The 2024 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship start today, May 10, and run through the gold-medal game on May 26. While many of the world’s top players are busy competing in the NHL playoffs, that doesn’t mean there will be a lack of talent in Czechia over the next two weeks. From Canada’s electrifying 18-year-old Connor Bedard to USA’s Brady Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau and Seth Jones, there are NHL All-Stars littered throughout this tournament.
The first games of the Championship start tonight. In the United States, every game will be broadcast on either NHL Network or ESPN+. All of Team USA’s games will be solely on NHL Network. But if you don’t have cable, we’ve put together a number of different ways you can watch a live stream of every IIHF 2024 game online for free or cheap.
Is There a Free IIHF World Championship Live Stream?
Of the live-TV streaming services that offer NHL Network, two of them come with a free trial: Fubo (you’ll want to get the “Pro” channel plan along with the “Sports Lite” add-on to get NHL Network) and DirecTV Stream (the “Ultimate” and “Premier” channel plans include NHL Network). Both let you include any package and any add-ons with your free trial.
The Fubo free trial lasts for seven days, while DirecTV Stream will give you five days for free. That means that if you time things correctly, you can use both free trials to watch a live stream of every NHL Network preliminary round game (May 10 through May 21) without paying anything.
Note that there’s no way to watch a free live stream of the ESPN+ games (more on that below), but NHL Network will have every USA game, most of the Canada games, two of the quarterfinal games, both semifinals and both the bronze-medal and gold-medal games, so this is an excellent option if your goal is to watch the top IIHF 2024 action for free.
The Cheapest Way to Watch Every Team USA Game
Now, if you’ve already used up your Fubo or DirecTV Stream free trials, or you’re just looking for the cheapest way to watch NHL Network long-term, then Sling TV is the answer.
There’s no free trial, but the “Sling Orange” channel plan plus the “Sports Extra” add-on is just $31 for your first month, which will cover the entirety of the tournament. It then moves to $51 per month after that if you want to keep it, but even that is still cheaper than any other streaming service with NHL Network.
Watch IIHF World Championship Games on ESPN+
About half of the preliminary-round games and two of the quarterfinal games will stream exclusively on ESPN+. If you only care about Team USA, then the above NHL Network-centric live-stream options are what you want to look into. But if you want to watch every single game of the tournament, you’ll need ESPN+, as well.
There’s no free trial, but ESPN+ will run you just $11 per month (or $15 for ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu). And, as previously noted, you’ll only need one month of service to cover the whole tournament. Considering you’ll also get other live sports, 30-for-30 documentaries and more original content both video and written, it’s a terrific value–especially if you’re a hockey fan.
Watch the Maple Leafs vs Canadiens Live Stream from Abroad
If you’re outside of the United States, you can combine one of the aforementioned streaming services with a virtual private network (VPN) to watch a live stream of IIHF 2024 games. VPN’s hide your IP address/location and connect you to a digital server in another country. This lets you bypass any geo-locks and stream as if you were actually in said country.
We’ve compiled a list of the best VPN services that you can check out, but it’s hard to go wrong with NordVPN, which is easily one of the top options on the market. It’s fast, safe, easy to use and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to eliminate any risk.
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