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98-548: New England Sports Network , popularly known as NESN / n ɛ s . ɛ n / , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston Red Sox , Liverpool Football Club , and the Pittsburgh Penguins ) and Delaware North (which owns the remaining 20% interest in

196-482: A basic cable service in 2001, a model that has since been copied by other companies through their respective launches of new regional sports networks as well as similar conversions (many of which predate NESN's transition) of those that began as pay services. Afterwards, until early 2006, NESN carried simulcasts of ESPNews during the afternoon and overnight hours. NESN has carried regional Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball games since Boston College joined

294-758: A college football game between the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Hampton Pirates . NESN and NESN National also agreed to carry certain games from the inaugural season of the Fall Experimental Football League in October and November 2014. On June 1, 2022, NESN became the first U.S. regional sports network to offer its content on a direct-to-consumer basis. On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery , owners of AT&T SportsNet , announced that it would leave

392-402: A "regional sports network fee" as a separate item on their bills. In response to high and increasing surcharges for RSNs and local broadcast channels, on March 22, 2023, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to require television providers to advertise only "all-in" pricing, including all programming fees. In Canada, Sportsnet operates four regional sports networks, and

490-601: A 30-day grace period to make the payment. During this grace period, Diamond Sports also missed a rights payment to the Arizona Diamondbacks . On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . In October 2023, following the loss of airing Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks games during the year, Bally Sports Arizona dropped coverage of the Arizona Coyotes during the preseason, which subsequently led to Bally Sports Arizona being

588-688: A bid to acquire the New England Media Group from The New York Times Company , which would have placed it under the common ownership of The Boston Globe ; Fenway dropped out of the bidding in July. On August 30, 2014, the network became a charter cable affiliate of the American Sports Network , a sports syndication service founded by the Sinclair Broadcast Group , with its first ASN broadcast being

686-517: A centralized media rights model in the 2023 season ; all match telecasts are now produced in-house and carried internationally on the MLS Season Pass subscription service under a ten-year digital rights agreement with Apple Inc. , and blackouts are not enforced. In March 2023, Bally Sports parent company Diamond Sports Group filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, while Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD) announced its intent to exit

784-441: A dedicated channel; in contrast to other sports channels, it was distributed free-to-air as a digital multicast television network , and eventually subsumed its syndication of individual telecasts. In 2017, the channel was relaunched as Stadium as part of a joint venture with Silver Chalice , which expanded its programming and added a focus on distribution via free ad-supported streaming television (FAST). Starting in 2023, amid

882-410: A direct-to-consumer basis. The service was priced at $ 29.99 per-month and $ 329.99 per-year, with the latter also including eight tickets to Red Sox games as a promotional offer. NESN 360 uses the same architecture previously used by NESNgo, and remains available at no additional charge to those who subscribe to NESN through a traditional television provider. Due to regional rights restrictions, the service

980-609: A group that shared programming and national TV rights. During the 1990s, some teams experimented with pay-per-view or premium television broadcasts of games, which were generally unpopular. The Portland Trail Blazers ran BlazerVision, which charged a fee for every game, and which blacked out NBA on TNT coverage of Trail Blazer playoff games for fans within 40 miles (64 km) of Portland. The Chicago Blackhawks broadcast games exclusively on Hawkvision between 1992 and 1995. As sports fans began to prefer watching their favorite teams on television rather than in person, RSNs became

1078-476: A joint-venture of the Boston Red Sox , Boston Bruins , and Storer Communications (the owner of WSBK-TV ). The new service which featured 90 Red Sox and 40 Bruins games during its first year was sold as a premium channel with prices ranging from $ 7.50 to $ 10 per month. A number of these games were previously aired on WSBK. In 1996, NESN became the New England affiliate of Fox Sports Net (FSN), carrying

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1176-660: A limited number of professional sports events. In 2015, ASN acquired regional rights to Real Salt Lake and D.C. United of Major League Soccer , with games aired on Sinclair stations in the teams' market area, as well as television rights to the newly established Arizona Bowl . In 2017, Sinclair announced that it would fold the multicast network component of ASN into a new joint venture with Silver Chalice called Stadium , which would combine ASN's broadcast distribution platforms with content from Silver Chalice's digital outlets 120 Sports and Campus Insiders . ASN-branded multicast programming continued on-air until September 6, when

1274-544: A manner similar to Sportsnet. These feeds are primarily used to broadcast regional NHL games, but may also be used to provide alternative and common national programming. 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. Prior to the launch of these channels, regional NHL games whose rights were held by TSN (which, at that point, consisted solely of

1372-525: A multi-year deal with the Western Athletic Conference to broadcast its games through ASN – marking the sixth conference to partner with the service. Sinclair also announced that it had reached syndication deals with stations in 67 markets where the company does not have a station in its portfolio to carry ASN's programming, expanding its total potential audience to 83 million viewers. On October 16, 2014, Jonathan B. LeCrone announced

