Bringing up the cable company is a conversational topic that brings with it a number of gripes, many of which are legitimate.
It’s too expensive. There’s nothing on. Why must I pay a regional sports free when I don’t watch sports? For every customer, you’ll find a unique complaint that’s valid to said customer and holds some validity.
The answer is usually a shrug of the shoulders? What can you do? True, you could cancel, but for someone who enjoys entertainment brought via television, that’s not really an option. You could also try satellite TV or join the growing list of cord cutters who utilize streaming services.
In many instances, this is a more affordable option. But the full streaming packages with services like YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV are growing in price too, nearly negating the cost benefit.
But what about people who watch sports; and specifically, professional sports other than football?
These folks, myself included, are bound by whatever regional sports networks are offered by our respective local cable companies.
For Ohio Valley customers, that company is Xfinity. That channel is AT&T SportsNet, giving you the majority of Pittsburgh Penguins and Pittsburgh Pirates’ games.
Where this rubs me, and likely many other fans the wrong way, comes when you live in Eastern Ohio. Here, we too are only offered the option of AT&T SportsNet. I’m not really a Penguins fan. And I sure as hell don’t want to watch the Pirates.
Seeing as there’s no NBA team in Pittsburgh, there is no alternate regional sports channel for NBA games either.
SOL in Eastern Ohio
But again, I live in Belmont County. I want to watch the Cavaliers. And the Indians. And the Blue Jackets. Yes, there are Reds fans too locally. We don’t have many options when it comes to watching our teams.
True, we could pony up for league-specific services like NBA League Pass, MLB.TV or NHL Center Ice. But guess what? Those expensive services still aren’t an option.
Oh, we’ll get to watch plenty of games. Just not our teams? Blackout rules come into play. And while Xfinity offers only Pittsburgh-area teams, it’s the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati areas that are blacked out in our area.
So that’s not an option.
Traditionally in the past, you could sign-up for one of the streaming services, which I’ve done. There was Sling TV and Fubo to go with YouTube TV and Hulu. All previously offered the regional sports networks in Ohio. So did satellite provider Dish Network.
Dish hasn’t carried Sinclair Broadcast Group’s regional sports channels in more than a year, unable to work out a dispute with the company. In similar circumstances, Sling, Fubo, YouTube TV and Hulu also dropped the channels.
So, for Belmont County, that leaves basically one option, albeit technically two. You can subscribe to streaming services AT&T TV, or satellite provider DirecTV. Both require you to purchase a next-tier package, neither of which is a cheaper option than Xfinity, especially considering you need Xfinity’s internet service to get the necessary bandwidth for quality streaming.
Sinclair just signed a 10-year deal with Bally’s that will create what appears to be a standalone streaming services that incorporates some type of gambling aspect/advertisement with Sinclair’s regional channels. That won’t be ready until likely the start of the MLB season. There’s also been no public discussion on price point for the consumer.
What Can You Do?
So, as stated earlier, we’re SOL without viable options or actual competition. Take the one option and like it, or go without. There’s always nefarious options to be found online, but I’d prefer taking the legal route here for my sports entertainment.
Now we know how the non-sports fan feels. If they wish to subscribe to an upper-tier of channels, they are subjected to a regional sports fee which, in some markets, can reach upwards of $9.99 per month. That’s an extra $10 for basically one channel you have no intention of watching, just to gain access to other channels you do wish to watch.
And that is why there will never be true al la carte viewing options. Oh well, I guess I can go old-school (ish) and stream just the audio for a cheaper price. Better than nothing.
