Representing the Pac-12 Conference, the California Golden Bears (7-5) make the short trip from Berkeley to Santa Clara to take on Big 10 delegate Illinois Fighting Illini (6-6), at Levi’s Stadium, in the Redbox Bowl.
| HOW TO STREAM REDBOX BOWL | |
| SLING TV | TRY NOW |
| HULU WITH LIVE TV | TRY NOW |
💡 🎥 💥
— Redbox Bowl (@RedboxBowl) December 8, 2019
Mark your 🗓 for Dec. 30@CalFootball will take on @IlliniFootball in the 2019 #RedboxBowl
📰: https://t.co/Odm1ycFqiB
🎟: https://t.co/GJ3VHz9PmT#GoBears #Illini pic.twitter.com/VDsdsX7362
Usually, we’d talk about stats and players that would affect the game in this part of the preview. But we need to talk about T-shirts. Namely, the Redbox Bowl official game T-shirts.
Official @RedboxBowl T-shirts for this year’s contest b/w “Cal State” & Illinois h/t @GoldenBlogs pic.twitter.com/PegfPcWmG0
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 10, 2019
Do you see the issue? The initial, and official, design for the Redbox Bowl game shirts from the people in charge of the game read “Cal State” versus Illinois. The University of California at Berkeley has always either been University of California, Berkeley, UC Berkeley, or simply Cal. Cal State isn’t only another school, it’s a whole other state school system, with no team going by just “Cal State” in FBS or (formerly) Division I football. All other schools within their system go by the city name where a campus is located, with “State” following, e.g. Fresno State.
https://twitter.com/jlemein/status/1204454484769832961?s=20
To make matters worse somehow–on the same shirt–they also used an outdated helmet design for Illinois. It’s been two seasons since the program had helmets using the white “I” decal, and currently have a navy blue “I.”
Here’s how to watch the Redbox Bowl.
Redbox Bowl
- When: 4pm ET, Monday, Dec. 30
- Where: Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California
- Streaming: Fox
How to stream California vs. Illinois live: Watch the Redbox Bowl
The following services offer a one-week trial and a chance to watch lots of college bowl action.
1) Sling TV
- Sling TV pricing: $30-$45 per month ($10 off first month)
- Sling TV devices: Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Xbox One, Google Chromecast, Oculus Go, Microsoft Edge, and iOS and Android devices
- Sling TV local channels: NBC, Fox (check your local availability here)
Sling TV provides two base channel package options, each priced at $30 per month. Sling Orange includes three ESPN channels, while Sling Blue includes sports channels like NFL Network and NBCSN, as well and local channels. (Sling Blue customers in select markets get NBC; see if yours has it here. Sling Blue also brings Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and Headline News as part of its regular slate of channels, with Fox Business Channel available for those who get the Sling Blue News Extra add-on.
If you’re Team “Why Not Both,” Sling Orange + Blue combines the two for just $45 per month.
Other features include a Free Cloud DVR tier for all subscribers (allowing 10 hours of recording a month), the ability to record all live linear channels, and no VOD preemption on any channels. New subscribers get $10 off the first month.
To add beIN SPORTS and maximize your soccer-watching potential, you’ll want to add either Sports Extra: Sling Orange ($5 per month) or Sports Extra: Sling Blue ($10 per month). (The latter also includes NFL RedZone.)
Spanish-speaking viewers have quite a few options. For bilingual families, you might consider the Español: Best of Spanish TV package for either Sling Orange or Sling Blue for 24/7 specialty channel LaLiga TV and beIN SPORTS Connect: Channels 4-9, which features matches from La Liga, Ligue 1 and Copa del Rey, among others. Both packages cost $5 per month after your free trial. Sling TV Latino is another Spanish-language package for $35 per month, including NBC Universo, History en Español, and—of import to soccer fans—four beIN SPORTS channels. (And choosing Best of Spanish + Sling Orange for $35 per month gives you access to ESPN Deportes.) For more information, check out our guide to Sling TV channels and our Sling TV review.
How to use AirTV with Sling
AirTV solves one of Sling’s biggest problems: The inability to receive all of your local channels. By purchasing a basic AirTV for $79.99 or the AirTV Player for $119.99, you can merge those local channels into your Sling TV, (or on your mobile device if you have the basic AirTV). As the Daily Dot wrote in its AirTV review, “It’s practically magic.”
The basic AirTV is a dual-tuner streaming device, while the AirTV Player is basically an upgraded Chromecast that has Netflix preinstalled. You’ll still need to own an HD antenna because even though AirTV gets you access to your local channels, it doesn’t actually physically show them to you.
But AirTV—which has no monthly fee—serves to strengthen one of Sling’s biggest weaknesses compared to other live streaming services like Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, and PlayStation Vue. All those services have plenty of local channels.
2) Hulu with Live TV
- Cost: $54.99 per month
- Hulu devices: Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, and iOS and Android devices
- Hulu local channels: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, the CW (check your local availability here)
Hulu with Live TV includes sports programming among its offerings, including ESPN and FS1, and as a subscriber to the service, you’ll get free access to Hulu’s sizable on-demand library. (Check out the full list of Hulu Live TV channels.)
3) YouTube TV
- Cost: $50 per month
- YouTube TV devices: Google Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox One, iOS and Android devices
- YouTube TV local channels: NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, the CW (enter your ZIP code here to check your availability)
YouTube TV is a great option for college football: Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, FS1, FS2, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, and ESPNU are all here and offer a nearly 360 programming platter of action. (Take a look at the full list of YouTube TV channels here.)
Redbox Bowl: Notes
T-shirts aside, there is going to be a game.
The Fighting Illini is in the program’s first bowl game since 2014, and the first in Lovie Smith’s tenure. Illinois earned its best win in probably a decade after upsetting Wisconsin 24-23 earlier this season. QB Brandon Peters leads the offense with 1,611 passing yards and 17 touchdown passes; however, he remains questionable to play with lingering concussion effects. Matt Robinson has been getting first-team reps in case Peters isn’t cleared in time to play.
New to cord-cutting? Here are our picks for the best movie streaming sites of 2018 and free live TV apps and channels. If you’re looking for a specific channel, here’s how to watch HBO, Showtime, Starz, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, AMC, FX, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, FS1, TBS, TNT, Golf Channel, Syfy, HGTV, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Bravo, Lifetime, Discovery, PBS, the CW, BBC, CSPAN, NBA TV, MTV, Comedy Central, Food Network, TLC, the Weather Channel, and NFL RedZone without cable, as well as free movies on YouTube. If you’re on the move, here’s how to watch Fox Sports Go and live stream NBC Sports.
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