Basketball fans around the world have had to wait almost two years to watch the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament or March Madness as it's usually referred to. Thankfully though, the tournament is back on this year and we have all the details on how you can watch all 67 games at March Madness 2021 on TV or online.
Unlike in years past where the 68 teams participating in the tournament were split into four regions (East, South, Midwest and West), all of March Madness will take place in Indiana with the majority of games being played in Indianapolis. According to the NCAA, this year's games will be played at two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena, and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Only one game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium at a time while the other teams will practice at the Indiana Convention Center.
Due to the fact the entire tournament will be held in Indiana, the NCAA has also changed the way in which it has arranged this year's bracket. While the top four seeds and the First Four will be handled the way they were in previous tournaments, the rest of the bracket will be changed in order to not factor in geography. This is called using the "S-curve" to fill the bracket and there will be 37 at-large selections and 31 automatic qualifiers.
At March Madness 2021, the First Four games that will decide the final play-in slots will be held on Thursday, March 18. The First Round games will then take place between Friday and Saturday while the Second Round will be held on Sunday and Monday.
Whether you're a college student rooting for your school's team, alumni cheering on your alma mater, or just want to follow the tournament in hopes that you picked a perfect bracket this year, we'll show you exactly how to watch March Madness 2021 from anywhere in the world.
March Madness 2021: When and where?
This year's March Madness tournament will kick off on Thursday, March 18 and run until Monday, April 5. Round 1 of the tournament will take place between March 19-20, Round 2 begins on March 22, the Sweet 16 will take place from March 27-28, the Elite 8 will face off between March 29-30, the Semifinals will be held on April 3 and March Madness will come to a close with the National Championship game on April 5. Coverage of March Madness 2021 will be split between CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV so you'll need a cable package or streaming service with all of these channels to watch all 67 games at this year's tournament.
How to watch March Madness in the U.S.
If you live in the U.S. and want to watch all 67 games at this year's March Madness tournament, then you'll need a cable package or a subscription to a streaming service that gives you access to CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV. It's also worth noting that you can watch all of the games shown on CBS on Paramount Plus.
You can watch select March Madness games via Paramount+. Sign up now and enjoy a month-long free trial.
When it comes to which networks will broadcast the seven different rounds of the tournament, TruTV and TBS will show the First Four, all four networks will show games during the First Round and Second Round, CBS will show the afternoon games in the Sweet 16 while TBS will show the primetime games, CBS will show the Elite Eight's Monday games while TBS will show the Tuesday games and CBS will show all of the games in the Final Four as well as the National Championship.
Not interested in signing up for an expensive cable subscription just to watch this year's March Madness tournament? Don't worry as there are now a number of streaming services, all at different price points, that will give you access to either some of the channels or all four channels needed to watch all 67 games. We've listed a few of our favorites below to make things easier for you and the ones that include all four channels are at the top.
- Hulu with Live TV - $64.99 per month - As well as giving you access to CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, the service also includes its own Hulu Originals and supports a wide variety of streaming devices.
- YouTube TV - $65 per month - YouTube TV gives you access to CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV as well as over 70 other TV channels and a free 7-day trial is available.
- AT&T TV Now - $69.99 per month - AT&T TV Now will give you access to CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, and the service allows you to watch over 45 live TV channels. You can also record up to 20 hours of content using its cloud DVR.
- Sling TV - $35 per month - In order to get access to TBS, TNT, and TruTV, you'll have to sign up for Sling TV's Sling Blue package. The service also lets you watch on three screens simultaneously and record live TV with its Cloud DVR. However, Sling TV won't give you access to CBS.
- FuboTV - starting at $64.99 per month. FuboTV gives you access to CBS as well as over 80 other channels. However, the service lacks TNT, TBS, and TruTV. FuboTV also includes a 7-day free trial so you can test it out for yourself.
Get a March Madness live stream in Canada
Canadian basketball fans that want to tune in to watch this year's March Madness tournament can do so on TSN as the network will show games on TSN2, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5 and on its TSN GO app. If you've already cut the cord or don't want to sign up for cable, you'll also be able to watch March Madness on TSN's streaming service TSN Direct. It costs $19.99 per month or $99.95 for six months, though you can also purchase a Day Pass for $7.99 if you just want to stream the National Championship game.
TSN Direct offers March Madness streaming for $20 a month, or just snag a Day Pass to watch the National Championship game.
How to stream March Madness live in the UK
While BT Sport will be showing some of the games at this year's March Madness tournament, the easiest way to watch all 67 games in the UK is with ESPN Player. For those unfamiliar, ESPN Player is the network's international streaming service which costs £9.99 a month though there is also a free 7-day trial available if you want to test it out for yourself.
Watch select March Madness games, plus a ton of other sports content, on BT Sport. A monthly pass costs £25.
Watch all 67 March Madness games via ESPN Player. Make the most of the 7-day free trial and enjoy part of the tournament for free.
Watch March Madness in Australia
If you live in Australia and have a Foxtel subscription, you'll be able to watch many of the games at this year's March Madness tournament as the cable provider gives you access to ESPN. However, if you've already cut the cord, then the streaming service Kayo may be a better option as it also lets you watch games show on ESPN. A subscription to Kayo will cost you AUD$25 per month but for the price, you get access to loads of other live sports and there is a free trial so you can test it out for yourself.
Kayo Sports should be your go-to for streaming March Madness in Australia. You can even make the most of a free trial if you've never signed up before.
Watch March Madness from anywhere
We have all the details on how you can watch this year's March Madness tournament in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Australia further down in this guide. However, if you want to watch the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament when you're away from home, then you'll run into problems as your domestic coverage online from abroad will likely be geo-blocked.
That's where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can really come in handy. They allow you to virtually change the IP address of your laptop, tablet or mobile to one that's back in your home country which will let you watch as if you were back there.
VPNs are incredibly easy to use and have the added benefit of providing you with an additional layer of security when surfing the web. There are also a lot of options but we recommend ExpressVPN as our top pick due to its speed, security and ease of use. The service can even be used on a wide array of operating systems and devices (e.g. iOS, Android, Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, Roku, game consoles, etc). Sign up for ExpressVPN now and enjoy a 49% discount and 3 months FREE with an annual subscription. You can even test it out for yourself thanks to the service's 30-day money-back guarantee. Looking for more options?
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