Watching March Madness hasn’t always been easy. With games spread out across four networks — CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV — you often would have had to pay for a cable, satellite or streaming TV package if you wanted to catch all the action. Not so this year.
In 2024, you need only two streaming services for March Madness, for less than $30 total: Max with Ads and Paramount Plus with Showtime. Together, the two will run you $22 for the month of the tournament, which starts with Selection Sunday (on CBS) on March 17, continues all that week and culminates with the championship game (on TBS) on April 8.
Max (with ads) runs $10 per month and carries live sports from the Turner networks (TNT, TBS, TruTV) as part of its B/R Sports add-on, while Paramount Plus with Showtime comes in at $12 per month and offers live CBS feeds. Neither have contracts, so should you want to cancel once the tournament’s over, you could easily do so.
For those considering getting Max at the cheaper annual rate, the streaming service is offering a new deal through April 9 that takes over 40% off the regular price if you’re willing to prepay for a year. For the Max with Ads option, that would bring the price down to $70 for the first year, which works out to $5.83 per month.
At $22 total, this would be a significant step down from last year when the cheapest option was a combination of Paramount Plus Premium (the precursor to Paramount Plus with Showtime that was $10 per month) for the CBS games and Sling TV Blue (then $40 per month) for the TNT, TBS and TruTV action.
While this year’s streaming may be cheaper, it is worth pointing out this may be short-lived. Max was planning on charging $10 per month extra for the B/R Sports add-on to watch live games, but decided in January to delay charging for the feature by “a few more months” to “finalize some tech integrations that will ensure a more seamless customer experience with our platform partners.”