1470-530: 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 and Raycom Sports were well known as syndicators of college sports on broadcast television, having previously held agreements with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Southeastern Conference (SEC). By the late-2000's. both packages began to wind down after ESPN acquired

1568-803: A package of games involving the Cape Cod Baseball League . For many years, NESN has aired several minor professional ice hockey games from the Providence Bruins (an AHL affiliate of the Bruins). From 2008 to 2014, NESN aired the New England Regional of the Little League World Series each August. Coverage ended after ESPN acquired the rights to the entirety of the regional tournaments. From November 2015 to March 2023, NESN aired

1666-511: A small number of subscribers in Manhattan in May 1969. 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 is Philadelphia 's PRISM which launched in 1976 offering coverage of three of

1764-899: A strategy of launching RSNs, particularly in markets where its stations have state-wide coverage. This strategy began with Arizona's Family Sports , which features Phoenix Suns and Mercury basketball, and auxiliary programming for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. It has since established similar networks, such as Peachtree Sports Network (which is carried on the digital channels of multiple Gray stations in Georgia), Matrix Midwest in St. Louis, Missouri (a rebranding of its MyNetworkTV subchannel), Rock Entertainment Sports Network in Ohio (in partnership with Dan Gilbert 's Rock Entertainment, owner of

1862-493: A subscription to MLB Extra Innings and/or NHL Center Ice . NESN.com generally contains sportswriting , with a minimum of video content, compiling general Boston team and national sports news, along with other sections involving professional wrestling , mixed martial arts , automotive, fantasy sports and sports betting . The site is affiliated with the Fox Sports website, and syndicates some content. The site's set up

1960-480: 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. 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. In the 21st century, the rise of cord-cutting has led to decreasing cable and satellite television subscriber numbers in

2058-431: Is NESN's streaming platform, allowing NESN subscribers to stream live and video on demand content (including classic games and game replays) from the network. It first launched in May 2017. On June 1, 2022, NESNgo was relaunched as NESN 360, an over-the-top streaming platform allowing viewers to subscribe to NESN as a standalone service. The service made NESN the first U.S. regional sports network to offer its content on

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2156-926: Is also a shareholder in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which owned Leafs Nation Network , a channel devoted entirely to the Toronto Maple Leafs and its farm team, the Toronto Marlies (and is restricted to the Leafs' broadcast territory). MLSE also operates NBA TV Canada , which is distributed nationally but has featured programming focused on the MLSE-owned Toronto Raptors and its NBA G League affiliate Raptors 905 . On August 25, 2014, The Sports Network (TSN), another Canadian sports channel, split its singular national feed into four regional feeds in

2254-428: Is centralized and local games are broadcast on TV in a team's local area. In 2023, Major League Soccer also switched to a centralized broadcasting model, with all games carried nationally via streaming. Viewership and advertising revenue on RSNs are highest during live broadcasts of professional and collegiate sporting events. These broadcasts are often the source content for out-of-market sports packages . During

2352-441: 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 separate Sportsnet One licence, Rogers also operates three regional overflow channels—Sportsnet Flames, Sportsnet Oilers, and Sportsnet Canucks—for Calgary Flames , Edmonton Oilers , and Vancouver Canucks games. Rogers

2450-571: Is in a focused manner that divides it into separate sections where different sports writers cover each scene. In this way, NESN reporters produce original content that develops in their field areas. Some reporters are full time exclusively to NESN.com while other stories are contributed by NESN reporters from other fields of NESN, such as broadcasting. The content and construction of the articles themselves vary drastically. Some provide in-depth analysis of current events happening with Boston teams, while others provide quick updates with videos. A majority of

2548-477: Is majority-owned by the Seattle Mariners . This deadline quietly 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 the 2023 regular season . In October 2023, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins (with NESN —a sister via

2646-608: Is mostly owned by the Seattle Mariners – under the AT&;T SportsNet banner on July 14, 2017. In September 2018, AT&TSN was transferred to the WarnerMedia News & Sports division . In February 2020, the New 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). In May 2021, it

2744-732: Is only available to users in New England. NESN+ , also styled as NESNPlus , is a companion channel to NESN that operates mostly in the event that two sports events NESN has the rights to are subject to scheduling conflicts. Originally, Comcast systems in the region utilized New England Cable News or CN8 to carry the NESNPlus broadcasts, while other systems placed NESNPlus on an otherwise unused or local public access channel. DirecTV added NESNPlus in both standard definition and high definition on April 11, 2009. Collegiate events, including Atlantic Coast Conference telecasts , Umass football and Hockey East telecasts, as well as NESN's coverage of

