Since August, Sling TV has offered passes to allow you to use the live TV streaming service without committing to a full month. No, it still doesn't offer a free trial, but you can get a Sling TV Day Pass, Weekend Pass, or Week Pass and pay less to use Sling for a limited window.
There's a clear benefit to this. If you only wanted to watch a specific program on a given night or watch sports all weekend, you could do so for as little as $4.99 for 24-hour access. But what if you wanted to watch from Monday through Wednesday? Or Tuesday through Thursday? Well, in that case, you'd have to get three Day Passes, or commit to a whole week. The Weekend Pass works for three days, but only Friday through Sunday.
In all due seriousness, this is a real improvement, and it should have been this way from the start.
I get the logic behind promoting a weekend pass. During the week, people have things like work getting in the way of sitting on the couch all day and watching TV. But the idea that I couldn't get a pass to let me watch any three days I want is a little silly in retrospect. Thankfully, this oversight has now been fixed.
There is one small catch. If you already bought a Weekend Pass for this upcoming weekend, you're still beholden to the original Friday-to-Sunday terms of the Weekend Pass. This shouldn't be an issue; you bought the pass expecting to watch with it over the weekend, after all. But it is worth mentioning.
Malcolm is Tom's Guide's resident expert on live TV streaming services, having tested every single one for himself.
The Sling TV Pass isn't perfect, but it is affordable
Sling TV Passes give you access to Sling Orange. That means you get ESPN, ESPN2 and dozens of other channels, and everything else Sling Orange has to offer for as little as the price of a cup of coffee if you get the 1 Day Pass.
That's a good deal, but it might not be for everyone. Here are a few things to consider before signing up for a Sling TV Pass:
- Do you only need ESPN? If you just want ESPN, then a Sling TV Pass can be a great solution. You get ESPN, ESPN 2 and dozens of additional channels, all for way less than you can anywhere else. It's the cheapest way to watch ESPN. But if you want channels like CNN, NFL Network or local news stations, then this plan won't be the right solution for you, as they're either on Sling Blue or missing entirely.
- Do you need more than one simultaneous stream? The great thing about a Sling TV Pass is that you get the benefits of Sling Orange for that day. But you also get the shortcomings of Sling Orange. That means you only get one simultaneous stream across all your devices. So if you're hoping to watch in multiple rooms on game day, you'll need to consider an alternative solution, such as upgrading to Sling Orange and Blue, signing up for the ESPN streaming service or trying out a different cable alternative altogether.
To recap, if you just want to watch a game on your big screen one night, a few nights in a row, or just have a week off to get in your recliner and stream live TV, then the Sling TV Pass is a great way to cut the cord for less. But if you need more than just ESPN or need multiple streams, then there are other solutions that might be better for you.
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