The contractual agreements with Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV to carry the Sinclair-owned Bally Sports Regional Networks (RSNs) expired in Fall 2020. Despite working tirelessly to strike a deal, Sinclair was unable to reach an agreement that allowed the Bally Sports RSNs to stay on these streaming TV providers.

Hulu and YouTube claim to care about sports fans, and to be the “home” of live sports, but unlike hundreds of small to mid-sized TV providers, their multi-billion dollar parent companies (Disney and Google) refused to pay fair market prices to carry the Bally Sports RSNs, leaving viewers and fans of 44+ MLB, NBA and NHL teams across the country, high and dry.  

Sinclair regrets the inconvenience and frustration this is causing to Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV subscribers who want to continue to watch or stream their hometown teams that air on the Bally Sports RSNs. It wants to remind viewers that these channels are available on Bally Sports+, the DIRECTV STREAM streaming service and are widely available on other pay TV services across the country.

No. Sinclair, the parent company of Bally Sports, has only asked Hulu and YouTube to pay rates for our channels that are no more than rates paid by over 95% of other pay TV providers with customers in the Bally Sports footprint.

At no time has Sinclair demanded unfair rates for these channels, but despite all of our efforts to bring Bally Sports to these streaming TV providers, Hulu and YouTube clearly don’t value the live, local sports programming their customers crave.

No. The truth is that Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV don’t carry Altitude Sports, AT&T SportsNet, MSG, NESN, ROOT SPORTS, Spectrum SportsNet and YES Network – which including Bally Sports are the regional sports networks for 24 of the NBA’s 30 teams and 21 of the NHL’s 25 US-based teams. Hulu and YouTube may say they care about live sports, but they have left NBA and NHL fans around the country high and dry.

We believe it’s important to be an educated consumer so that you can make the best decision for your sports viewing or streaming needs. Make sure any new TV provider you’re considering carries your local Bally Sports regional network. In many cases, your best option is to stay with your current provider, if they already carry Bally Sports. But if you want to make the switch, the zip code search tool (above) will offer alternate pay TV options that will allow you to watch the majority of your local teams’ games.

In order to start watching your teams today, make sure to select the DIRECTV STREAM “CHOICE” package to ensure your local RSN is included in your channel lineup.

Good point. Hulu has spent a lot of money on athlete endorsements, telling consumers they have live sports – and according to the trade publication Sports Business Journal, a YouTube TV executive said, “Live sports drives viewership. It’s an inalienable truth right now.” So, given how important live sports appear to be to the growth of these streaming providers, it is surprising and disappointing that they both would deny sports fans across the country access to the actual games they want to watch.

No, the Bally Sports streaming platform is an extension of your TV subscription with your pay TV provider. When that provider stops carrying the Bally Sports RSNs, you also lose access to your hometown teams and programming streamed on the Bally Sports app.

No, not if you live within your team’s league-designated home television territory. The league packages are for out-of-market viewing. Services like MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass and NHL Center Ice do not include local, in-market teams’ games.

That’s a question for Hulu and YouTube. 

Since dropping our networks and taking your favorite teams away, Hulu and YouTube have raised the cost of their services – even though our channels are no longer available on their service. This means that if you signed up for either of these live TV streaming services, you’re no longer getting what you pay for – in fact, you’re now paying more for less!

The best way to tell Hulu and YouTube how you feel is to use the zip code search tool (above) to find a TV provider that actually gives you the channels and games you’re paying for.

The Bally Sports RSNs are the leading broadcaster of professional sports in the U.S. with 14 MLB teams, 16 NBA teams and 12 NHL teams. Fans like you are passionate about your teams, making local sports among the most-watched, most-valued programming on all of TV. Bally Sports RSNs’ MLB telecasts are the No. 1 most-watched prime time programming in many markets, and NBA and NHL telecasts are often the No. 1-rated prime time programming on cable.

The best way to influence Hulu and YouTube is with your wallet. To immediately start streaming Bally Sports, visit Bally Sports+, DIRECTV STREAM or use the zip code search tool (above) to find a TV provider that has your local teams on the Bally Sports RSNs.

The Bally Sports RSNs are widely available on nearly every local cable provider. Refer to the zip code finder above to view your options.

DISH customers across the country are frustrated. DISH, after dropping the NBC Sports Regional Networks, now only carries four RSNs with pro team sports (and its sister company, Sling TV doesn’t carry any RSNs with pro team sports). And as recently as December 2020, DISH was without at least 236 channels due to eight different carriage battles, which you can read about here. Sinclair has made every effort to bring the Bally Sports RSNs back to DISH at very favorable rates – but unfortunately do not expect to come to a deal.

These new streaming platforms have launched cheaper models – while attempting to offer similar channel lineups – in a desire to undercut traditional pay TV (cable, satellite, telco) providers, but they have quickly realized that this is not sustainable. As a result, they are dropping networks like your local RSNs and raising prices at the same time in an effort to maintain or increase their profit margin, while decreasing the quality of their product offering to you, the consumer. While their low-cost offering certainly was appealing at first, it is an unsustainable business model, and their customers are now paying the price. 

With all of these factors in play, there is, unfortunately, no definitive timeline for our return to these providers.

It is impossible to answer this question accurately. Sinclair is willing to work with any pay TV or streaming provider that pays a fair price for our content. Unfortunately, it’s also possible that any one of these providers will not bring our channels back. If your current pay TV or streaming provider doesn’t carry our RSNs, the best way to make sure you get to watch or stream the teams you love is to subscribe to Bally Sports+ or switch to a provider that does. And if your current provider DOES carry our RSNs, please do your homework before making a switch to another provider to ensure you can continue to watch the majority of your local teams’ games.