✦ Edited and fact-checked by Mike Strayer, our Managing Editor, with over 11 years covering streaming and home entertainment.
What is the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan?
YouTube TV launched its genre-specific skinny bundle plans in February 2026, marking the most significant structural change the service has made since its 2017 debut. The Sports + News Plan is one of five initial genre tiers, sitting between the standalone Sports Plan at $64.99/mo. and the full base plan at $82.99/mo.
The Sports + News Plan costs $71.99/mo. for existing subscribers, or $56.99/mo. for new subscribers during the first three months. That puts it $11/mo. below the full YouTube TV base plan—a real difference, as long as you’re genuinely OK leaving entertainment and family content on the table.
All that said, it’s pretty hard to find a straight answer about which channels the Sports + Entertainment Plan actually includes, so we manually verified each one so you don’t have to go digging through the AI slop.
How many channels does the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan include?
The Sports + News Plan carries roughly 50 channels spanning local broadcast, sports, and news, plus a small handful of lifestyle networks. It’s a noticeably wider net than the standalone Sports Plan, adding cable news staples like CNN, Fox News, CNBC, and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) while keeping the full ESPN suite and major conference networks intact.
Here’s every channel currently included.
Full YouTube TV Sports + News Plan channel lineup
| Channel | Sports + News Plan |
|---|---|
| A | |
| A&E | — |
| ABC* | ✔ |
| ABC News | ✔ |
| ACCN | ✔ |
| Adult Swim | — |
| All Reality WE tv | — |
| AMC | — |
| Animal Planet | — |
| Antena 3 | — |
| B | |
| Baby TV Español | — |
| Bandamax | — |
| BBC America | — |
| BBC News | — |
| beIN SPORTS | — |
| beIN Sports en Español | — |
| BET | — |
| BET Her | — |
| Big Ten Network (BTN) | ✔ |
| Billiard TV | — |
| Bloomberg Originals | ✔ |
| Bloomberg TV+ | ✔ |
| Boomerang | — |
| Bounce | — |
| Bravo | — |
| C | |
| C-SPAN | ✔ |
| C-SPAN 2 | ✔ |
| C-SPAN 3 | ✔ |
| Cartoon Network | — |
| CBS* | ✔ |
| CBS Sports Network | ✔ |
| CHARGE! | — |
| Cheddar | ✔ |
| Cheddar News | — |
| Cine Latino | — |
| Cine Mexicano | — |
| CMT | — |
| CNBC | ✔ |
| CNBC World | — |
| CNN | ✔ |
| CNN en Español | — |
| Comedy Central | — |
| Comedy.tv | — |
| COMET | — |
| Cooking Channel | — |
| Court TV | — |
| COZI TV | ✔ |
| The CW* | ✔ |
| D | |
| Dabl | ✔ |
| De Película | — |
| De Película Clásico | — |
| Destination America | — |
| Discovery Channel | — |
| Discovery en Español | — |
| Discovery Familia | — |
| Discovery Turbo | — |
| Disney Channel | — |
| Disney Junior | — |
| Disney XD | — |
| DIY Network | — |
| Docurama | — |
| Dove Channel | — |
| E | |
| E! | — |
| ESPN | ✔ |
| ESPN2 | ✔ |
| ESPNews | ✔ |
| ESPN Deportes | — |
| ESPNU | ✔ |
| EstrellaTV | — |
| F | |
| FanDuel TV | — |
| Fight Network | — |
| Food Network | — |
| FOROtv | — |
| FOX* | ✔ |
| Fox Business Network | ✔ |
| Fox Deportes | — |
| Fox News | ✔ |
| FOX Soccer Plus | — |
| Fox Soul | — |
| Fox Weather | ✔ |
| FS1 | ✔ |
| FS2 | ✔ |
| Freeform | — |
| Fuse | — |
| Fusion | — |
| FX | — |
| FXM | — |
| FXX | — |
| FYI | — |
| G | |
| Galavisión | — |
| Game Show Network | — |
| Golf Channel | ✔ |
| Great American Faith & Living | — |
| Great American Family | — |
| The Great Courses | — |
| Great Entertainment Television | — |
| H | |
| Hallmark Channel | — |
| Hallmark Family | — |
| Hallmark Movies & Mysteries | — |
| HGTV | — |
| HGTV Hogar | — |
| HISTORY | — |
| HLN | — |
| HSN | — |
| I | |
| IFC | — |
| IMPACT Wrestling | — |
| Investigation Discovery (ID) | — |
| ION* | — |
| J | |
| Justice Central TV | — |
| L | |
| LAFC | — |
| Law & Crime | — |
| Lifetime | — |
| Lifetime Movie Network | — |
| Live Now Fox | — |
| Localish (ABC) | — |
| Local Now | — |
| M | |
| MAVTV | — |
