How To Watch Big Ten Network without Cable

Watching The Big Ten Tournament: The 2021 Big Ten Tournament is underway. Wednesday, March 10th – Friday, March 12th coverage of Rounds 1 and 2 along with Fridays Quarterfinals will air on BTN. However, Saturday’s Semifinals and the Big Ten Championship game on Sunday, with air on CBS. To watch those games, please see our guide to watching CBS without cable. Read on to learn how to watch BTN.

You don’t need cable to watch The Big Ten Network (BTN). You can watch BTN through any of the following streaming services: Sling TV, Hulu Live TV, fuboTV, YouTube TV, Vidgo, and AT&T TV. The network features games from the Big Ten Conference and original programming highlighting what’s going on at those universities. Let’s see which streaming service will be the best one for you to catch Big Ten Conference games on BTN.

Streaming Services with Big Ten Network

Thankfully, as with most cable content today, there are alternate ways to enjoy the channels and shows you want without forking over mountains of cash to a cable TV provider. Below are more details on the live TV streaming services that carry BTN.

Stream BTN with Hulu Live TV

Previously Hulu was known for its vast on-demand streaming library. However, Hulu also offers a live TV service that includes Live BTN. Hulu Live TV is one of the best live TV streaming services available. It consists of the following features:

• Over 60 live local and cable channels, including BTN, local networks, ESPN, Fox Sports, and more. See Channels in your Area
• The basic package comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage. (Upgrades available)
• Watch on 2 screens at once. (Upgrades available)
• Comes with 6 customizable profiles
• Includes entire Hulu streaming library
• supported on Roku, Fire TV Devices, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, iOS, Android, and more.

For full details and information on this streaming service, see our review of Hulu Live TV. There are no contracts so you can cancel any time without penalty.

Hulu Live TV offers BTN for $64.99/month after a 7-day free trial.

Watch BTN on Sling TV

BTN is available on Sling TV by subscribing to the Sling Blue package with the Sports Extra add-on for a total cost of $46 per month. Below are some of the features included in that package:

• access to AMC, History Channel, A&E, and other channels on Sling TV
• Sling also offers on-demand and a cloud DVR
• You can stream up to three devices at the same time on the Sling Blue plan
• supported on Windows and Mac PCs and laptops, Android and iOS devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Nexus player, Xbox One, 4th Generation Apple TV, Chromecast, and more.

Please read our Sling TV review for more information. There are no contracts so you can cancel any time without penalty. Sling often offers promotions when signing up for their service.

Stream BTN on FuboTV

FuboTV is an excellent place to go for sports channels, including BTN. Over 90 channels are offered in its Family package for $64.99/month (after a 7-day free trial). Here are some of the highlights of the plan:

• BTN, ESPN, FS1, and more are available in fuboTV’s channel lineup
• You can watch on three screens at the same time 
• 250 hours of cloud DVR storage
• The FuboTV app is available on major platforms, including AppleTV, AndroidTV, Roku, and Amazon FireTV. 

You can sign up for a 1-week free trial or check out our review of FuboTV for more details.

Watch Big Ten Network on Vidgo

Vidgo is a newer streaming service that offers fairly competitive pricing over other live streaming services. Vidgo includes BTN in its Core package, along with over 60 other channels. New customers can sign up for the Core Plan for $55. Features include

• ESPN, History, MTV, and other channels
• watch on three devices at the same time
• Vidgo customers can watch shows from the past 24 hours.
• Vidgo is supported on available on Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV. You can also stream the service on up to 3 devices at the same time.

Vidgo doesn’t force you into a contract so that you can cancel any time. They do offer special pricing for new customers, which you can cancel within the first three days at no charge.

We have the full details in our guide to Vidgo’s live streaming service.

BTN on AT&T TV

AT&T TV is another way to watch BTN. Big Ten Network is part of their “Choice” package for $84.99 per month. AT&T TV provides the following features:

• watch on 20 streams simultaneously per subscription 
• a cloud-based DVR
• channels like BTN, AMC, HGTV, Discovery, and more
• supported on AppleTV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon FireTV, and more

You can check out everything this service offers by reading our AT&T TV review.

