This article is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s New to Utah series. For more articles on Utah’s food, culture, history, outdoors and more, sign up for the newsletter at https://www.sltrib.com/new-to-utah/.
Welcome to Utah!
Utah fans are known for their love of sports — whether it be basketball, college football, or soccer, crowds from the Beehive State have been ranked among the nation’s best. The in-person experience can get loud, passionate, and either exhilarating or heartbreaking, depending on whether the local team wins or loses. But the at-home experience can be a lot of fun too, and just as importantly, will allow you to keep up to date with what your new neighbors are talking about.
That being said, as TV contracts have repeatedly changed in recent years, it’s gotten more complicated to keep up with how to watch local sports on TV. Here’s what you need to know about watching Utah’s two largest pro teams and two largest college teams.
Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio, left, shoots as Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 9, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Utah Jazz
Starting for the 2023-24 season, Jazz games are on the over-the-air network KJZZ. That means you can watch their games without an ongoing subscription of any kind with a TV antenna — and it’s extremely likely that your TV actually has one built in already. That being said, a new external antenna might mean a better picture, and those cost $20 to $40, a one-time fee.
KJZZ is also available on all of the traditional TV cable and satellite packages from Comcast, DirecTV, and Dish. However, the channel is not currently available on major over-the-top live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Sling, and Fubo. This is a space to watch, though — related minor Sinclair channel KMYU is on those services, so KJZZ could be joining them soon.
The Jazz, also beginning in 2023-24 will start a streaming service of their own to allow people to watch Jazz games, along with other Jazz-produced online.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris (13) battles Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (26) during the first half of a Leagues Cup soccer match Saturday, July 22, 2023, in Sandy, Utah.
Real Salt Lake
Beginning in 2023, Apple purchased all local and national TV rights for the entirety of Major League Soccer. That means in order to watch local Real Salt Lake games, you’ll need at least the Apple TV app on your device, or to send your web browser to tv.apple.com.
Of the 14 MLS games per week, six are free and able to be streamed by anyone on the Apple TV app. The remainder are behind a paywall called MLS Season Pass. That costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year, users who already have a subscription to Apple TV+ pay $12.99 per month or $79 per year. For those who like to go to games, access to MLS Season Pass also is included in Real Salt Lake season tickets.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Nate Johnson (13) runs on a quarterback keeper, in PAC-12 football action between the Utah Utes and the UCLA Bruins, at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023.
Utah Utes
In the 2023-24 season, the Utes will play their final year in the Pac-12 Conference.
For Utes football, most games will be shown on more familiar names FS1, ESPN, or ESPN2. Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, and the major live TV streaming services all carry those channels. Games on the ESPN family of networks may also be available on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+. That costs $9.99 per month.
But a minority of football games, and a majority of other sports’ televised games, will be on the Pac-12 Networks. That’s comprised of one main “Pac-12 Network” and six other regional channels — for the Utes, the assigned channel is “Pac-12 Mountain”.
The Pac-12 Networks have uneven distribution. Among traditional TV packages, they are available on Comcast and Dish networks, but not DirecTV. As for streaming services, Fubo has both the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Mountain, while Sling has only the Pac-12 Network but no Pac-12 Mountain. Other services like YouTube TV and Hulu don’t carry the networks at all.
Beginning in the fall of 2024, the Utes will move to the Big 12 Conference. The Big 12′s TV deal with ESPN and Fox puts most football and basketball games on one of the ESPN or Fox networks — right now, available through Comcast, DirecTV, and Dish, along with the major live TV streaming platforms.
For most other sports, the most likely place to see the action will be through ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+. That costs $9.99 per month.
(Michael Woods | AP) BYU running back LJ Martin (27) runs for a gain against Arkansas during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Fayetteville, Ark.
BYU Cougars
The Cougars enter the Big 12 one year before their counterparts up north, and so already have access to the Big 12′s TV deal detailed above. But for the sake of clarity, again, the Big 12′s TV deal with ESPN and Fox puts most football and basketball games on one of the ESPN or Fox networks — available through Comcast, DirecTV, and Dish, along with the major live TV streaming platforms. There’s not one regular channel to turn to for every game, so you’ll have to look up the sport’s schedule to know which particular network it’s on.
Other sports, meanwhile, will have their televised games on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+, which costs $9.99 per month. Not every sport has every game televised, so check BYU’s sports schedule to find out which games get the TV treatment.
Follow @andyblarsen