How to Watch March Madness 2026 | WIRED

Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Spring is upon us, which means the beginning of the end of seasonal depression (fingers crossed), spring breaks with the kids, and of course, brackets and betting with March Madness . This is the annual tournament that determines which men’s and women’s Division I teams will win the NCAA Basketball championships. This year, the games begin on Tuesday, March 17 for the men and Wednesday, March 18 for the women. However, 2026 March Madness officially starts this weekend, with the announcement on March 15 of the participating teams on Selection Sunday. You can watch the March Madness games live if you still subscribe to the old-school cable box, but who are we kidding—I know you’ve cut the cable and want to stream the games on the internet. To stream March Madness games for the NCAA Championship, you'll have to access various platforms. I’ve done all the research for you, including how much it costs and what’s included (and when you should cancel your membership after March Madness ends). Where to Stream HBO Max ($18.49 a month and up for the tiers with live sports): Your HBO Max account lets you stream 42 of the men's March Madness games airing across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. There are a few tiers of HBO Max available, and the service is frequently bundled with Hulu and Disney+, but just know that the cheapest $11 per month plan for HBO Max does not include live sports streaming. There's the Standard plan at $18.49 that gets you all the games in HD, and the Premium plan at $23 a month that shows the games in 4K with Dolby Atmos audio. (WIRED also has Max promo codes , which can help you save on Max subscription plans.) No free trial. Paramount+ Premium ($13 per month): To watch any men's March Madness games that are being broadcast on CBS, get the Paramount+ Premium plan. Since this subscription gets you the games airing on CBS, and HBO Max's Standard plan gets you the games airing the big cable networks, you can watch all of the men's March Madness games with a combination of these two plans. Just note that Paramount+ Premium is marketed as ad-free streaming, but that doesn't apply to live TV; your NCAA coverage will include ads. One-week free trial. ESPN Unlimited ($30 a month). ESPN's top-tier streaming service has all of the programming across all of the ESPN networks. This is a great option if you want to watch all of the women's March Madness games, since the entire women's tournament will be shown across ESPN's various channels. ESPN is frequently bundled in with Hulu and Disney+, but if you have one of these bundles, just check your ESPN tier to make sure your plan lets you watch all the games. Hulu + Live TV ($90 per month): You can watch all of the games—men's and women's—that are being broadcast live on CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV, and ESPN in one place by choosing a Hulu subscription with the “Live TV” add-on. This package is a steep $83 per month, but Hulu gives you a three-day free trial. Hulu has been amping up its NCAA coverage in recent years, with personalized recommendations, live TV video streaming on up to two devices, push notifications when games are starting, and the ability to mark games you want to watch later. (WIRED also has Hulu coupons , which can help you save on Hulu subscription plans.) Three-day free trial. YouTube TV ($83 per month): Having YouTube TV is like having live TV from basically any channel you want, with content from over 100 channels, including CBS, ABC and the cable channels with March Madness coverage. You can stream every televised men's and women's game with this package. YouTube TV also has a cool multi-view feature that lets you arrange four streams on the television at once, so you can watch multiple games at the same time. If you sign up right now, until March 17, you can save big on your first two months with a discounted plan of only $60 per month. Sling ($35 per month): Through this service, you can stream March Madness game coverage on ESPN, TNT, and TBS. Sling’s basic plan, Orange , is half off for your first month at $35. After that, it's $70 a month. This plan gets you Men’s and Women’s College Basketball streaming at home or on other devices. If you just want to root for your alma matter, Sling offers days passes that unlock access to the channels showing March Madness games for $6 per day. DirecTV (starting at $80 per month): DirecTV has different packages , starting from $80 per month all the way to twice that price. The $80 Entertainment package will get you coverage from TBS, TNT, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2, and FOX Sports 1, among other channels, so you can watch almost all of the men's and women's games. Die-hard college sports fans will want the Choice package which has the Big Ten Conference, live NCAA college football, and more collegiate regional networks. DirecTV Sports Centr