fuboTV Announces Deal to Bring Bally Sports Regional Sports Networks to Live Streaming Service

Cord-cutting sports fans, fuboTV just delivered an extra special holiday present in the form of a new, major carriage agreement. On Wednesday, the live TV streaming service announced that it had reached a deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) that will bring Bally Sports’ 19 regional sports networks (RSNs) to Fubo in the coming weeks.

fuboTV already airs SBG networks the Tennis Channel and the Marquee Sports Network — which is the home of the Chicago Cubs — so bringing in the 19 RSNs will help round out the streamer’s sports viewing options for many fans across the country. As the RSNs are regional by definition, each individual channel will be available only for in-market customers.

The Bally Sports channels coming to fuboTV are:

A spokesperson confirmed to The Streamable that the channels would be available to all customers as part of the service’s base subscription option, which currently costs $69.99 per month.

“These RSNs will also be in the base Pro plan,” the rep said. “No price changes at this time. RSN fees vary according to location.”

In its announcement, Fubo had not indicated what these additions would do to customers’ bills, but in most markets where the service already has RSNs, it charges an $8.99+ per month RSN fee, which is likely to increase with the introduction of the Bally Sports networks. In markets in which fuboTV was not already offering an RSN, it will inevitably add the fee to all customers in those regions as well.

“RSNs are integral to FuboTV’s sports-first content strategy and our mission to superserve local passionate sports fans,” Fubo’s chief business officer Henry Ahn said. “We are very pleased to bring Fubo subscribers significant local sports coverage through our new partnership with Bally Sports, the nation’s leader in local sports rights. Sinclair has been a great partner and we’re pleased that we were able to work together well to get a deal done that is meaningful and beneficial for both sides. We’re looking forward to bringing the Bally Sports RSNs to Fubo subscribers in the coming weeks.”

With the addition of the Bally Sports RSNs, fuboTV will offer fans over 35 sports networks in its portfolio, with most being available on its base channel package (Pro). These additions will bring Fubo’s sports offerings to more than 50,000 live sporting events annually — with many streaming in 4K — from RSNs, local broadcast networks, and national sports networks ESPN, FS1, CBS Sports Network, the Pac-12 Network, and more.

However, this new agreement with SBG does not seem to include the YES Network which covers the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Liberty. Sinclair controls 20% of YES, but is not the majority owner.

“FuboTV has long been associated with connecting sports fans to their favorite teams and we are thrilled to be expanding our partnership to include the Bally Sports regional sports networks across their platform, providing Fubo’s subscribers with streaming access to their favorite hometown Bally Sports teams,” Sinclair SVP Will Bell said. “Fubo has been a great partner, and we are excited to continue to grow our relationship to serve our collective viewers.”

The only other places that sports fans are able to stream the Bally Sports RSNs are DIRECTV STREAM — which is increasing its prices to $99.99 per month in January — and Sinclair’s direct-to-consumer streamer Bally Sports+.

What are now known as the Bally Sports channels had previously been carried by Fubo, but were dropped on the first day of 2020, when SBG and the streamer couldn’t come to a new carriage agreement.

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Fubo is a live TV streaming service with about 90 top channels that start at $79.99 per month. This plan includes local channels, 19 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). In total, you should expect to pay about $94.99 per month, after adding in their RSN Fee. Fubo was previously known as “fuboTV.”

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The streaming service does not carry channels from WarnerMedia-owned (CNN, TBS, and TNT), A+E (A&E, History Channel, and Lifetime), and AMC Networks (AMC, BBC America, and WE tv). So, in our experience, if you are looking to watch the NBA, which heavily plays on TBS and TNT, you may want to look at another live TV streaming provider.

But for other sports fans, especially those who want to stream local sports, Fubo is a great option in our opinion. They recently announced adding Bally Sports RSNs to their channel lineup and it is the least expensive option to get RSNs in many markets like Altitude, AT&T Sports, Fox Sports, Marquee, MSG, NBC Sports, and NESN. (Take a look at the full list of Fubo’s sports channels.)

Fubo also includes MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NFL RedZone , NHL Network, and beIN Sports (which is not available on most services). You can add Fox Soccer Plus as part of the International Sports Plus add-on for $7/month.

You can add the Fubo Extra ($8) to add ~38 channels including GSN.

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