Fox RSNs Blackout on Dish/Sling Comes After RSNs Wanted Expiration “Up Against 2020 MLB Opening Day”

At noon ET today, Fox Sports announced that Sling TV and Dish Network dropped 21 Fox Regional Sports Networks and YES Network. This comes after the two sides agreed to a temporary extension on Monday when the deal was supposed to expire.

In a statement to The Streamable by a DISH spokesperson — it appears the company offered a short-term extension, while Fox RSNs wanted a a longer-term one that would put pressure on completing a deal right before 2020 MLB Opening Day.

“DISH and Sling has offered the Fox Regional Sports Networks a short-term extension, in an effort to quickly negotiate a fair, long-term deal for our customers. The RSNs offered an extension that would put the new expiration date up against the 2020 Major League Baseball Opening Day.

They want to use baseball fans as negotiation leverage, while continuing to get paid in the meantime for sports with lower viewership. Coming to a fair deal is in the interest of customers, not a nine-month extension that simply puts them in the middle again.”

The channels which were acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group by Disney, after netting them as part of their deal for 21st Century Fox, will not officially be completed for a few weeks. Currently, the channels are managed by a separate group that is handling the carriage negotiations.

FOX Regional Sports Networks broadcasts local telecasts of 14 MLB teams, 17 NBA teams and 13 NHL teams. The channels are available as part of Sling Blue package for $25 a month. While there are other services like Hulu Live TV ($45), PlayStation Vue ($55), fuboTV ($55), YouTube TV ($50) — most are double the price of Sling.