Dish Network Drops AT&T SportsNet and ROOT Sports Northwest
Dish Network customers are now without AT&T SportsNet and ROOT Sports Regional Sports Networks. The satellite provider dropped AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, AT&T SportsNet Southwest, [AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh], and ROOT Sports Northwest.
Customers in those markets are now without live games from teams like Houston Astros, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Pittsburgh Pirates. The channels were never available on Sling TV.
“The current RSN model is fundamentally broken,” said Brian Neylon, group president, Dish TV. “This model requires nearly all customers to pay for RSNs when only a small percentage of customers actually watch them.”
Over the last few years, Dish has more or less stopped carrying Regional Sports Networks. In 2019, they dropped Fox Sports RSNs (now Bally Sports), and earlier this year they dropped NBC Sports RSNs and MASN.
Fortunately, you can get [AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh], AT&T SportsNet Southwest, and ROOT Sports Northwest with fuboTV and DIRECTV STREAM. AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain is also available on DIRECTV STREAM.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Get $10 Off | Sign Up | |||
| $79.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $25 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| SportsNet Pittsburgh | + $29 | ✓ | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AT&T SportsNet Southwest | + $29 | ✓ | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Root Sports Northwest | + $29 | ✓ | - | - | - | - | - | |
Dish says of AT&T and Root Sports that they “continued demanding rates that are unreasonable to pass on to our consumers.” Dish said they made a proposal that they would offer the network on a “a la carte basis,” which was unsurprisingly declined.
“Our proposal to offer sports fans access to RSNs is simple, and provides choice and value to all of our customers,” added Neylon. “It would allow Dish TV customers to choose to subscribe to the RSN channels they want — such as the regional AT&T SportsNet and Root Sports networks — on an a la carte basis, similar to premium subscription channels. With this updated RSN model, no customer would be forced to pay for content they don’t watch, and the RSNs would determine the price customers would pay for their channels.”
Comcast Xfinity currently has an active dispute for MSG in New York, which may go dark if it is not resolved by tonight.