For sports enthusiasts, YouTube and Hulu TV are ideal for switching from traditional cable to real-time sports with premium quality. These live-streaming devices are feature-rich and provide the best user experience to viewers. During the football season, YouTube offers value with its multiview feature, allowing fans to watch up to four games simultaneously.
However, Hulu and YouTube TV have many similarities, and selecting which platform is best for you can be challenging. This guide has comprehensively analyzed how to select Hulu or YouTube TV for football streaming.
Hulu TV vs YouTube TV Plans and Pricing
YouTube TV has more channels, including NBA TV, and Hulu TV has a diverse on-demand library with Disney+ and ESPN+. Therefore, both platforms are perfect entertainment bundles for the family to have more channels or on-demand content.
Hulu ad-supported plans cost $9.99/month and give access to an ad-supported streaming library. However, the Hulu TV base bundle, including Disney+ and ESPN+ with ads, is available for two streams at $76.99/month. Upgrade to ad-free Hulu and Disney+ for $89.99/month and an additional $10 for unlimited streaming.
YouTube TV base plan costs $72.99 per month, which includes three streams and six accounts with $23 off the first two months. You can add extra features like unlimited streams, premium channels, and NFL Sunday tickets for an additional monthly fee.
Key Considerations when Choosing a TV for Football Streaming
- Streaming Quality
YouTube TV provides access to some on-demand content and ad-free YouTube originals. However, YouTube TV cannot be compared to Hulu’s on-demand library, which includes hundreds of shows and original Hulu content. Moreover, Hulu specializes in original content and provides access to Disney+ and ESPN+ to enjoy unlimited football streaming.
Both platforms stream at varying rates depending on the network’s strength, but mainly in the 720P or 1080P range. However, they offer on-demand 4k live streaming with some additional monthly charges.
- Personalization and User Experience
Hulu TV
Hulu TV is perfect for large families because it allows users to create up to seven profiles and customize their streaming experience. The Likes and Dislikes feature further curates your profile by recommending channels based on your suggestions. Furthermore, you can remove shows from your watch history to prevent similar recommendations.
Despite the seven profiles, Hulu offers two simultaneous streams, so depending on the users, someone will miss out on their shows. However, it provides tailored family-friend content to the kids with minimum regulations.
YouTube TV
It allows subscribers to create up to six profiles, each with a dedicated DVR storage. The storage lets users record and save programs, particularly during the football season. Moreover, it provides a tailored experience based on individual recommendations, and you can tweak your search history to fit this.
Football enthusiasts can link their team account to the mobile app for live updates. Moreover, Stats View offers complete info on the individual and team accounts. Besides, it ensures flexible parental controls and password prompts to modify and restrict inappropriate content.
- Availability of Sports Channel
Both TV platforms allow you to follow your favorite teams and record their games to enjoy them later. Hulu offers diverse sports-centric channels such as Fox Sports, Big Ten Networks, ESPN, ESPNEWS, NFL Network, the Golf Channel, and SEC Network. You can watch the nationally televised games on channels like TNT, NBC, and ESPN, but it does not offer NBA TV coverage.
Although Hulu TV sports add-ons have limited sports channels, they offer access to NFL RedZone and other premium football channels. YouTube TV is the home of the NFL Sunday ticket add-on to provide access to out-of-market games. Furthermore, YouTube’s 100-plus channel feature is ideal for users to watch local and nationally televised sports.
Additionally, YouTube TV has superior add-ons because its Sports Extra feature offers ten additional channels than Hulu.
- Regional and College Football
RSNs
Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are local sports channels dedicated to a specified area to air live sporting events featuring teams. Both TV platforms do not provide access to RSNs, which means no access to local football programming. Popular add-ons, such as Hulu and YouTube TV, offer access to some RSNs, like NBC Sports and Fox Sports, but availability depends on location.
