First of all, if you want to watch sports with the DirecTV sports package, you would have to start with their 150+ channels package. This has the basic cable channels that will show some sports, like TNT, TBS, and USA. Sports channels like NFL Network, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN News are also included (ESPN Classic comes with the 200+ channels package as does your regional Fox Sports Net channel). Then, if you want even more sports you should get the Sports Pack. Extra premiums like a pay movie channel or the Sports Pack start at $12 but it could be a bit less if you order more premium packages.

This package has everything the sports lover craves. You will get more NBA games with NBA TV, horse racing action, ESPNU, CBS College Sports and all the regions of FSN (although some MLB and possibly other games will be blacked due to broadcasting rights agreements). For soccer lovers (I know, if you want to watch soccer you have to spend more since it's not too popular in the U.S.) there is the Fox Soccer Channel, GolTV and, importantly for some, Fox Sports En Espanol. You can also order Setanta Sports for a lot more soccer, rugby and a few others sports for $15 a month though I will not use that in my calculation as I will assume most readers will not buy it. So, using the DirecTV 220+ channels package and the Direct TV sports package, if you got all of this it would cost about $51 every month to get all the sports you want. It would cost five dollars less if you do not care to watch ESPN Classic.

As for the Dish Network Sports Package, it is more or less the same but with a few different variables. With Dish Network, you just get more sports channels the more channels you get. With the Top 100 package you will get ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News and the other basic channels that show some sports like TNT, etc. Next, the Top 200 package gives you a lot more like ESPN Classic, NFL Network, all the Comcast Sports and FSN channels, the Big Ten Network and basically everything you would get in the Sports Pack minus the soccer channels.

If you want the Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV, you will have have to get the Top 250 and if you absolutely wanted Fox Sports en Espanol you could only get it by adding a Spanish channels package for $13 a month (you can also add Setanta Sports for the same price as DirecTV). So, basically if you want all the sports you can get with the Top 250, it is going to cost you about $55 for that package. Alternatively, you could just get the Top 100 and get the Dish Network Multi-sport Pack (lots of sports for $6 a month, which is the only way to get NBA TV outside of getting a special NBA package). So you see there are ways the Dish Network Sports Package can be more or less than DirecTV depending on what you want.

So, should you get the DirecTV sports package or the Dish Networks sports package? It's really up to you. If you want all of everything, DirecTV is $4 cheaper. There are many sports channels these days, and each provider has just a couple channels that the other will not have, and they each put some channels at different levels of their packages. You have to decide what sports you want to watch the most and if you decide on price you have to do the comparisons yourself. There are a lot of variables involved with everyone's different tastes but I hope I have you a good overview to help you in making your decision.