2842-600: Is the primary broadcaster of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins – serving as the exclusive home for all games that are not televised by a national network. NESN also carries minor league baseball games, regional college sports events, various outdoor and sports talk shows. The network has become synonymous with local sports in New England, and is considered a local institution. The New England Sports Network launched on April 4, 1984, originally operating as

2940-772: The 2014–15 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 to Quebecor Media 's TVA Sports , RDS and RDS2's coverage of the Canadiens and Senators are now restricted to parts of Eastern Ontario , Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Some telecasts (especially in U.S. college sports) are broadcast by ad-hoc syndicated packages, which can be picked up on

3038-807: The Big Ten Conference , featuring the Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes . On January 23, 2015, Sinclair announced that it had acquired regional television rights to Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer beginning in the 2015 season , with ASN handling production of the telecasts. KMYU and KUTV aired the games locally, and they were syndicated to Sinclair stations in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada as well as in Boise, Idaho . Stations in Arizona and New Mexico were able to bid for

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3136-621: The Cleveland Cavaliers ), and Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network (which will carry New Orleans Pelicans basketball beginning in the 2024–25 season, with WVUE-DT as flagship). Sportsnet (formerly known as CTV Sportsnet and Rogers Sportsnet) is owned by the Rogers Media division of Toronto -based Rogers Communications . Sportsnet carries all of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball games. Although it

3234-563: The Colonial Athletic Association , Big South Conference , Southern Conference , and the Patriot League . ASN's first broadcasts took place on August 30, 2014, featuring two football games involving Conference USA teams ( Old Dominion University vs. Hampton University and Florida International University hosting Bethune-Cookman University ). In September 2014, Sinclair reached a two-year deal with

3332-582: The Dallas Stars took its media rights to an in-house streaming platform. American Sports Network American Sports Network ( ASN ) was a sports brand owned by the U.S. television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group through its Sinclair Networks subsidiary. Formed in July 2014, the multicast network component of ASN produced broadcasts of sporting events that were aired primarily across stations owned by Sinclair (in particular, The CW and MyNetworkTV stations owned and/or operated by

3430-479: The Flyers and 76ers . Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the first CSN channel, launched on October 1, 1997. 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. Comcast's 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal allowed

3528-649: The Horizon League had entered into a deal with the American Sports Network to broadcast select games; subsequently on November 10, ASN entered into a broadcast contract with the Ohio Valley Conference . On December 2, 2014, ASN entered into the collegiate ice hockey field through an agreement that gave it the rights to air six Penn State Nittany Lions home games. ASN later added two other men's ice hockey contests from

3626-589: The International Motor Sports Association to syndicate broadcasts of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge series through ASN beginning that year, with a renewal option that could be exercised in 2016. Its first race broadcast on September 13, 2014, was shown on Sinclair stations in at least 36 markets, marking the first non-college sporting event to be syndicated by ASN. On September 29, 2014, Sinclair announced

3724-430: The 1990s, they have commonly been distributed through the expanded basic 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. National Football League games (outside of preseason games) are not shown on regional sports networks as its TV deal

3822-529: The 2016 season). For Red Sox game broadcasts, Dave O'Brien currently serves as play-by-play announcer, with Kevin Youkilis as his primary color commentator, and Jahmai Webster serving as the field reporter. Other former Red Sox players such as Lou Merloni , Will Middlebrooks , and Kevin Millar also contribute as color commentators. In 2021, NESN produced all Red Sox home games in 4K with HDR , making it

3920-631: The AT&T SportsNet closure by abandoning the RSN model entirely, in favour of a mixture of regional syndication via free-to-air television, and paid streaming services. After having opted out of its contract with the Arizona Coyotes (who signed with the E. W. Scripps Company 's newly-formed Scripps Sports division and would themselves leave Arizona the next year ), and losing the Phoenix Suns to Gray Television , Bally Sports Arizona shut down entirely in October 2023. For more than 20 years,

4018-408: The Boston Red Sox's Major League Baseball games since the network's initial spring training game broadcast upon its March 21, 1984, launch. NESN now carries full coverage of Red Sox games (with the exception of some games nationally broadcast on Fox and ESPN ) as well as in-depth pre-game and post-game shows . For its first two decades, NESN split coverage with broadcast television stations in

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4116-760: The Coaches vs. Cancer annual basketball event held at TD Garden . NESN airs several minor league baseball games from the Worcester Red Sox (a AAA affiliate of the Red Sox) each season, as well as Futures at Fenway, a doubleheader featuring the WooSox and the Portland Sea Dogs . Tom Caron handles the play-by-play with Bob Montgomery as color commentator. Futures at Fenway hasn't been played in 10 years since 2014. Since 2019, NESN has also aired