| Magnolia Network | — |
| MGM+™ | — |
| MLB Network | — |
| MOTORTREND | — |
| MS NOW | ✔ |
| MTV | — |
| MTV2 | — |
| MTV Classic | — |
| MyTV | ✔ |
| N | |
| Nat Geo Mundo | — |
| Nat Geo WILD | — |
| National Geographic | — |
| NBA TV | ✔ |
| NBC* | ✔ |
| NBC News Now | ✔ |
| NBC Sports Network | ✔ |
| NBC Universo | — |
| NECN | — |
| The Nest | — |
| Newsmax | ✔ |
| Newsmax en Español | — |
| NewsNation | ✔ |
| NFL Network | ✔ |
| Nick Jr. | — |
| Nickelodeon / Nick at Nite | — |
| Nicktoons | — |
| Nuestra Tele | — |
| NTN 24 | — |
| O | |
| OAN | ✔ |
| Orlando City FC | — |
| Outside TV | — |
| OWN | — |
| Oxygen | — |
| Oxygen True Crime | — |
| P | |
| Pac-12 Network | — |
| Paramount Network | — |
| Pasiones | — |
| PBS* | — |
| PBS Kids | — |
| PCMag | — |
| PlayersTV | — |
| Pickleball TV | ✔ |
| Pop | — |
| Q | |
| QVC | — |
| R | |
| Recipe.TV | — |
| Roar | — |
| S | |
| SEC Network | ✔ |
| Science | — |
| Scripps News | — |
| Sony Cine | — |
| Sports Grid | — |
| Stadium | — |
| Smithsonian Channel | — |
| Sportsman Channel | — |
| Start TV | ✔ |
| SundanceTV | — |
| Syfy | — |
| T | |
| T2 | ✔ |
| Tastemade | — |
| Tastemade en Español | — |
| TBD | — |
| TBS | ✔ |
| TCM | — |
| Telemundo* | ✔ |
| TFC (The Filipino Channel) | — |
| Telehit | — |
| Telehit Música | — |
| TeenNick | — |
| tlnovelas | — |
| Tr3s | — |
| TyC Sports | — |
| Tennis Channel | — |
| TLC | — |
| TNT | ✔ |
| Travel Channel | — |
| truTV | ✔ |
| TUDN | ✔ |
| TV Land | — |
| TYT | ✔ |
| U | |
| Universal Kids | — |
| Univision | ✔ |
| UniMás | ✔ |
| USA Network | ✔ |
| V | |
| VH1 | — |
| VICE | — |
| VSiN | — |
| W | |
| The Walking Dead Universe | — |
| WAPA América | — |
| Weather Channel | — |
| Weather Channel en Español | — |
| WE tv | — |
| World At War | — |
| Y | |
| YouTube Originals | — |
| YouTube Zen | ✔ |
Data effective as of post date.
*Local affiliate availability varies by market.
What sports channels are included with the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan?
The sports side of this plan is genuinely strong. You get the full ESPN family—ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, and ESPNU—minus ESPN Deportes, plus FS1, FS2, NFL Network, NBA TV, Golf Channel, and the major college conference networks: ACCN, Big Ten Network, and SEC Network.
TUDN, TBS, TNT, truTV, and USA Network round out the live sports coverage with playoff and championship programming across multiple leagues. All of these channels also include, of course, non-sports content like original shows and beloved movies.
Nota bene: ESPN Unlimited will be added to plans with ESPN at no extra cost, with its rollout scheduled for fall 2026 in time for the NFL season and Super Bowl LXI on ESPN. Subscribers who currently pay separately for ESPN’s standalone app will want to keep a close eye on that.
What news channels are included?
The news lineup is one of the clearest differentiators between this plan and the standalone Sports Plan. You get the full cable news spectrum: CNN, Fox News, CNBC, Fox Business Network, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), OAN, Newsmax, NewsNation, and TYT.
Not only that, but C-SPAN, C-SPAN 2, and C-SPAN 3 are all included, along with ABC News, NBC News Now, Fox Weather, Bloomberg TV+, Bloomberg Originals, and Cheddar.
That’s a wide-ranging news lineup by any measure: left, right, center, and financial. If staying current across multiple perspectives is part of your daily routine, the Sports + News Plan covers that comprehensively.
What local channels are included?
The plan includes access to local affiliates for ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Telemundo, Univision, and UniMás, where available in your market. Local channel availability varies by location, so it’s worth verifying your specific market before subscribing.
Notably absent from this plan: PBS and ION. If those are part of your regular rotation, factor that into your decision.
