Bally Sports App DTC Streaming Service Not Expected Until Summer, Five MLB Teams Included

Cord-cutters who are fans of five MLB teams — the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, and Detroit Tigers — will soon be able to stream their team’s games without cable thanks to Sinclair’s Bally Sports, just not as soon as originally planned.

The Kansas City Star confirmed reports that the Royals would be the benefactors of a dedicated Bally Sports streaming service, but that it would not be available until the summer, as fewer providers carry the team’s local games that air on Bally Sports Kansas City. The Royals will join the Marlins, Brewers, Rays, and Tigers on this new service.

This report comes nearly a week after rumblings that another MLB franchise, the Chicago Cubs, were exploring a potential DTC streaming option by also partnering with Sinclair. According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the team’s current regional sports network (RSN) broadcasting partner, are in talks to launch a Cubs-themed direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service, allowing Cubs fans to watch their team without a cable or satellite subscription in 2023.

Sinclair had previously announced plans to soft-launch their DTC sports streamer this spring, but even with the MLB Opening Day, this report indicates that it won’t hit the market until mid-season.

Granted, Sinclair only owns the rights to those five MLB clubs, so trying to build a national service around a few regional teams might not be the best idea. We’ve discussed the concept that Sinclair should instead build around its larger library of NBA broadcasting rights, which includes the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks, among others.

As of right now, the only live TV streaming service that carries Bally Sports Kansas City is DIRECTV STREAM, a recurring theme for the Bally Sports networks across the country. YouTube TV dropped many of the Sinclair-owned RSNs in 2020, leaving only the NBC-branded networks and SNY. You can see which RSNs are available in your area below but — spoiler alert — your streaming options are mostly DIRECTV STREAM and fuboTV, with a sprinkling of Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV thrown in there.