How to Watch March Madness 2026
Spring is here us, which means the beginning of the end of seasonal depression (fingers crossed), spring break with the kids, and of course, brackets and gambling with March Madness.
This is the annual tournament that determines which Division I men’s and women’s teams will win the NCAA basketball championships. This year, matches begin on Tuesday March 17 for the men and Wednesday March 18 for the women.
However, March Madness 2026 officially kicks off this weekend, with the March 15 announcement of participating teams on Selection Sunday.
You can watch March Madness games live if you’re still subscribed to the old-school cable box, but who are we kidding? I know you’ve cut the cable and want to stream the games over the Internet.
To stream March Madness games for the NCAA Championship, you will need 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 per month and above for tiers with live sports): Your HBO Max account lets you stream 42 of the men’s March Madness games broadcast on 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 be aware that the cheapest $11 per month plan for HBO Max doesn’t include live sports streaming. There is the Standard plan for $18.49 which gives you all games in HD, and the Premium plan for $23 per month which shows games in 4K with Dolby Atmos audio. (WIRED also offers Max promo codes, which can help you save on Max subscription plans.) No free trial.
Paramount+ Premium ($13 per month): To watch March Madness men’s games on CBS, get the Paramount+ Premium plan. Since this subscription allows you to access games broadcast on CBS and HBO Max’s Standard plan allows you access to games broadcast on major cable networks, you can watch all of the men’s March Madness games with a combination of these two packages. Just note that Paramount+ Premium is marketed as ad-free streaming, but that doesn’t apply to live TV; your NCAA coverage will include advertisements. One-week free trial.
ESPN Unlimited ($30 per month). ESPN’s premier streaming service offers all programming across all ESPN networks. This is a great option if you want to watch every women’s March Madness game, since the entire women’s tournament will be broadcast on ESPN’s various channels. ESPN is frequently bundled with Hulu and Disney+, but if you have one of those plans, just check your ESPN tier to make sure your plan allows you to watch all the games.
Hulu + Live TV ($90 per month): You can watch every game (men’s and women’s) broadcast live on CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV and ESPN in one place by choosing a Hulu subscription with the “Live TV” add-on. This plan costs $83 per month, but Hulu gives you a three-day free trial. Hulu has beefed up its NCAA coverage in recent years, with personalized recommendations, live TV video streaming on up to two devices, push notifications when games start, and the ability to mark games you want to watch later. (WIRED also offers Hulu coupons, which can help you save on Hulu subscription plans.) Free three-day trial.
YouTube TV ($83 per month): Having YouTube TV is like having live TV on any channel you want, with content from more than 100 channels, including CBS, ABC, and cable channels with March Madness coverage. You can stream all men’s and women’s televised matches with this package. YouTube TV also has a cool multi-view feature that lets you hold four streams on the TV at once, so you can watch multiple games at the same time. If you sign up now, through March 17, you can save big on your first two months with a discounted plan of just $60 per month.
