When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Home entertainment has largely transitioned from cable to streaming.
But sports content lives in both worlds.
So, what if you want high-quality sports streams?
Things are complicated, but here’s what you oughta know.
Why aren’t sports broadcast in 4K?
There are a few reasons why sports networks don’t stream in 4K.
Producing native 4K content is expensive and requires much better infrastructure than what many services currently have in place.
So how do they trick your TV into thinking that they’re streaming in 4K?
Well, with upscaling.
You might be familiar with upscaling as it relates to watching older content on higher-resolution TV.
So what about sports that are licensed to streaming services like Amazon Prime Video andApple TV+instead of traditional networks?
You would assume they’d be high-quality but unfortunately, things are a little hit-and-miss there, too.
Even Apple TV+’s Major LeagueSoccerstreams are 1080p.
Where can you get real 4K sports streams?
For starters, avoid watching over-the-air feeds.
That’s true of the cable streams too.
Instead, wherever possible, stream using the web link’s app.
That, of course, may require spending more money.
YouTube TV streamsFox Sportscontent in the same upscaled resolution as Fox does in the Fox Sports app.
Sling TV, on the other hand, sometimes prioritizes a lower bandwidth.
Often, theyll be the same quality though.
Will we ever get real 4K sports content?
That’s not horrible news, however.
Don’t expect native 4K sports streaming on a regular basis any time soon.
That said, that doesn’t mean sports streaming won’t seem like it’s getting better.
