According to recent studies, around 77% of Canadians keep up with professional sports.
There are few better ways to spend a weekend night off than watching sports with your favourite comfort food and an ice-cold drink.
The only problem is that most of the best games are hosted by major television networks or exclusive sports streaming platforms that come with an expensive monthly subscription.
There are, however, a few alternative solutions.
Below, I’m going to show you the best ways to watch sports for free in Canada. After all, there’s no substitute for saving money and having a good time.
Can I Watch Live Sports In Canada For Free?
Back in the “old days,” if you wanted to watch a game, you needed to have a cable TV subscription, purchase the match through a pay-per-view platform, or attend the game live in person.
Thanks to the internet, though, it’s easier to watch live sports today than it’s ever been in the past.
Sports streaming platforms like Sportsnet, DAZN Canada, ESPN and more offer subscribers the ability to watch almost any match they please on-demand.
This is very convenient for those with a busy schedule, as they don’t have to schedule a set viewing time.
While paid sports streaming subscriptions offer the best video quality and versatility, there are several other ways to watch sports for free in Canada. Some of my top favourites include:
- YouTube (great for sports clips and highlights)
- Facebook Watch (good for certain matches)
- CTV Sports (good for locally-aired matches)
- Twitch TV (great for e-sports and gaming)
Ways To Watch Sports For Free In Canada
If you’re looking for the best ways to watch sports for free in Canada, then you’re in the right place!
Below I’ll show you all of my favourites, which are all updated and working as of October 2022.
Are you ready to get into the game?
1. YouTube
- Watch Free Sports: YouTube
- Available Sports: Basketball, football, soccer, UFC, boxing, racing, and more
YouTube is one of the world’s most-used streaming and video-watching platforms with over 2.3 billion monthly users.
One of the best things about YouTube is that it’s 100% free! Anybody can log into the platform with their Google account and look up the highlights from the latest matches.
To access the greatest variety, you’ll want to sign up for YouTube TV. However, YouTube offers loads of great free sports content.
As a free user, you can even watch some full matches, games, fights, and races on YouTube.
2. CTV Sports Streaming
- Watch Free Sports: CTV Streaming
- Available Sports: Basketball, Hockey, Baseball, Soccer, Football
CTV offers a 100% free streaming service to all Canadian residents. You don’t need a cable or satellite TV subscription to watch sports for free either.
Once you visit CTVs on-air streaming site, you can watch live sports that are currently being aired in your region. You can also catch up on previous matches if you’re unable to watch them for free.
All of the sports games are ad-supported, so you’ll have to sit through some commercials and video ads. However, this is going to be the case with almost any free sports streaming service in Canada.
The only downside of CTV sports streaming is that the platform doesn’t offer as wide of a variety of matches as you’ll get with a paid streaming platform. It’s an excellent site for local matches, though!
3. CBC Gem Sports
- Watch Free Sports: CBC Gem
- Available Sports: Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, Football, Boxing, Basketball, Rugby
CBC is one of Canada’s largest broadcasting networks and offers a 100% free streaming service to all Canadian residents.
If you’re looking for a match that’s not available on CTV’s free streaming service, then there’s a chance you might find it here. I’ve found that CBC Gem offers a great selection of rugby matches, if you’re into the sport.
All of CBC Gem’s content is ad-supported, which is what allows them to stream for free. However, you can upgrade to a paid subscription if you want an ad-free viewing experience.
4. Food Network
- Watch Free Sports: Food Network TV
- Available Sports: Cooking competitions
This might be a bit of a stretch, but a growing number of the population views cooking competitions as a sport. When you watch these cooking competitions, it’s easy to see why too.
Multiple chefs work on a tight timeline, in a set space, and following strict rules… That definitely sounds like a sport to me!
Food Network offers 100% free, ad-supported streaming of all of your favourite cooking competitions such as Top Chef Canada and Iron Chef Canada.
5. DAZN Canada (Free Trial)
- Watch Free Sports: DAZN Canada
- Available Sports: Football, Hockey, UFC, Boxing, Basketball, Baseball, Rugby, and more
DAZN is one of the top-rated sports streaming services in Canada. With the DAZN platform, you’ll be able to watch almost any game, match, or race that you want, from anywhere in the world.
DAZN is a premium subscription service that typically costs $19.99 per month. However, DAZN also offers a free trial period that new users can take advantage of.
