Sports Streaming Makes Losers of Us All

Few things are more satisfying for a certain type of college-football fan than a Notre Dame loss, and all the better if it’s an upset. So last September, when the Fighting Irish were in danger of losing to the University of Toledo Rockets, 16.5-point underdogs, I knew I had to watch. First I flipped over to NBC, where Notre Dame’s home games are generally aired. No luck. Even before I could Google it, my Twitter feed reminded me of the problem: I had been Peacocked. The game was only on NBC’s streaming platform, which costs $4.99 a month. By that point, it was late in the fourth quarter and I was getting desperate. A Good Samaritan sent me a password, and I logged on just in time to miss all the fun and see Toledo boot away the game with poor defense and clock management.

The sports-streaming monster had come for me, and maybe it’s come for you too. With ever fewer exceptions, it is