FAYETTEVILLE — Fire up the modems, hot spots and cellular data.
You have two options to watch Saturday’s football game between Arkansas and Missouri State: be there in person or stream the game online. The contest, which is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, will not be televised. Instead it will be shown on streaming channels ESPN-Plus and SEC Network-Plus.
ESPN-Plus is a monthly subscription service that allows for access to some live sporting events. SEC Network-Plus is available to cable, satellite or streaming subscribers whose packages include SEC Network.
Both streaming channels can be accessed via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app. To access the game, users must log in with their ESPN-Plus credentials, or link the ESPN platform with their cable, satellite or streaming services.
As part of an agreement between the Southeastern Conference and ESPN announced in December 2020, each SEC football team will have one non-conference home game each year that is only available via streaming. The home team is able to choose the game that will be streamed and the time that game will kick off. The game and time designations are made prior to the start of the season.
Most SEC teams have chosen lower-interest games against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision for their streams this year, such as the Arkansas-Missouri State game on Saturday. Other streamed matchups involving an SEC team are for games against teams from a Group of Five conference or an independent.
In addition to Arkansas-Missouri State, stream-only games Saturday include Abilene Christian at Missouri, and Akron at Tennessee.
Arkansas had two non-conference games from which to choose a stream. ESPN chose to televise the Razorbacks' season opener against Cincinnati on Sept. 3, which left the Missouri State and Liberty games as streaming possibilities. The Nov. game against Liberty will be televised, though a specific network has yet to be chosen.
Last year, Arkansas opened the season with a streamed game against Rice in Fayetteville. Linked below is a tutorial for how to watch that game. The same concepts apply for the Missouri State game.