Sinclair Won’t Bring Rebranded Fox Sports RSNs Direct-to-Consumer Until 2022
A the end of 2020, there was a lot of excitement around the prospect of Sinclair bringing their Bally Sports RSNs (formerly Fox Sports RSNs) as a direct-to-consumer offering.
In their announcement of their partnership with Ballys, company President and CEO Chris Ripley said their new streaming app will rollout first with TV Everywhere authentication, then they’ll be available via direct-to-consumer service.
But, during their Q4 2020 Investor Call, Ripley revealed that the direct-to-consumer version of the app won’t be available in 2022. “We are working on a direct-to-consumer product that is expected to launch in 2022, and will allow an unauthenticated user the ability to access and even subscribe to certain content from our RSNs, as well as other unique content.
Ripley did not give any details on pricing, nor did he reveal whether or not the DTC offering will include all games.
This will be an important change for Sinclair after the loss of distribution across streaming services. Sinclair has been having a rough go at when it comes maintaining carriage of its sports RSNs on streamers. And during the call, Ripley didn’t make it seem much progress has been made in them returning to services like YouTube TV or Hulu.
In 2020, YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, and fuboTV dropped the channels. In 2019, both Dish Network and Sling TV dropped the channels from their service.
For those who have access to Bally Sports RSNs through AT&T TV or your cable/satellite service – Ripley’s said their new app will launch ahead of the 2021 MLB season. “It will feature a more personalized and interactive viewing experience. The app will provide significantly enhanced functionally and a new design.”
He shared the initial version of the app will allow those with TV Everywhere Authentication the ability to watch games, with features like rewind and view replays, search for enhanced statistics and programming, access programming from the RSNs, and news coverage of the team.
What Bally Sports RSNs Carry Local Sports Teams?
Bally Regional Sports Networks broadcasts local telecasts of 14 MLB teams, 17 NBA teams and 13 NHL teams.