College Football Channels
College Football coverage is perfect on both channels because neither service offers an advantage. Both provide access to the NCAA, CBS, FOX, ESPN, ACC Network, ACC Network Extra, Big Ten Networks, truTV, and SEC Network. These channels cover College Football Playoffs, Super Bowls, and conference championships.
Hulu TV vs. YouTube TV DVR
The DVR storage for YouTube and Hulu TV is almost identical. Both offer separate and unlimited cloud space for each user, allowing them to record multiple programs simultaneously. However, the platform will keep the recordings for up to nine months after deleting them.
Hulu TV allows you to delete recordings before then, whereas YouTube TV doesn’t allow you to delete anything. Moreover, YouTube DVR works via your account library, and for this, you must add a football game to your library, and the DVR will record everything. Even if you haven’t pressed the record button and the game has already started, you can start watching from the beginning.
Hulu TV vs. YouTube TV User Interface
The user interface is different for both streaming platforms. While the YouTube TV interface is similar to cable providers, you must load the app and switch to live TV for Hulu. Moreover, YouTube TV’s unique Multiview feature allows you to watch up to four live streams on a single screen and switch between the audio sources.
YouTube TV also offers exclusive sports features like Fantasy Football Views, Stats, and Key Plays. It means viewers can see the game’s top moments, analyze the stats, and review the information about specific players. Therefore, YouTube TV’s user-friendly interface and these features will enhance the game Day.
Comparison with Other Sports
While YouTube and Hulu TV are perfect for live sports events, their diverse content offerings differentiate them from one another. Hulu TV gives all users a free subscription to ESPN+, which offers access to sports events such as UFC, Hockey, Baseball, and more. It also provides a vast on-demand library and access to TV shows like Fox, ABC, and NBC.
YouTube TV add-ons like Sports Plus and Entertainment Plus include Fox Soccer, NFL RedZone, and Tennis Channel. Moreover, it provides access to user-generated content and one-click discovery of various programs or games. Besides, YouTube TV offers detailed insights into the games to bring value to sports events.
Which is better: Hulu + Live TV or YouTube TV?
Hulu and YouTube prices are similar because it depends on personal preferences. However, if you are into video quality and emphasize on-demand content, then Hulu TV is the perfect choice. Meanwhile, YouTube is likely the ideal option for live-streamed content or if you are sharing content with other people.
YouTube is best for sports enthusiasts since you can watch multiple screens, get player stats, or rewatch key game moments. Moreover, Its Sports Plus add-ons offer extra value, including 15 channels to elevate your gaming experience.
Conclusion
Choosing Hulu or YouTube TV depends on individual preferences because both have experience-enhancing features. YouTube TV is a better choice for football with its user-friendly interface and multiview feature. However, Hulu TV offers excellent value on-demand streaming content, and including ESPN+ means you will have access to thousands of sporting events. Despite this, YouTube TV’s extensive channel lineup makes it the perfect choice to watch regional and college football networks.
FAQs
Should I switch from Hulu to YouTube TV?
Hulu and YouTube TV are excellent choices for live TV streaming, but they excel in different ways. If an extensive channel lineup and DVR storage are essential to you, then YouTube is the perfect option. On the other hand, stick with Hulu TV if you prefer an on-demand library of shows and movies.
Which platform offers better sports coverage for football?
YouTube is the perfect live TV streaming service for sports coverage and is the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. It offers better coverage with more sports channels and unlimited DVR storage. Hulu TV comes with ESPN+ to watch sports content perfectly but has limited DVR storage without upgrades.
Is there a free trial available for these services?
After signing up, YouTube TV offers a free trial period of up to 3 weeks, but the length varies with membership plans. Hulu TV provides a 3-day trial period, which may vary and be unavailable during specific promotional periods.
Is YouTube TV good for football?
YouTube TV’s user-friendly interface, multiview, and Stats feature allows you to rewatch top game moments. Moreover, you can add teams to your recordings and review the performance or analytics of individual players. Furthermore, the addition of the NFL Network makes YouTube TV a top live-streaming platform for football.
