Canes season starts Thursday, but fans have fewer ways to watch. Here are the options.
When the Carolina Hurricanes NHL season starts on Jan. 14, local hockey fans will have fewer ways to watch the games.
Fox Regional Sports Networks, which include Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolinas, have long broadcast the Hurricanes’ NHL games, as well as the Charlotte Hornets’ NBA games and Atlanta Braves’ MLB games on Fox Sports Southeast.
But Fox RSNs are no longer available on popular streaming services like Sling, Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV, because of lapsed contracts with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which acquired 21 Fox RSNs from Disney in 2019.
With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping fans out of the stands for home games, that leaves fans with only one streaming option, or going back to cable or satellite.
So if you’re a cord-cutter intent on sticking to streaming, AT&T TV NOW is currently your only option.
What happened to the Fox Sports networks?
YouTube TV and Sinclair argued over their contract for most of 2020, making the breakup official in late summer.
In October, negotiations broke down with Hulu Live TV, meaning Fox RSNs were off of the two largest streaming services in the country. Smaller streaming services Sling and FuboTV also ended contracts with Sinclair in 2020.
It’s always possible that Sinclair and the streaming services will work things out, but in early December, Sinclair also announced it intends to rebrand its Fox RSNs under the Bally name (Bally, as in Bally Casinos), with the goal of offering a “direct-to-consumer” product. Of course, that hasn’t happened yet, and no timetable for that has been announced.
(Incidentally, Sinclair reported an estimated $4.2 billion impairment loss during the third quarter of 2020, attributing the loss in part to YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV dropping the Fox RSNs.)
Canes also feel ‘frustration’
In response to a request for comment, Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell told The News & Observer in an emailed statement that the team is also frustrated by the lack of access, but they are hopeful that the situation will improve:
“Fox Sports Carolinas has been a valuable partner for the Carolina Hurricanes for more than two decades. We share in our fans’ frustration regarding the current carriage dispute, and we remain hopeful that Sinclair will reach agreements that provide more people access to our game telecasts,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for Fox Sports South shared a statement from Sinclair that laid blame on the streaming services, saying that “certain carriers have to-date been unwilling to enter into agreements consistent with other distribution deals that represent reasonable value for this content.”
How to watch Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolinas
In the meantime, local fans will have to make some decisions about what they’re willing to do to watch Hurricanes, Hornets and Braves games.
The current options are Spectrum on cable, AT&T TV (a cable-internet hybrid), AT&T TV NOW streaming service or DirecTV satellite.
Fans can also check which providers carry their local Fox RSN by ZIP code here.
Below are more details about each available option.
Watch Fox Regional Sports Networks on cable
▪ If you don’t mind subscribing to traditional cable, you can get the Fox RSNs on Spectrum, which is owned by Charter. Prices vary depending on where you live, almost down to your ZIP code, and depending on which package you choose. No contract is required.
▪ There’s also AT&T TV, which is an internet-connected TV service that takes the place of U-Verse. This is a sort of hybrid of cable and streaming — it doesn’t require a fiber cable hookup, but it does require a special Google Android-powered box that connects to broadband internet. AT&T TV requires a two-year contract.
Watch Fox Regional Sports Networks on satellite
DirecTV satellite service, owned by AT&T, still has the Fox RSNs. Dish Network does not.
Again, with DirecTV, a two-year contract is required.
Watch Fox Regional Sports Networks on streaming
AT&T TV NOW is AT&T’s live streaming service (it used to be called DirecTV Now). This service currently still has Fox RSNs.
There are several pricing plans, but expect to pay around $65 per month, and $80 per month for the Max package that includes RSNs. There’s no long-term contract commitment.
