I have a new favorite app. It's an app that will be my constant companion as I watch the Euro 2020 tournament over the next few weeks. It's PrendeTV, and it's risen to the top of my must-have apps because it fits nicely with my two most established qualities: 1) I'm obsessed with soccer and 2) I'm insufferably stingy.
PrendeTV is a streaming app developed by U.S.-based Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Think of PrendeTV as a sort of Spanish-language version of Pluto TV. It offers a variety of channels and a wide range of shows, movies, novels, and reality shows, all in Spanish. You can also watch on-demand content downloaded from a library of shows and movies.
But what makes PrendeTV interesting for those with special tastes like mine is that it is streaming the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament this month; PrendeTV will broadcast 50 matches, and the live stream is available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku app, and mobile apps (Android and iOS). Most importantly, PrendeTV is an ad-supported, free service. Euro matches are live sporting events, so no matter which broadcaster is broadcasting them, you have to watch the ads.
The importance of PrendeTV being a free option to watch Euro 2020 cannot be over emphasized. In this country, ESPN has the English-language rights to the Euros and some matches are broadcast for free on ABC, but the majority of the games are only available on ESPN and various streaming apps on cable channels. That means I either have to subscribe to a streaming TV service, tuck tail and go back to cable TV, or pay for a VPN to pick up Euro coverage from around the world.
At least that was the case until PrendeTV came into my life.
Is there a downside to streaming Euros on Prende? Aside from letting advertisers know that I am a soccer fan, the biggest obstacle would be that the app interface and the live stream itself are in a language I last studied 34 years ago. My fluency in Spanish begins and ends with being able to order in restaurants and ask for directions. I don't think this detracts in the slightest from my enjoyment, but your perception may differ.
For U.S. sports fans, Spanish-language television is often a way to watch events that would otherwise be pay-per-view. For example, during the English Premier League, I often watched Telemundo games for free. (I might still pay for Peacock, but for other reasons that have little to do with sports.)
So if you're baffled by how the Euro can fit into your cable-free life, try PrendeTV. It's free, it's reliable, and it might help you brush up on that high school Spanish you studied all those years ago.
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