Bay Area Sports To Go Dark For Many Viewers

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — Many Bay Area sports viewers are about to see their favorite teams go dark.

DISH Network and its streaming service, Sling TV, are cutting ties with NBC Regional Sports Networks throughout the nation.

NBC Sports Bay Area broadcasts nearly all San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors games, and NBC Sports California offers blanket coverage of the Oakland A’s and San Jose Sharks.

Sling TV confirmed the sports blackout in an email the satellite service sent to customers obtained by The Streamable:

As of 4/1/2021, NBC Regional Sports Networks will no longer be on SLING. We are committed to providing the best value with the flexibility our customer’s deserve and, unfortunately, we were unable to come to an agreement on those terms.

Thanks for being a loyal SLING customer.

The Sling TV Team.

A Sling TV spokesperson said the rising fees the regional sports network is asking for didn’t make financial sense for the satellite company, noting “only a small fraction of our customers watch those channels to any meaningful degree,” The Mercury News reported.

“The Regional Sports Network (RSN) model is fundamentally broken. At DISH TV and Sling TV, we love sports and we love sports fans, but we have to think of all customers,” the company said.

“Each contract cycle, the price for RSNs goes up, but only a small fraction of our customers watch those channels to any meaningful degree. We want to carry these sports channels so that fans can watch the games — at a fair price and using a fair model.”

An NBCUniversal spokesperson said in a statement to The Streamable that DISH and Sling declined an offer to continue providing regional sports content “on fair market terms.”

“The NBC Regional Sports Networks offered to continue distribution on fair market terms. DISH and Sling declined those terms and will be dropping the networks,” the company said.

“The many other distributors that continue to carry the RSNs are listed on each RSN’s website.”

A list of cable, satellite and streaming services that will continue carrying the two Bay Area NBC regional sports networks can be viewed here.

DISH and Sling typically offer the some industry’s most competitive prices, and the Englewood, Colorado-based satellite company’s decision to cut ties with NBC Regional Sports Networks figures to help it keep costs down for customers.

Sling customers will be able to switch streaming services with the click of a mouse – one of the advantages of services that don’t require contracts.

It won’t be so easy for some DISH customers who are on two-year contracts.