix for a year. I get B1G network and FSN which is all I really need. I'm only paying for one TV. Additional TVs are $8 more per month. I'm saving $70 per month and couldn't be happier.

Illegal streaming of sports events is so huge...people using other subscribers logins, streaming of events through various websites.

If someone can come up with a business that can provide 100% sports coverage at a reasonable rate they would make a ton of money.  

Also taxpayer funded colleges should have their football games broadcast on OTA networks not behind pay to view networks.

I would love to get rid of cable but in the end it's just not worth it. You're still going to be paying for Internet. Plus various subscription services. It's easy for people to say just go to a friends or Michigan bar to watch the games. Well that costs money too. Food drinks gas etc. plus the time away from your family. Live sports is the only reason I have cable still but it's the only thing I watch. Between football, NHL, college basketball, and various forms of racing (not nascar) there's no way I could stream or go places to watch all that. Plus the ability to DVR everything if you're late or missing some.

There's other things you can get rid of. Look at how expensive your/her cell phone bills probably are. I'd love to get rid of those.