Aregional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is atelevision channel that presents sports programming to a localmedia market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play inMajor League Baseball, theNational Basketball Association, or theNational Hockey League.Minor league sports,college sports, andhigh school sports may also be shown on such networks.
Some RSNs originated aspremium channels. Since the 1990s, they have commonly been distributed through the expandedbasic tiers of cable television and IPTV services.Direct broadcast satellite providers may require subscribers to purchase a higher programming tier or a specialized sports tier to receive local and out-of-market regional sports networks.
Due to the rise incord cutting, some RSNs have closed in the 2020s, with teams and leagues moving some games tofree-to-air (FTA) andover-the-top (OTT) television services.
Viewership and advertising revenue on RSNs are highest duringlive broadcasts of professional andcollegiate sporting events. These broadcasts are often the source content forout-of-market sports packages. During the rest of the day, these channels show news programs covering local and national sports, magazine and discussion programs relating to a team or collegiate conference, fishing and hunting programs, and in-studio video simulcasts ofsports radio programs. RSNs alsorerun sports events from the recent and distant past. Some RSNs airinfomercials. In the United States,DirecTV offers all regional sports networks to all subscribers across the country, but live games and other selected programs areblacked out outside their home markets.
Regional sports networks are generally among the most expensive channels carried by cable television providers. A typical RSN, as of 2024[update], carries a monthlyretransmission fee of $3.50 to $8 per subscriber,[1] double to triple what they charged in 2012[2] and second only to the $9.42 rateESPN charges.[1] RSNs justify these high prices by citing demand for the local sports teams they carry, particularly those inMajor League Baseball,[3] theNational Basketball Association and theNational Hockey League, as well as college teams that have large and loyal fanbases.Carriage disputes between distributors and RSNs are often controversial and protracted. Since 2013, television providers such asCharter Spectrum andVerizon FiOS have charged customers a "regional sports network fee" as a separate item on their bills.[4][5] In response to high and increasing surcharges for RSNs and local broadcast channels, on March 22, 2023,FCC chairwomanJessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to require television providers to advertise only "all-in" pricing, including all programming fees.[6]
In Canada,Sportsnet operates four regional sports networks, and the otherwise nationally distributedTSN also maintains some regional operations. This differs from the operational structure of RSNs in the United States, which are independently operated from national sports networks.
Some sports teams own some or all of their respective RSNs. For example, theNew York Rangers andNew York Knicks have long co-owned their RSN,MSG; they also have purchased the rights to the Rangers' local rivals, theNew York Islanders andNew Jersey Devils. MSG also owns the rights to theBuffalo Sabres, but the Sabres produce their own games forMSG Western New York, a separate channel managed by MSG andPegula Sports and Entertainment, owners of the Sabres.[7][8]
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The first regional sports network is considered to be theMadison Square Garden Network. An early unnamed version of that network started broadcastingKnicks andRangers to a small number of subscribers inManhattan in May 1969.[9] By the late 1970s another version of this network would launch and be made available to other cable systems in the metropolitan area and it would finally receive the name Madison Square Garden Television in 1980. Another early network considered by many to be an RSN isPhiladelphia'sPRISM which launched in 1976 offering coverage of three of the city's major sports teams and movies.
In 1976,Cablevision launched a new service providing coverage ofLong Island sports (originally called Cablevision Sports 3). This channel would be renamedSportsChannel New York in 1979 and became the first channel to resemble a modern regional sports network. Other SportsChannels were launched in different cities and in 1988, they were formally organized into a group that shared programming and national TV rights.
During the 1990s, some teams experimented withpay-per-view or premium television broadcasts of games, which were generally unpopular. ThePortland Trail Blazers ran BlazerVision, which charged a fee for every game, and which blacked outNBA on TNT coverage of Trail Blazer playoff games for fans within 40 miles (64 km) of Portland.[10] TheChicago Blackhawks broadcast games exclusively onHawkvision between 1992 and 1995.[11]
As sports fans began to prefer watching their favorite teams on television rather than in person, RSNs became a very important source of revenue for professional teams and collegiate conferences. By 2011, regional sports networks were integral to the financial health of many U.S. sports ventures.[12] Teams in smaller media markets were often disadvantaged by their reliance on RSNs, whereas teams in larger markets could negotiate more lucrative media rights deals.[13]
In the 21st century, the rise ofcord-cutting has led to decreasing cable and satellite television subscriber numbers in the U.S., which in turn has reduced the revenue that RSNs receive from television provider subscriber fees and advertising.[14] These have resulted in an increasing erosion to the RSN market, and attempts to launchover-the-top (OTT) services at RSNs. These services require broadcasters to obtain in-market streaming rights to teams,[15][16] and have a high cost due to RSNs usually being subsidized by subscribers that are not interested in sports.[14][17]Major League Soccer, which previously broadcast most of its matches regionally on RSNs, switched to a centralized media rights model in the2023 season; all match telecasts are now produced in-house and carried internationally on theMLS Season Pass subscription service under a ten-year digital rights agreement withApple Inc..[18][19] In March 2023, Bally Sports parent companyDiamond Sports Group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,[20] whileWarner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD) announced its intent to exit the regional sports market by divesting itsAT&T SportsNet channels.[21][22]
Major League Baseball established alocal media department prior to the 2023 season, using resources fromMLB Network, to produce telecasts for teams whose RSNs would become unable to broadcast their teams' games.[23] In May 2023, when the rights to theSan Diego Padres reverted to the team after Diamond missed a payment, MLB Local Media took over the production of Padres regional games, distributing them via an in-market add-on to MLB.tv, and making agreements to carry the games on local access channels, such asCox Cable'sYurView California. The broadcasts maintain team-contracted staff, such as commentators.[24][25][26] In July 2023, MLB Local Media took over the rights to theArizona Diamondbacks, after Diamond was granted a motion to decline its contract with the team.[27] The Colorado Rockies also joined MLB Local Media for the 2024 season amid the closure ofAT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.[28] In October 2024, MLB Local Media announced that it would begin producing and distributing broadcasts for theCleveland Guardians,Milwaukee Brewers, andMinnesota Twins beginning in the 2025 season,[29] although the Brewers would later announce a return to Diamond Sports (since renamed Main Street Sports Group).[30] Also in 2025, theDiamondbacks,Guardians,Padres, andRockies would announce that they would simulcast a package of games onTegna stations in each team's home market;[31][32][33][34] while the Twins would agree to deals withFox andGray Media.[35] TheTexas Rangers' contract with Diamond expired after the 2024 season;[36][37] the team would ultimately create theRangers Sports Network, which operates similarly to MLB Local Media, but with a direct-to-consumer package hosted byVictory+ and a package of games syndicated on over the air stations within the Rangers' regional market.[38][39] TheAtlanta Braves,Cincinnati Reds,Detroit Tigers,Kansas City Royals,Los Angeles Angels,Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers,St. Louis Cardinals, andTampa Bay Rays, while remaining with the Bally Sports RSNs (since renamedFanDuel Sports Network), would also agree to syndicate packages of games on regional over the air stations as well.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Towards the end of the 2025 season, theSeattle Mariners announced that they would shut downRoot Sports Northwest; MLB Local Media would take over the team's distribution rights in 2026 after handling broadcast production in 2025.[49]
Some NHL and NBA teams handled the AT&T SportsNet closure by abandoning the RSN model entirely, in favor of a mixture of regional syndication via free-to-air television (such asE. W. Scripps Company's new sports divisionScripps Sports), and paid streaming services.[50][51] TheArizona Coyotes, whose games were formerly onBally Sports Arizona, signed a contract with Scripps,[52][53] then deactivated as a franchise the following year and sold its hockey operations to theUtah Mammoth expansion team.[54] The Mammoth, first known as the Utah Hockey Club, produced and distributed games using an in-house media operation that was established for theUtah Jazz.[55][56] After also losing thePhoenix Suns' rights toGray Television, Bally Sports Arizona shut down entirely in October 2023.[57][58][59]
Ahead of the2024–25 NBA andNHL seasons, more teams ended their contracts with Diamond Sports Group in favor of an FTA/OTT model, including theDallas Mavericks (withTegna Inc. andKFAA-TV),[60][61]Florida Panthers (who signed with Scripps Sports),[62] and theNew Orleans Pelicans (who signed with Gray to launch itsGulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network).[63] After theSeattle Mariners acquired WBD's stake inRoot Sports Northwest,[64] thePortland Trail Blazers andSeattle Kraken similarly exited the network, partnering on FTA/OTT models with Sinclair Broadcast Group andTegna Inc., respectively.[65][66] Three teams based in Chicago would take a different approach to the challenges faced by cord-cutting. In June 2024, theBlackhawks,Bulls, andWhite Sox would announce the creation ofChicago Sports Network later that year. While the channel was effectively a new RSN (replacing the teams' previous contracts withNBC Sports Chicago), the channel would be available over the air in addition to offering its OTT service and carriage via various cable and satellite providers in the market.[67]
While the FTA/OTT approach can improve viewership by making a team's telecasts more accessible to viewers, the team can lose out on the guaranteed revenue generated by a rights fee from an RSN: both the Jazz and Suns experienced a drop in revenue from their shift to OTA broadcasts. Jazz ownerRyan Smith stated that he wasn't as concerned about the loss of RSN revenue, since he believed that the team's other revenue streams (such as sponsorships and ticket sales) benefited from the wider accessibility of the team's broadcasts. In the NBA, a reduction in RSN revenue can also be offset by contributions from the league's revenue sharing agreement.[68][69][70]
For more than 20 years, the primary RSN in many markets was owned byFox Sports. Fox Sports Networks, which launched on November 1, 1996, as Fox Sports Net,[71] was created through former parentNews Corporation's October 1995 purchase of a 50% equity stake inLiberty Media-ownedPrime Sports Networks, co-founded in 1988 byBill Daniels and Liberty's then-sister companyTele-Communications Inc.[72] The group expanded further in June 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks, the joint venture company operated by News Corporation and Liberty Media, purchased a 40% interest in theCablevision-ownedSportsChannel group.[73][74]
As part of a rebranding effort, the collective branding of the networks – which eventually became "FSN (Region/City)" in 2004 – was extended toFox Sports (Region/City) (also used from 1996 to 2000) with the start of the 2008 college football season. The FSN networks were acquired byDiamond Sports Group fromThe Walt Disney Company in 2019, as Disney was required to divest them byU.S. Department of Justice as a condition of their ownacquisition of21st Century Fox. The channel group was renamed Bally Sports on March 31, 2021, as part of a naming rights agreement with casino operatorBally's Corporation.
On February 15, 2023,Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of Bally Sports, failed to make a $140M interest payment, instead opting for a 30-day grace period to make the payment.[75] During this grace period, Diamond Sports also missed a rights payment to theArizona Diamondbacks.[76] On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy.[77] In October 2023, following the loss of airingPhoenix Suns andArizona Diamondbacks games during the year,Bally Sports Arizona dropped coverage of theArizona Coyotes during the preseason, which subsequently led to Bally Sports Arizona being the first Bally Sports-related regional sports network to shut down.[57][58][59] In October 2024, the networks were renamed again to FanDuel Sports Network, as part of an agreement withonline gambling companyFanDuel.[78][79]
Cable conglomerateComcast began creatingComcast SportsNet (CSN) after their March 1996 purchase of a 66% stake inPhiladelphia-based event organizerSpectacor, which owned theFlyers and76ers.[80][81] Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the first CSN channel, launched on October 1, 1997.[82] CSN purchased a small number of RSNs previously owned by Fox Sports Networks, and acquired the local rights to professional teams that FSN regional networks carried. In two markets, the latter situation resulted in Fox Sports shutting down their networks.[citation needed]
Comcast's 2011acquisition ofNBC Universal allowed the networks to be merged into itsNBC Sports division. In April 2017, Comcast SportsNet's California and Bay Area networks were rebranded under the NBC Sports brand; NBC Sports Regional Networks adopted the "NBC Sports" moniker on its other regional channels on October 2, 2017.[83]
In May 2009,DirecTV Group Inc. announced that it would become a part of Liberty Media's entertainment unit, with some of the group's assets subsequently being spun off as a separate company under the DirecTV banner; the Fox Sports Networks outlets that became part of the Liberty Sports unit (which was renamed DirecTV Sports Networks on November 19, 2009) were rebranded under the new name "Root Sports" on April 1, 2011.[84][85]
DirecTV Sports Networks would be acquired byAT&T Inc. in 2015, as a byproduct of its acquisition of DirecTV. The renamed RSN unit,AT&T Sports Networks, rebranded its regional sports networks – excluding Root Sports Northwest, which is mostly owned by theSeattle Mariners – under the AT&T SportsNet banner on July 14, 2017.[86] In September 2018, AT&TSN was transferred to theWarnerMedia News & Sports division.
In February 2020, theNew York Post reported that AT&T had abandoned a plan to divest the channels, after only receiving bids in excess of $500 million (rather than the $1 billion valuation it had expected).[87] In May 2021, it was announced that AT&T would instead divest the entirety of WarnerMedia, and contribute it into a joint venture withDiscovery Inc., forming a new company later announced asWarner Bros. Discovery.[88][89] Discovery announced on April 7, 2022, that Patrick Crumb, president of AT&T Sports Networks, would report to the yet-to-be-named Chairperson for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports; Jeff Zucker departed the company upon the completion of the merger, but his successorChris Licht would only oversee CNN.[90] The merger was completed the following day.[89]
On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would leave the RSN business, and informed its RSNs' teams that they had until March 31 to take their rights back or acquire the networks. Root Sports Northwest was not affected, because that channel was majority-owned by theSeattle Mariners.[91][92][93] This deadline passed with no changes in operations; it was later reported that WBD had been negotiating an agreement with MLB to ensure that the networks would continue operating as normal through the end of the2023 regular season.[94]
In October 2023,AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh was acquired by thePittsburgh Penguins (withNESN—a sister via the team's parentFenway Sports Group—assuming day-to-day operations) and renamed to SportsNet Pittsburgh. The Pirates later bought a stake in the network as well.[95] The Houston Astros and Rockets acquired WBD's shares inAT&T SportsNet Southwest and rebranded it asSpace City Home Network.[96][97]AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain closed in October 2023,[98] with the Utah Jazz moving toSinclair Broadcast Group'sKJZZ-TV,[50] and the Colorado Rockies foregoing a new television deal and moving under MLB Local Media.[28]
Spectrum Sports is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks that are primarily owned and operated byCharter Communications through its acquisition ofTime Warner Cable in May 2016.
In 2018, Sinclair relaunched its RenoMyNetworkTV stationKAME-TV as Nevada Sports Net, with a focus onNevada Wolf Pack college sports andReno Aces baseball.[99] It later acquired the rights to the Golden Knights' syndication package with Scripps Sports.[100]
Some regional sports networks have been formed asdigital multicast television networks. BEK Communications Cooperative operates BEK Sports, an RSN focusing onNorth Dakota high school sports, across several stations in the state.[101]
In 2023,Gray Television (the current owner of sports syndicatorRaycom Sports) began a strategy of launching RSNs across groups of stations; this strategy began withArizona's Family Sports, which features Phoenix Suns andMercury basketball, and ancillary programming for theArizona Cardinals of the NFL.[102][103][104] Gray has since established similar networks in markets where its stations have regional coverage, such as thePeachtree Sports Network (which is carried on the digital subchannels of multiple Gray stations in Georgia, led byWPCH-TV),[105][106][107] Matrix Midwest in St. Louis, Missouri (a rebranding ofKMOV's MyNetworkTV subchannel),[108][109]Rock Entertainment Sports Network in Ohio (in partnership withDan Gilbert's Rock Entertainment, owner of theCleveland Cavaliers),[110] andGulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network (which carriesNew Orleans Pelicans basketball beginning in the 2024–25 season, withWVUE-DT as flagship).[111][112]
In 2024, theChicago Blackhawks,Bulls, andWhite Sox launched theChicago Sports Network (CHSN) withStandard General to replaceNBC Sports Chicago, which is distributed via over-the-air affiliates in addition to cable and OTT.[113] In 2025, CHSN discontinued OTA availability in certain markets such as Chicago in order to achieve carriage on Comcast.[68]
Sportsnet (formerly known as CTV Sportsnet and Rogers Sportsnet) is owned by theRogers Media division ofToronto-basedRogers Communications. Sportsnet carries all of theToronto Blue Jays baseball games. Although it is considered a national channel with multiple feeds for regulatory purposes, in practice its four main channels act as a set of RSNs, albeit with a significant portion of common national programming.
Through the separateSportsnet One licence, Rogers also operates three regional overflow channels—Sportsnet Flames, Sportsnet Oilers, and Sportsnet Canucks—forCalgary Flames,Edmonton Oilers, andVancouver Canucks games.
Rogers is also a shareholder inMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which ownedLeafs Nation Network, a channel devoted entirely to theToronto Maple Leafs and its farm team, theToronto Marlies (and is restricted to the Leafs' broadcast territory). MLSE also operatesNBA TV Canada, which is distributed nationally but has featured programming focused on the MLSE-ownedToronto Raptors and itsNBA G League affiliateRaptors 905.
On August 25, 2014,The Sports Network (TSN), another Canadian sports channel, split its singular national feed into four regional feeds in a manner similar to Sportsnet. These feeds are primarily used to broadcast regional NHL games,[114] but may also be used to provide alternative and common national programming.[115]
While each region has a primary TSN channel, due to overlaps in NHL territories it is possible in some parts of Ontario to access additional regional games from one non-primary channel.[116]
Prior to the launch of these channels, regional NHL games whose rights were held by TSN (which, at that point, consisted solely of the Jets and Canadiens) were broadcast on special part-time channels exclusive to the team's television region.[117]
Bell Media also ownsRéseau des sports (RDS) andRDS2, French-language sports networks that are licensed to serve all of Canada, but in practice focus on the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec (as there are relatively few francophones outside that province). Prior to the2014–15 season, RDS could air Canadiens games on a national basis, as it was also the national French-language rightsholder of the National Hockey League in Canada. With Rogers' acquisition of the exclusive national media rights to the NHL, and its decision to sub-license French rights toQuebecor Media'sTVA Sports, RDS and RDS2's coverage of the Canadiens and Senators are now restricted to parts ofEastern Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.[118]
Some telecasts (especially in American college sports) are broadcast by ad-hocsyndicated packages, which can be picked up on a network of broadcasters that may consist of either individual over-the-air stations, regional sports networks, or a mixture of both.
Jefferson-Pilot Communications andRaycom Sports were well known as syndicators of college sports on broadcast television, having previously held agreements with theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) andSoutheastern Conference (SEC). By the late-2000's. both packages began to wind down afterESPN acquired the media rights to both conferences; ESPN initially maintained a syndicated package known as "SEC Network", while Raycom was given a sub-license to continue its syndication package (subsequently renamed "ACC Network").[119][120] Both packages ended when ESPN launched dedicated cable channels for both conferences.
ESPN was originally intended to focus on sports inConnecticut, but chose to broadcast nationally when it debuted in 1979 when it was discovered by the network's founders that it would be less expensive to broadcast nationwide on satellite as opposed to regionally through microwave transmission.[121] ESPN formerly served as a college sports syndicator viaESPN Regional Television—formerly branded on-air as ESPN Plus, but later using conference-oriented brands such asSEC Network (not to be confused with theSEC Network cable channel which succeeded it), andBig East Network. The SEC Network package was a successor to the previous Raycom Sports-produced SEC package.
In 2014, television station ownerSinclair Broadcast Group established its own sports syndicator known as theAmerican Sports Network (ASN), primarily syndicating broadcasts of college football and basketball frommid-major conferences (some of which were previously associated with ESPN Plus) to stations that it owns and operates.[122][123] In 2015, Sinclair also acquired regional rights toMajor League Soccer'sReal Salt Lake, with ASN handling production and distribution of team telecasts within its designated market.[124] ASN later began to operate a dedicated channel; in contrast to other sports channels, it was distributed free-to-air as adigital multicast television network, and eventually subsumed its syndication of individual telecasts. In 2017, the channel was relaunched asStadium as part of a joint venture withSilver Chalice, which expanded its programming and added a focus on distribution viafree ad-supported streaming television (FAST).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Bell's TSN Habs channel has been shut down.
