American George Foreman, one of the great second acts in sports who reclaimed the heavyweight boxing title after coming out of retirement, died on Friday at age 76. Read...

Back in December, Fubo launched a new plan called “Essential,” which didn’t carry regional sports channels and their associated hidden fees. Four months later, Fubo has removed Essential from its sign-up page for new subscribers, leaving its “Pro” plan as the cheapest option. While Fubo Pro carries the same $85-per-month list price as Fubo Essential, it also includes a regional sports fee, which adds at least $13 per month to the total. Fubo doesn’t disclose this until you reach the final checkout page. Essential—which actually does cost $85 per month—remains available for existing subscribers and those who are reactivating an expired subscription. Fubo spokeswoman Jennifer Press confirmed that it’s stopped offering the plan to new subscribers. “Since Fubo is a sports-first offering, consumers prefer the Pro base plan with regional sports networks, especially during baseball season,” she said via email. Fubo alternatives Most other live TV streaming services exclude regional sports from their lineups in many markets, including YouTube TV ($83 per month), Hulu + Live TV ($83 per month), and Sling TV (starting at $46 per month). That makes them quite a bit cheaper than the actual price of Fubo Pro, which starts at $98 per month after fees. And if you do want regional sports, there are other options. Most MLB, NBA, and NHL teams now offer direct-to-consumer services, with prices ranging anywhere from free in some markets to $30 per month in others. DirecTV, meanwhile, includes regional sports in its “Choice” and higher packages, and has started offering them as a $20-per-month add-on for its new $70 per month MySports plan. A cheaper option’s coming Although Fubo’s Essential plan isn’t available to new subscribers anymore, the company plans to launch a separate “Sports & Broadcast” package in the second half of this year. Fubo hasn’t announced a price, but sources have told Matthew Keys that it’ll likely cost between $50 and $60 per month. Further reading: Our top picks in live TV streaming services. The move is part of a broader recalibration for pay TV packages, which have become increasingly bloated and expensive over the years. TV providers are finally convincing programmers to allow for slimmed-down packages that focus on specific genres (though some resistance remains). As of now, it’s unclear whether regional sports channels will be available as part of Fubo’s forthcoming skinny bundle, but they probably won’t be mandatory. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

It’s easy to look strictly at the type of CPU and GPU you have when evaluating the kind of performance you’re likely to get in PC games. But beyond that lies another important stat, the CPU cache. Here’s why it’s so important in gaming and why it pays to maximize it. What is the CPU cache? The CPU cache is a high-speed memory unit located around the CPU that is used to store frequently accessed data and instructions from the main memory. The proximity of the cache so close to the CPU means that data can be retrieved a lot quicker than from the RAM memory itself, so having more cache can greatly speed up and improve the CPU’s performance. What’s the cache’s role in PC gaming? The above process applies to when you’re gaming too. Your PC’s CPU cache stores frequently used game data and instructions from the game you’re playing. By doing so, it allows the CPU to retrieve and process this information more quickly than if the CPU has to continually access your PC’s RAM. The CPU cache is important for reducing latency, maintaining consistent frame rates, and preventing stuttering in games. This is especially the case when playing triple-A games that have high computational demands for things like complex physics. Without enough cache, your GPU is forced to wait on your CPU to process instructions, which can create a bottleneck that will slow down your game. The type of game information stored in CPU cache can vary and include anything from AI algorithms to textures, models, or the instructions for rendering graphics. The more data a game has to process, the more useful it is to have a higher amount of cache that will keep your game running smoothly. Further reading: The truth about PC gaming on SSDs vs. HDDs, tested with real data How much CPU cache do you need? How much CPU cache you need for optimal performance depends on the type of game you’re playing and other factors like the number of cores in your CPU. As mentioned, you’re going to want more cache to run triple-A titles with a lot of data. Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry In fact, having more cache is even more important than having more CPU cores when your CPU has a lot to process; this has been shown to be the case in testing. In one test the testers demonstrated how a 67 percent increase in L3 cache netted a corresponding 18 percent increase in a CPU’s performance, while a 67 percent increase in the same CPU’s core count only netted a 6 percent increase in performance. As a guide, the following cache sizes are suitable for most modern PC games: L1 cache: 64KB per core L2 cache 256KB per core L3 cache: 32MB to 96MB As you can see there are different levels of CPU cache denoted by the letter L and their corresponding number.L3 cache is generally the most important kind of cache for PC gaming, since it can store a larger pool of data that is often shared among the CPU cores, so you’ll want to pay most attention to how much L3 cache a CPU has. How do you get more CPU cache? As for obtaining more CPU cache, you can’t just go out and buy new cache and install it like you can RAM. Instead, the best way to get more cache is to upgrade your CPU, or if you’re building a new rig, to choose a CPU that has the most higher-level cache as possible. The amount of cache a CPU has can be the standout difference between two CPUs with very similar specs. For example, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D are both high-end processors from AMD’s 7000 series with the same maximum boost clock speeds of 5.6GHz, but the Ryzen 9 7900X3D has 128MB L3 cache compared to the Ryzen 9 7900X’s 64MB L3 cache. The Ryzen 9 7900X3D’s additional cache and the fact that it sports AMD’s 3D V-cache technology means it performs better than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X in cache-sensitive games. For that reason, you’re going to want to compare the cache from different CPUs before you buy, as well as read a few benchmarks to get an overview of performance. Further reading: Why I never buy the best gaming hardware for my PC Read...