What channels are NOT included in the Sports + News Plan?
MLB Network and NHL Network are both absent. This is a meaningful omission for baseball and hockey diehards, especially compared to DIRECTV’s MySports package, which includes both of those league channels for $70/mo. and also offers regional sports network add-ons for an additional $20/mo.
Tennis Channel is also missing, and regional sports networks (RSNs) are not part of any YouTube TV genre plan. If you follow a local pro team closely and rely on RSN coverage, this plan won’t fill that gap. LiveNOW from FOX, ION, and PBS are additional exclusions worth knowing before you commit.
What add-ons are available with the Sports + News Plan?
Subscribing to the Sports + News Plan doesn’t mean you’re locked out of extras. You can still add NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games, NFL RedZone via Sports Plus, HBO Max, and 4K Plus. Check the full list of YouTube TV channel add-ons to see current pricing.
One piece of math worth doing before you subscribe: Adding Sports Plus for NFL RedZone to the standalone Sports Plan runs $75.98/mo. combined. That’s only about $7/mo. less than the full $82.99/mo. base plan. If NFL RedZone is essential to you, the savings on any of these genre tiers starts to shrink fast.
How does the Sports + News Plan compare to other YouTube TV plans?
YouTube TV now offers multiple genre tiers, and mixing them is an option. Combining Sports + News + Entertainment, for example, runs $77.99/mo., which is still below the full base plan price. For a side-by-side view of what each plan includes, the YouTube TV full channel lineup page breaks it all down.
If you’re specifically weighing the sports angle, the YouTube TV Sports Plan at $64.99/mo. is worth a look as a starting point because it drops the news tier entirely for a lower price point. And if Spanish-language content is part of your household’s viewing, the YouTube TV Spanish Plan carries Univision, UniMás, Telemundo, and TUDN, among others.
For context on the broader competitive landscape: DIRECTV’s MySports launched in January 2025 at $70/mo. and includes MLB Network and NHL Network, two networks absent from YouTube TV’s lineup. Fubo carries ESPN+, PGA Tour, and Tennis Channel, giving it niche depth in areas where YouTube TV comes up short.
Is the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan worth it?
The honest answer: It depends on your viewing habits. This plan is a good fit for one specific type of viewer, aka someone who wants live sports and cable news but has no real interest in entertainment or family content. If that’s you, $71.99/mo. (or $56.99/mo. for new subscribers in the first three months) is a defensible spend.
For everyone else, the math gets murkier. The full YouTube TV plan has climbed 28% since 2023 due to two separate price increases, and now sits at $82.99/mo., which is more than double its $35/mo. launch price in 2017.
These new genre tiers offer real savings compared to the full price, but the cord-cutting community’s reaction has been mixed at best. The prevailing sentiment online is that YouTube TV is offering a discount on a plan that was already inflated.
CableTV.com has recognized YouTube TV as its best live TV streaming service for five consecutive years, but that recognition comes with an asterisk in 2026. As a part of CableTV.com’s 2026 Live TV Streaming Customer Satisfaction Survey of over 5,000 respondents, YouTube TV earned a 72% satisfaction score for live sports viewing, which is solid but behind DIRECTV’s 82%.
If you’re on the fence, chances are you’d be better off choosing the base plan.
YouTube TV Sports + News Plan channels FAQ
What channels does the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan include?
The Sports + News Plan includes roughly 50 channels covering local broadcast affiliates, a full spread of sports channels, and a wide news lineup.
How much does the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan cost?
The Sports + News Plan is priced at $71.99/mo. for existing subscribers and $56.99/mo. for new subscribers during the first three months. That's $11/mo. less than the full YouTube TV base plan at $82.99/mo.
What channels are missing from the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan?
MLB Network, NHL Network, Tennis Channel, LiveNOW from FOX, ION, and PBS are not included in this plan. Regional sports networks (RSNs) are also absent from all YouTube TV genre tiers.
Can I add channels to the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan?
Yes. Subscribers can still add NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL RedZone (via the Sports Plus add-on), HBO Max, and 4K Plus at an additional cost. See the YouTube TV add-ons page for current pricing.
How does the YouTube TV Sports + News Plan compare to the full YouTube TV plan?
The Sports + News Plan drops entertainment, lifestyle, and family content in exchange for a lower monthly price. The full base plan at $82.99/mo. includes those additional tiers, including channels like HGTV, Bravo, Hallmark Channel, FX, Disney Channel, and others that are not part of the Sports + News lineup.
CableTV.com editors created this article using original analysis and proprietary inputs, with AI tools assisting in drafting. The final content was reviewed and edited for accuracy and quality.