BTN on YouTube TV

YouTubeTV also offers BTN streaming live, as well as limitless storage space for recording your shows. Your library of recorded shows can be streamed anywhere. YouTubeTV costs $64.99 a month. A subscription to YouTube TV includes the following:

• access to ESPN, FS1, BTN, and over 70 other channels
• unlimited cloud DVR storage
• stream on three devices at once
• Youtube TV supports Roku, Android, iOS (includes AirPlay to Apple TV), and Chromecasts/Chromecast-compatible TVs. 

Check our review of YouTube TV for all the information on this service. YouTube TV offers a 1-week free trial.

Watch BTN for Free

Most of the streaming services that carry BTN offer a free trial. You can take advantage of those and watch free BTN for almost a month or longer if you use different email addresses. Let’s look at the free trials available.

• Hulu + Live TV – Offers a 1-week free trial.
• FuboTV – offers a 1-week free trial.
• YouTube TV –  offers a 1-week free trial

As long as you cancel before the free trial expires, you won’t be charged. You can cycle the free trials to get nearly a month of BTN free. If you get creative with email addresses and payment methods, you could watch free BTN even longer. Doing this would also let you test out the various live TV streaming services to see which one you like the best.

Watch BTN on Roku

To watch the BTN on Roku, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries BTN ( Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, AT&T TV, YouTube TV, etc.)
2. On your Roku Menu, navigate to “Search” and press “OK” on your remote
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
5. Select “Add Channel” press “OK” on your remote. If the channel is already installed, “Go To Channel” will be an option.
6. The App is now installed on your Roku. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. BTN will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Watch BTN on Fire TV

To watch BTN on Fire TV, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries BTN (Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, AT&T TV, YouTube TV, etc)
2. On your Fire TV Home screen, click on the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service and press “OK.”
5. Select “Download,” and the channel will install
6. The App is now installed on your Fire TV. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. BTN will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Watch BTN on Apple TV

To watch BTN on Apple TV, follow these instructions.

1. Subscribe to a streaming service that carries BTN (Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, FuboTV, Vidgo, AT&T TV, YouTube TV, etc)
2. Scroll right to the search icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
3. Enter the name of the streaming service you subscribe to in the search bar
4. Select the streaming service click the cloud icon, and the channel will install
5. The App is now installed on your Apple TV. Open the app, and log in with the credentials you used to subscribe to the service. BTN will be a channel available through the app’s live TV guide.

Streaming BTN on the Fox Sports app

If you subscribe to FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, or Sling TV, you can watch BTN online using the Fox Sports app. Below are the steps to install Fox Sports and watch BTN on Roku. However, the steps for other streaming devices are similar.

1. Go to the channel store on your device.
2. Search for “Fox Sports.” You will see the “Fox Sports app.” Add it to your device. 
3. Open the app. If it’s your first time opening the app, you may be asked to create or sign in with your Fox Sports profile. You can skip this step.
4. You will then be asked to “Sign in with your TV provider.”
5. Select “other provider.”
6. You will then see an activation code and a URL (activate.foxsports.com)
7. Using a web browser, go to activate.foxsports.com and enter the activation code.
8. Still, on your browser, choose the streaming service you subscribe to for BTN. I use Hulu, but Hulu, Vidgo, Sling TV, fuboTV, and YouTube TV are acceptable. Sign in using your login credentials to that service
9. Your TV screen will refresh, and you will see BTN and other Fox sports networks available through the app.

The Fox Sports app is supported on the following devices:

• Android
• iOS
• Apple TV
• FireTV
• Android TV
• Xbox One
• Roku
• Samsung Smart TV

BTN Plus

BTN also offers a service called BTN Plus, which lets you watch live streaming of non-televised games. This way, you get plenty of content for all schools in the Big Ten Conference. You can view these games on the BTN Plus app for $14.95/month or $119.95/year. This service unlocks all untelevised games from the following schools:

• University of Michigan
• Northwestern University
• Wisconsin University
• The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Penn State University
• Ohio State University
• Michigan State University
• Purdue University
• University of Minnesota
• Indiana University
• University of Iowa
• University of Nebraska
• Rutgers University
• University of Maryland

For information on watching other TV channels online check out: How To Stream Specific TV Channels

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