If you’ve got plans, cancel them. There is sport to be watched this afternoon/evening. Read...

A private equity mogul has agreed to buy the Boston Celtics for the highest price ever offered for an American professional sports team. Read...

Zimbabwe`s sports minister Kirsty Coventry is elected as the new IOC president, becoming the first woman and first African to hold the role. Read...

The Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medallist got a stunning first-round win in the seven-candidate contest. Read...

There are two firsts for the person taking over arguably the biggest job in sports. Read...

New Zealand and India will be celebrating 100 years of sporting relations this year. Read...

Brackets—not baseball—herald the arrival of spring for millions of sports fans. The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship’s big upsets, Cinderella stories, and weird mascots, has transcended sports to become a cultural event. You can count on some amazing upsets up to and including Final Four. For cord-cutters, however, it’s a bittersweet time. If the logistics of following more than 60 teams through a month-long tournament aren’t arduous enough, most of the games are televised on cable channels. The first round kicks off March 20, and games will be aired across four networks: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. CBS and TBS broadcast the Championship Game on alternate years—this year CBS airs the final games. Based on the NCAA tournament schedule at press time, we’ve put together a strategy that will allow you to watch every minute of March Madness live without a cable subscription. Shopping for a new device? Check out our top picks in media streamers. Catch CBS games over the air or over the top TechHive has in-depth reviews of all the latest TV antennas. Rob Schultz / IDG CBS’s March Madness coverage starts on March 20 with the First Round. The easiest—and only free—way to watch all the CBS action is with a good antenna. If you’re purchasing one for the first time, remember to first check to see which stations you can receive in your area, and which antenna type you’ll need to pull in your CBS affiliate. Given the challenging logistics of catching so many games, you might also want to invest in an over-the-air DVR to time-shift some of your viewing. If you can’t access CBS over the air, consider subscribing to Paramount+, which bundles ViacomCBS brands including CBS, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network into a single subscription. The app will give you live streaming access to every game broadcast on the network. To stream your local CBS station live, you’ll need the Paramount+ with Showtime plan, priced at $12.99 per month or $119.99 per year. This plan also provides ad-free viewing of on-demand content and access to Showtime’s original series and movies. Paramount+ offers a standard 7-day free trial for new subscribers; however, this trial is limited to first-time users and cannot be repeatedly claimed by canceling and re-subscribing. Find out how you can get Paramount+ for free. Sling is the thing for Turner telecasts As in previous years, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will be aired across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. Sling TV’s Blue package includes TBS, TNT, and truTV, making it a viable option for accessing the majority of the tournament games. The Sling Blue package is currently priced at $46 per month, with a promotional offer of 50 percent off for the first month. Additionally, Sling TV often provides incentives for new subscribers, such as free streaming devices or discounts when prepaying for multiple months. For the most current promotions, visit Sling TV’s website. Sling TV continues to dangle attractive incentives in front of new subscribers. Sling TV Read our review Best Prices Today: $40 at Sling TV DirectTV Stream steps onto the court DirecTV’s streaming service, DirecTV Stream, offers several packages that include channels such as TBS, TNT, and truTV. The Entertainment package, which includes more than 65 channels, is currently priced at $86.99 per month. This package also includes ESPN and ESPN2, providing comprehensive sports coverage. To determine if a live CBS feed is available in your area, you can use DirecTV Stream’s channel lookup tool. New subscribers who sign up online receive unlimited cloud DVR storage, allowing you to record and watch shows at your convenience. ? Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV Unlike their competitors, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV each offer a single, flat-fee package that includes the four channels you need to catch all of March Madness. They’re priced comparably—$82.99 per month for YouTube TV and $82.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV with ads, but YouTube TV is currently offering a 10-day free trial and a discounted price of $69.99 per month for the first six months before the standard rate kicks in. Hulu + Live TV also offers a no-ads plan for $95.99 per month. Pricing aside, you’ll need to check with each service to see which offers the required live channel streams in your area before making your decision. Hulu + Live TV Read our review Best Prices Today: $82.99 at Hulu.com The NCAA March Madness Live app The NCAA’s own March Madness app offers lots of specialized content that revolves around the championship series.NCAA The NCAA continues to offer all tournament games through the NCAA March Madness Live app, which provides features such as live scores, stats, an interactive bracket, classic March Madness videos, game notifications, and curated social content. ? The app offers a three-hour preview period; however, full access to all games requires authentication with a pay TV provider. Without such authentication, viewing time is limited. ?Nevertheless, it’s still a valuable tool for keeping up with other tournament-related content. Time for tip-off The options for streaming live sports have never been better, so don’t let cutting the cord make you miss the NCAA champs cutting the net. Grab a beer and your bracket and take advantage of these cable alternatives for courtside seats for one the greatest sporting events of the year. Read...