If there’s an upcoming match that you really want to watch, you can time your free trial subscription around the air date of the match so that you can watch it for free.
6. FuboTV (Free Trial)
- Watch Free Sports: FuboTV
- Available Sports: Basketball, Soccer, Boxing, Baseball, Football, Racing, Rugby, and more
FuboTV was designed to completely replace the traditional cable tv subscription. With a FuboTV membership, you’ll be able to watch all of the games that you’d usually be able to view on major television networks.
FuboTV offers plans that start at $70 per month. However, the platform also offers a full one-month free trial period as well.
The free trial is a great time to stream some free sports and see if the platform is right for you at the same time.
7. Facebook Watch
- Watch Free Sports: Facebook Watch
- Available Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Boxing, UFC, Olympics, Football, Hockey, and more
Facebook Watch is a Facebook hub that’s geared exclusively towards video content. On the Facebook Watch page, you can view clips and highlights of recent games. Occasionally, you’ll be able to find a full-length or half-length match on Facebook Watch.
More than anything, it’s best for quick clips. The main appeal of the platform is that it makes it easy to share clips with your friends and family who are also on Facebook.
8. Reddit Live Sports Streaming
- Watch Free Sports: Reddit Sports
- Available Sports: Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, Football, Boxing, UFC, and more
Reddit is an independent social media network that’s known for its tight-knit communities, fan pages, and information groups.
However, it’s also a great place to catch up on the latest sports news, view clips from recent matches, and discuss the games with Reddit sports groups.
Like Facebook Watch, it’s not necessarily the best place to watch full matches. However, it’s unparalleled when it comes to the sheer variety of global sports clips that you can watch (thanks to Reddit’s global user base).
9. Sportrar.tv
- Watch Free Sports: Sportrar.tv
- Available Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Football, Cricket, Rugby, Boxing, and more
Sportrar.tv is an ad-supported streaming website where you can watch recorded sports matches. You won’t find any live sports listed, as all content is uploaded after the air date.
However, it’s one of the few sites that allows you to stream full games for free. The only downside is that the site has lots of pop-up ads and spam content, so you may need to invest in an ad blocker.
10. Twitch
- Watch Free Sports: Twitch TV
- Available Sports: e-sports
If you’re into gaming and e-sports, then you can’t go wrong with Twitch TV. It’s one of the largest streaming platforms in the gaming industry and is frequented by superstars and celebrities. You can watch gaming competitions with the world’s top Call of Duty players and more, all for no monthly fee.
Some of the top-paid gamers in the world stream their daily gaming for free on Twitch, so it’s a good chance to catch them in action.
11. Stream2Watch
- Watch Free Sports: Stream2watch.vip
- Available Sports: Boxing, Baseball, Football, Hockey, Basketball, and more
Compared to other platforms, Stream2Watch is a bit spammy and ad-laden. It’s very similar to the Sportrar website that I mentioned above. You can view and download recordings of recent matches, but you can’t view live matches as they’re happening.
12. ESPN
- Watch Free Sports: ESPN
- Available Sports: Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer, Baseball, Boxing, and more
ESPN is one of the top sports authorities in North America. On their free website, you’ll be able to watch all of the latest sports clips, see live scores, and even watch full matches.
If you purchase the ESPN+ package, then you’ll have access to a wider variety of live matches and major games.
13. Sportsnet NOW Canada
- Watch Free Sports: Watch Sportsnets NOW
- Available Sports: Hockey, Football, Soccer, Boxing, UFC, Basketball, and more
Sportsnet NOW is Canada’s premier sports streaming platform and offers a similar variety of content as ESPN.
If you already have the Sportsnet channel with your regular cable subscription, then you can link your cable account and watch the online platform for free.
Otherwise, you’ll have to pay for the annual subscription, which starts at $200 per year.
Even without an account, you can still watch free highlights and view live scores on the Sportsnet NOW website.
Is It Legal To Watch Sports For Free In Canada?
All of the sites that I mentioned above are 100% legal and are either supported by ads or subscriptions. As a viewer, you shouldn’t have any legal issues watching sports for free online.
Conclusion
The best way to watch sports for free in Canada is to head down to your local sports pub and take advantage of their premium subscriptions.
If you’d rather stay at home, though, any of the options I mentioned above are worth checking out.
Looking for more opportunities to watch free TV and movies online? Keep on reading to see my list of the top free streaming platforms in Canada!
