I have a new favorite app, one that figures to be a constant companion for me in the coming weeks as I watch the Euro 2020 tournament. It is PrendeTV, and it has vaulted to the top of my must-have apps because it meshes well with two of my most well-established qualities — 1) I am big into soccer and 2) I am an insufferable cheapskate.
PrendeTV is a streaming app developed by Univision, a U.S.-based Spanish language broadcaster. Think of PrendeTV as kind of a Spanish-language version of Pluto TV. You'll find all sorts of channels, bringing you different shows, movies, novelas and reality programming — all of it in Spanish. On-demand content drawing from a library of shows and movies is available for you to watch as well.
But what makes PrendeTV interesting to a fellow of my specific tastes is that it's streaming this month's UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. All told, Prende TV plans to carry 50 matches, with live streams available on its Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku apps, as well as its mobile apps (Android, iOS). Most importantly, PrendeTV is a free, ad-supported service, so there's no monthly subscription for me to pay, just ads to watch. And since the Euro matches are live sporting events, I'd have to watch ads no matter what broadcaster was carrying the event.
I can't overstate the importance of PrendeTV being a free option to get my Euro 2020 fix, as in the U.S., the only other option for following the tournament requires a cable TV subscription. ESPN holds the English-language rights to the Euros in this country, and while a few matches are airing for free on ABC, the vast majority can be found only on ESPN and that cable channel's assorted streaming apps. That means I'd have to sign up for a streaming TV service, go back to cable with my tail between my legs or pay for a VPN to pick up Euro feeds from around the world.
Or at least, that was the case until PrendeTV came into my life.
Is there a downside to streaming the Euros on Prende? Apart from letting advertisers know that yes, I'm a fan of soccer, I guess the biggest impediment is that the app's interface and the live streams themselves are in a language I last studied 34 years ago. Since my Spanish fluency begins and ends with being able to order in restaurants and asking for directions — I can ask for them, just not necessarily understand them — it's safe to say that the play-by-play descriptions of any Euro match sail right over my head. I don't find this mars my enjoyment in the least, though your mileage may vary.
For the U.S. sports fan, Spanish language TV can often be a way to watch events that might otherwise be behind a paywall. During the English Premier League, for example, I often watched matches on Telemundo for free that would otherwise have forced me to pay for the Peacock streaming service. (I may still wind up paying for Peacock, but for other reasons that have little to do with sports.)
So if you've been stumped by how the Euros can fit into your cable-free life, give PrendeTV a try. It's free, reliable, and you might just find yourself brushing up on that high school Spanish you had studied way back when.
