Sling TV’s $5 pass buys you one day of cable TV

Now you can watch live sporting events and shows without signing up for a subscription.

by Emma Roth

Aug 12, 2025, 1:43 PM UTC

If you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Image: Sling TV

Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Sling TV has launched a new option that lets you watch live content without signing up for a streaming or cable subscription. Now, you can pay $4.99 for a “day pass,” offering 24 hours of live and on-demand access to several channels, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TNT, A&E, Disney Channel, CNN, and others.

Sling TV also offers a weekend pass from Friday through Sunday for $9.99, along with a seven-day pass for $14.99. These passes include the “popular networks” within Sling TV’s $45.99 per month Orange subscription, but if you’re looking for more channels, you can pay for one of the service’s add-ons, like Sports Extra, News Extra, Lifestyle Extra, and more. Each add-on costs $1 more when added to the day pass, $2 for the weekend pass, or $3 for the week pass.

An image showing Sling TV’s day, weekend, and week passes

The passes just require a one-time payment.

Image: Sling TV

It sounds like Sling TV’s new passes will come in handy if you’re trying to watch a specific sporting event, awards show, or season premiere without getting locked into a subscription. Live TV streaming services are already pretty pricey, and the ones focused on live sports are no different. Both Comcast and DirecTV have $70 per month live sports streaming bundles, while ESPN and Fox’s upcoming sports streaming services will cost $29.99 and $19.99, respectively.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.