How to Watch Kentucky vs. Nicholls if you have YouTube TV as Disney vs. Google war rages on

We’re now on Day Five of Google and Disney’s dispute over YouTube TV, which left millions of sports fans in the dark for one college football Saturday, Monday Night Football, and the opening night of college basketball. Unfortunately, a resolution does not seem imminent, so if you’re a YouTube TV subscriber, you may have to get creative to watch tonight’s Kentucky Basketball game. We’re here to help.

Let’s start with an update on the dispute. Google, which owns YouTube TV, and Disney, which owns ESPN and ABC, are locked in contract negotiations, the main sticking point being the price per subscriber that YouTube TV will pay Disney for its content. YouTube TV, which has about 10 million subscribers, wants a deal similar to those of cable giants Spectrum and Comcast, which have about 12 million subscribers each. Disney doesn’t want to give them that deal, arguing that it deserves the market rate. Disney also wants all of its channels, sports and non-sports, included in the new agreement, while YouTube TV doesn’t want to have to pass along costs to its consumers for infrequently-watched channels like Freeform.

Although Disney is losing an estimated $5 million per day by keeping its channels off YouTube TV, it’s a gamble they’ve been willing to take so far in hopes that people will cancel their YouTube TV subscriptions and subscribe to one of the streaming services they own, like Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, or Disney’s new direct-to-consumer sports subscription, ESPN Unlimited. On Monday, Disney even proposed restoring ABC to YouTube TV for one day, Tuesday, for Election Day coverage, but Google denied the request, calling on Disney to restore ABC and ESPN channels while negotiations continue. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and the stalemate continues.

That brings us to today, the first day of the Kentucky Basketball season. If you’re among the millions of YouTube TV subscribers affected by the dispute, here is how you can watch the Cats take on Nicholls on SEC Network+ at 7 p.m. ET.

ESPN Unlimited

This is probably the simplest way to ensure you can watch the game, although you’re playing right into Disney’s hands. Disney launched ESPN Unlimited ahead of football season. It offers all the ESPN content you could dream of, including live broadcast channels and streams, without a separate cable or streaming plan required.

It ain’t cheap. ESPN Unlimited is $29.99/month; however, it will include all Kentucky games broadcast by any ESPN channel or platform (ESPN, SECN, SECN+, etc.). You can also bundle Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited for just $29.99/month for 12 months.

Note: ESPN Unlimited is separate from ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+), a standalone ESPN subscription option that includes ESPN+ content. ESPN Select won’t include Kentucky games –including SEC Network+ — if you have YouTubeTV as your TV provider until the dispute is resolved.

Hulu + Live TV

Disney also owns Hulu, so if you’re looking to part ways with YouTube TV altogether, Hulu + Live TV could be a good alternative. It’s similar to YouTube TV in terms of channel offerings and user interface, and, since it’s owned by Disney, it comes with ESPN Unlimited and Disney+. Right now, you can get Hulu + Live TV for just $64.99/month for the first three months. Once that’s up, the price reverts to $89.99/month.

Fubo TV 

Another Disney-owned alternative to YouTube TV is Fubo TV with the Sports and News package, which includes local broadcast channels (minus NBC) and ESPN channels, including SEC Network and SEC Network+. It’s $55.99 per month and includes access to ESPN Unlimited, but you can get a free five-day trial, which would ensure you can watch the Nicholls game tonight, the Valparaiso game on Friday night, and the football game vs. Florida on Saturday night.

DirecTV Stream

DirecTV offers a variety of options that include ESPN’s channels (including the SEC Network and SEC Network+) and ESPN Unlimited. The entertainment package is the cheapest, at $49.99/month, but it also offers a free five-day trial, which would ensure you can watch the Nicholls game tonight, the Valparaiso game on Friday night, and the football game vs. Florida on Saturday night.

Sling Day Pass

If you want to stick with YouTube TV in hopes a deal is made soon, but want a way to watch tonight’s game, you can get a day pass from Sling. For $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to Sling Orange with unlimited streaming on one device. A weekend pass (Friday to Sunday) costs $9.99. Note: to access the SEC Network, it’s $1 more per day.

KSBar & Grille

If you’re in the Lexington area, come on down to KSBar and Grille, where we have all the channels and will be showing tonight’s game, Friday night’s game, Saturday night’s game, and all those in between. Plus, we’ve got great food and drinks.

YouTube

If you don’t want to spend another dollar, you may get lucky with a pirated live stream on YouTube (Shannon the Dude swears by it). I hear there are other sites, but for their own good, I won’t put their names out there and increase the risk they get shut down. People are sharing their finds on KSBoard.

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Kentucky vs. Nicholls: How to Watch, Listen

Both games this week (Nicholls, Valparaiso) will be on SEC Network+, aka “on the computer.” So, even when you’ve found a way to access a cable subscription for tonight, there’s still work to do to find SEC Network+ on the ESPN app. Steven Peake is here to help.

If all of this is too complicated, remember that you can listen to Tom Leach and Goose Givens call the game on the radio.

• Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: SEC Network+ (Noah Frary, Ravi Moss)
• Local Radio: UK Sports Network (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
• AM: 840 WHAS, 630 WLAP
• FM: 98.1 WBUL
• Online: iHeart Radio
• Sirius XM: TBA

You can also follow along on the KSR LIVE BLOG, which will start a few hours before tipoff, and join the conversation on KSBoard.

Take advantage of our KSR+ Introductory Offer to get bonus coverage of the Cats, including game threads, in-depth scouting reports, and the latest recruiting and roster intel. $1 for a week.