8 Android TV Hacks For People Who Mostly Watch Live Events

Around the time cord-cutting emerged, there wasn’t much to watch on TV. That has changed over the last decade, which is why we now have memes about spending more time deciding which streaming shows to watch than actually watching anything. Watching your favorite sports team or live event on a smart TV can be challenging because there is no shortage of live content providers. Here are eight hacks to get the live event or all-important game you’re after.

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8 Wrastlin’ with the choices!

There’s a lot out there! Start with these

Are you into sports entertainment? If you are, there are a few ways you can get the “squared circle” into your living room. However, when you do, you’ll pay about as much for them as you did for cable packages. While Netflix became the home of WWE Raw in January 2025, Peacock has WWE premium live events, and Max has AEW shows, hardcore wrestling fans have hacks to access low-cost, high-quality matches.

TBS, TNT, USA Network, and The CW carry various WWE promotions. Sling TV is the least expensive way to get all these networks, except for The CW. With Sling, you get WWE and AEW promotions like WWE Raw or AEW: Collision, and it will be $20 to $40 cheaper than Hulu+ Live TV. Hulu has The CW (WWE NXT) if that’s a must-have for you.

For wrestling purists, an excellent option for fast-paced action is the Wrestle Universe app. For around $9.00 a month, you get access to livestreaming promotions like Marigold, Senjo, Noah, and DDT. Wrestle Universe also has a massive library of VOD content.

7 What’s an RSN, and why should you care?

Live, local team love

RSN is an acronym that stands for Regional Sports Network. While you can catch a lot of sports programming with a cable network subscription, due to broadcast TV deals, often your local games are blacked out. This isn’t a problem if you know which platforms offer the most access to global and regional content that would be subject to those blackouts.

These are also the best ways to catch sports, as they often feature events from outside your region. If you’re in the States, DirecTV Stream is the best way to watch local coverage of NHL, NBA, and MLB teams. They offer Bally Sports RSNs and SportsNet RSNs. You will pay a premium price for access. You’ll pay around $130 for access to all their sports, and it isn’t in 4K.

Fubo is the next best option for regional sports and one-ups DirecTV Stream with its international offerings. You start at $95 a month for broad access to RSNs and some 4K streams, but you’ll pay more for things like International Sports Plus, MLB.TV, and Sports Plus with NFL RedZone add-ons.

6 You down with OTT?

IPTV and other boxes that play the gray

You’ll have to do some homework on this one, but there are many set-top boxes that give access to numerous livestreaming events, and it’s up to you to determine how to access that content.

IPTV and other set-top boxes that give you access to a lot of content sometimes play a gray area because you’re paying for the box. However, in some cases, they cracked the content originator’s platform access, so you get in free of charge. You can still access paid services and avoid illegally accessing their content. Going this route may provide you with the broadest access to a wealth of live events.

5 From OTT to OTA

Signal boost!

Time to pivot from Over-the-Top to Over-the-Air. As far as IP and streaming technology have come, there’s still something to be said for an old-school, analog antenna that picks up broadcasts from your local TV stations.

Local media outlets like FOX, ABC, or CBS transmit their content via ultra-powerful mountain-top antenna arrays, whose signals you can pick up if you’re in proximity to them. When I first cut the cord, my wife wanted to catch her local news programs, and the easiest and least expensive way to do that was with an OTA HD antenna.

You can find these relatively cheap on Amazon, and the setup is as simple as connecting them to the coaxial input on your TV, then moving the antenna around your space (cord length permitting) until it catches the signal broadcast from your local TV stations. Often, the best placement is on or near a window to get the strongest signal.

4 Changing the clock on the VCR

Let your own personal Geek Squad handle it!

Source: Pexels / Wikimedia Commons

When I was a kid, we had VHS tapes (Beta was better), which were played in a VCR, or Video Cassette Recorder. Many VCRs had digital clocks on the front, which the people who purchased them didn’t know how to set up, having grown up with analog clocks. So, they often asked a tech-savvy family member to set the time.

Today is no different. While this may not feel like a hack, having a tech-savvy family member or friend handle the task can be the smart way to go. All you need to do is know what you want to watch, then ask your “digital native” to help you find the best way to watch it and set up your Android TV so that you can enjoy the live event.

3 Musical chairs streaming services

Switching subscriptions is like a game of musical chairs

If your live event tastes are eclectic, sign up for a service a day or two before the event and then unsubscribe afterward. Keeping up with subscribing and which services you’ve subscribed to is a lot of work, but some tools can help you. TheStreamable.com has a tool that allows you to input your favorite sports teams and your zip code, and it tells you which services allow you to watch that team’s games. That tool is Western content-centric, so finding a service for cricket in the Caribbean is tough. However, many broadcasts originating in the United States or Europe should be fine.

SubX is a database-driven subscription tracking tool that helps you manage all your subscriptions, supporting over 1,000 services. Think of it like a calorie-counting app, but for subscriptions. Instead of a database of foods that you can automatically add, which have their caloric information populated, SubX allows you to add your subscriptions. When added, it automatically notifies you of price increases, upcoming bills, and potential discounts with region-specific information. For some features, you’ll need to add another subscription to your list: their Pro version.

2 Add a VPN for maximum access

Go global with the right VPN subscription

For around $20 a month, you can pay for a service like NordVPN or Proton VPN. When you do, you can make your internet connection look like you live anywhere in the world and access Italian volleyball league matches from the US. Maybe it’s Jamaican football you’re after. Set those servers to the closest location to the island nation, then download the appropriate app and watch your favorite West Indies Players’ Association athletes.

1 Optimize before hanging with the guys

A little ‘housekeeping’ goes a long way toward enjoying your soiree

We forget that our mobile devices, smart TVs, and tablets are mini-computers. Like you need to restart your computer from time to time, restarting your Android TV device can prevent buffering or your smart TV from juddering.

Before the big game, restart your Android TV or unplug it for around 30 seconds to refresh the limited RAM often found in smart TVs. The other optimization is to clear your smart TV’s cache. When your cache is full, like with your web browser, it slows things down, which is the last thing you want when watching live sports action. How this is done depends on the device or TV you use, so refer to the manufacturer’s manual for that information.

A straightforward hack if you find that the content stutters or freezes sporadically: plug it in. If you can, an Ethernet connection is the best way to connect to the internet. Connecting to your router via a hardline nets you the greatest speeds and lack of interference from other devices in your home that use RF, or radio frequencies.

Watch live TV on your smart TV

So there you have it! Eight hacks for getting the most out of your live event viewing on Android TV. Are you looking for ways to watch local channels on your streaming apps? Several streaming apps make it easy to watch local channels, including live news and sports.