As a professional TV reviewer, I’ve tested many displays for various needs, and certain models stand out as being the best for watching sports. So, with the NFL season just around the corner, I’ve highlighted a couple of my favorites that are perfect for football. These sets will allow you to enjoy every kickoff on a bright, sharp display. The best TVs for sports are also great for watching basketball, baseball, soccer, and hockey.
The Samsung S95D OLED TV is an excellent buy for anyone who wants a high-end display with key features geared toward sports viewing. Most notably, this set has an impressive anti-reflective screen, which makes it perfect for watching sports in a bright room. It also has wide viewing angles, so you get a great image no matter where you sit. However, those on a tighter budget should consider the more affordable TCL QM7K QLED TV, which is often sold at a nice discount. The QM7K doesn’t have the S95D’s anti-glare screen, and its viewing angles aren’t quite as wide, but it still delivers a bright picture. I also love that it’s available in extra-large screen sizes, including a 98-inch and massive 115-inch option.
Below, you can find full details on the two best TVs for watching sports and some helpful buying advice to guide you while shopping.
Our top picks for the best TVs for sports
Best anti-glare screen: Samsung S95D OLED 4K TV – See at Amazon
Best midrange model: TCL QM7K QLED 4K TV – See at Amazon
Best anti-glare screen
Samsung 65-inch S95D 4K OLED TV
Samsung’s S95D is the brightest OLED we’ve ever tested. It features a new matte screen that nearly eliminates reflections, making it ideal for rooms that struggle with glare. However, the matte design gives black levels a slightly faded look in direct light.
The Samsung S95D is one of the best 4K TVs you can buy, and it’s an especially good fit for anyone watching sports. This high-end OLED display delivers gorgeous image quality across the board, and its matte screen makes it uniquely suited for use in a well-lit room.
Most TVs use glossy or semi-glossy panels, which are prone to mirror-like reflections. However, the S95D uses a matte screen with anti-glare properties. When I tested the TV, I was blown away by how well this feature works. You can still make out some faint, fuzzy reflections in certain instances, but the TV offers a game-changing experience for anyone who struggles with glare in their room. The matte screen does cause dark scenes to look a bit washed out with the lights on, but this isn’t an issue when watching bright sports content.
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The S95D’s OLED panel offers wide viewing angles, too, so colors and contrast don’t distort if you’re sitting to the side of the TV. This is great for when you have guests over for watch parties and they’re seated all around the room. The S95D is also one of the brightest OLED displays I’ve tested. Coupled with the TV’s pixel-level dimming, this high brightness enables excellent high-dynamic-range (HDR) performance.
HDR provides a more impactful image with higher contrast and a wider range of colors. It’s supported when watching movies and TV shows on many on-demand streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs. Typical live-TV sports broadcasts are still limited to standard dynamic range (SDR), but some big events, like the Super Bowl, are often shown in HDR.
Samsung’s S95D is available in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch models. Current sale prices start at about $1,900. A 2025 version of this set, the S95F, is also available, and it gets a bit brighter. However, it costs more, so I recommend sports fans snag the older S95D while it remains in stock for less money.
Read our full Samsung S95D review and Samsung S95F review.
Check out our guides to the best Samsung TVs and the best OLED TVs.
Best midrange model
TCL 65-inch QM7K QLED 4K TV
The TCL QM7K is an excellent midrange QLED TV. Its Mini LED backlight delivers high brightness, and it has better contrast control and wider viewing angles than last year’s model.
The QM7K is one of the top midrange TVs available thanks to its great brightness performance and competitive pricing. It’s also sold in many sizes, including a whopping 115-inch option, making it ideal for sports fans who want the biggest screen possible.
TCL’s QM7K replaces my previous pick in this spot, last year’s QM7. Though that older model is still a great TV, it’s hard to find in stock, and the new edition offers improvements in backlight control and viewing angles.
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Unlike the pricier Samsung S95D OLED, the QM7K is a QLED TV. As a result, the QM7K’s black levels aren’t as precise and deep. Check out my QLED vs. OLED comparison for more details on each display type.
However, the QM7K’s contrast control is better than that of the older 2024 QM7 model, with fewer halos and improved uniformity. It also delivered fantastic HDR colors and impressive brightness during my testing. I measured a peak of around 1,800 nits in HDR, which beats rival TVs in this price range from Samsung, Sony, and LG. It can also deliver similarly impressive brightness when displaying SDR content, which is how most sports games are broadcast.
Though this set’s glossy display is more prone to reflections than the S95D’s matte screen, you can pump up the QM7K’s brightness to help minimize this issue. Viewing angles aren’t as wide as those of the Samsung S95D OLED, but the TV’s off-axis performance is a lot better than last year’s model. Colors and brightness still shift from an angle, but the effect is more subtle, so you still get a solid experience when seated to the side.
The 65-inch QM7K is often on sale for around $1,000, which is excellent for this level of performance. You can also find the extra-large 75-, 85-, and 98-inch options for incredible prices. The 98-inch TV, in particular, is a fantastic value at under $3,000, making this a perfect fit for people who favor a large screen over paying more to get a higher-end picture in a smaller size. There’s also an even bigger 115-inch option, but the price soars dramatically at that size.
Check out our guides to the best TCL TVs, best TVs, and best smart TVs.
How we test TVs for sports
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To select the best TVs for sports, our team tested several models across brands and budgets. We chose the top two displays that best balanced sports-friendly features and value. Our testing factors included picture clarity, contrast ratio, color range, and smart TV navigation speed. For the best sports TVs, we also placed an emphasis on specific performance elements that help deliver the best experience when watching sports, like brightness, viewing angles, reflection handling, and a large screen size.
To measure a TV’s brightness, we use a colorimeter and test patterns from the Spears & Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark 4K Blu-ray disc. But while test patterns and objective measurements are helpful, they’re no substitute for actually watching real-world content on a display to see how different kinds of material look in action. To get a better feel for how a TV performs under regular use, we watch a variety of content specifically chosen to evaluate a TV’s shadow detail, HDR capabilities, sharpness, upscaling, motion, and more.
Our demo material includes movies, TV shows, and sports broadcasts across 4K resolution (Ultra HD), high definition (HD), and standard definition (SD) sources like streaming services, cable, and Blu-ray discs. We also watch content in both bright and dark rooms.
For more info on our review methodology, visit our breakdown of how we test tech products.
Sports TV FAQs
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Is a 4K TV beneficial for sports?
Whether you watch TV via cable, satellite, antenna, or a livestreaming service, most sports broadcasts are still presented in a high-definition resolution of 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. Some big games, like championships, are occasionally shown in 4K resolution with HDR, but these instances are the exception rather than the norm.
However, all 4K TVs can automatically upscale lower-resolution sources to 4K, which improves image quality. The resulting image isn’t as sharp as a native 4K picture, but it’s still an improvement.
Generally speaking, the question of whether a 4K TV is worth it for sports is mostly a moot point since 4K TVs are now the industry standard. Major brands no longer sell HDTVs larger than 43 inches, so if you’re buying a new TV for sports viewing in 2025, the vast majority of your options will be 4K.
What size TV is best for sports?
If you want the best TV for watching sports, we recommend you get the biggest display you can that still fits within your space, budget, and picture quality requirements.
Bigger TVs cost more than smaller options with comparable specifications, so depending on your budget, you might need to decide between getting a larger display with midrange performance or a smaller TV with a higher-end picture. This ultimately comes down to personal preference.
For TV recommendations across different sizes, check out our size-specific buying guides:
