YouTube TV is one of the best live streaming television services available, but unfortunately for Red Sox fans, the platform is unlikely to reach a deal with NESN in time for the Major League Baseball season.
YouTube TV dropped NESN on Oct. 31, 2020. As the regional sports network is home of the Bruins and Red Sox, there was some hope of reaching a new partnership for the start of the NHL season in January, but to no avail. And with the baseball season looming, a resolution between both sides remains unlikely according to a recent report by Chad Finn of the Boston Globe.
NESN isn’t alone. The decision to remove the New England Sports Network from its offering came one month after YouTube TV dropped 19 FOX RSNs owned by Sinclair. When NESN was dropped in October, the Boston RSN tweeted that the move by YouTube TV was “purely an economic decision to maximize profitability for their business at the expense of viewers.”
Before cutting RSNs, YouTube TV hiked their monthly subscription cost from $49.99 to $64.99 after the addition of the ViacomCBS bundle of channels. Those channels include TBS, CNN and MLB Network which have national appeal. But a subscription platform paying in the realm of $5 a month for a singular regional sports network with little national appeal doesn’t make much economic sense.
Last month, YouTube TV began to integrate MLB.TV on its platform. Unfortunately for baseball fans, MLB.TV only gives them the ability to stream out of market games. Despite the need for Major League Baseball to reach a younger audience who might not be using linear television, their seemingly outdated local blackout restrictions continue to make it difficult for fans to livestream local teams.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