4214-551: The Colorado Rockies foregoing a new television deal and moving under MLB Local Media. Spectrum Sports is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks that are primarily owned and operated by Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016. In 2018, Sinclair relaunched its Reno MyNetworkTV station KAME-TV as Nevada Sports Net, with a focus on Nevada Wolf Pack college sports and Reno Aces baseball. It later acquired

4312-600: The D2 Game of the Week rights and televised NCAA Division II football and men's and women's basketball on their network during 2015–16. The D2 package was formerly on CBS Sports Network . ASN also acquired the rights to air the Arizona Bowl college football bowl game . During the 2016-17 season, ASN televised live events from the following NCAA Division I conferences: In addition to the above conferences, ASN acquired

4410-453: The Jets and Canadiens) were broadcast on special part-time channels exclusive to the team's television region. Bell Media also owns Réseau des sports (RDS) and RDS2 , 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

4508-672: The NCAA Division I ice hockey conferences, including the Big Ten , ECAC Hockey , Hockey East , National Collegiate Hockey Conference , and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association , to broadcast games as part of a Friday night package. In November 2015, it was announced that ASN had acquired broadcast rights to the inaugural Arizona Bowl . On December 18, 2015, D.C. United of Major League Soccer announced that Sinclair had acquired rights to

4606-500: The RSN business. This included AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, the broadcasting home of the Pittsburgh Penguins , which were purchased by FSG in late 2021. In August 2023, in a move predicted by sportswriters after the initial announcement, the Penguins announced that they would acquire the channel and relaunch it as SportsNet Pittsburgh in October 2023, with NESN operating the channel as a sister network. NESN has provided coverage of

4704-762: The Southland Conference announced that ASN would televise select matches from their conference beginning with the 2015 fall football season. The ASN package replaced the Southland Conference TV Network syndication package. In September 2015, ASN reached a deal with the Mid-American Conference , sub-licensed through ESPN , to broadcast selected games. In the 2015–16 academic season, ASN was scheduled to broadcast 10 football games, 10 men's basketball games, and 5 women's basketball games. ASN also reached deals with

4802-547: The U.S., which in turn has reduced the revenue that RSNs receive from television provider subscriber fees and advertising. These have resulted in an increasing erosion to the RSN market, and attempts to launch over-the-top (OTT) services at RSNs. These services require broadcasters to obtain in-market streaming rights to teams, and have a high cost due to RSNs usually being subsidized by subscribers that are not interested in sports. Major League Soccer , which previously broadcast most of its matches regionally on RSNs, switched to

4900-435: The articles, however, are purely factual and present interviews with players and coaches. Some articles also focus on new trade rumors or free agent pick ups. The primary subscriber and reader of NESN.com is male. NESN.com is the most recently added product that contributed to NESN being "the eighth-most valuable sports brand in the world in 2013." Regional sports network Some RSNs originated as premium channels. Since

4998-414: The city's major sports teams and movies. In 1976, Cablevision launched a new service providing coverage of Long Island sports (originally called Cablevision Sports 3). This channel would be renamed SportsChannel 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

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5096-547: The company (some of which had carried content from competing syndicated sports distributors ESPN Regional Television and Raycom Sports until ASN's launch), the latter especially the case for its stations that have primary affiliations with one of the Big Four networks ( ABC , NBC , CBS and Fox ) which would not pre-empt the higher-tier sports coverage provided by their network partners. Sinclair opened ASN up for distribution by other broadcast outlets interested in carrying

5194-480: The company upon the completion of the merger, but his successor Chris Licht would only oversee CNN. The merger was completed the following day. On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it would leave the RSN business, and informed that the networks' respective teams had until March 31 to reach an agreement to take their rights back or acquire the networks. Those teams with deals with Root Sports Northwest are not affected because that channel already

5292-682: The company, or, in some markets, on a digital subchannel of a Sinclair station), and syndicated to non-Sinclair stations and regional sports networks . The multicast network component of ASN primarily dealt in college sports from NCAA Division I conferences , including live football and basketball games from the Atlantic 10 Conference , Big South Conference , Colonial Athletic Association , Conference USA , Horizon League , Ivy League , Mid-American Conference , Ohio Valley Conference , Patriot League , Southern Conference , Southland Conference , and Western Athletic Conference , as well as

5390-469: The conference, including games distributed for national broadcast for and by Fox Sports Networks. In September 2003, NESN began producing Red Sox games in high definition . In April 2006, NESN launched a full-time HD feed, after having re-located its operations from Fenway Park to a newly-built studio in Watertown with expanded production capabilities. In 2013, NESN (through Fenway Sports Group) placed

5488-459: The country, but live games and other selected programs are blacked 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 , carries a monthly retransmission fee of $ 3.50 to $ 8 per subscriber, double to triple what they charged in 2012 and second only to the $ 9.42 rate ESPN charges. RSNs justify these high prices by citing demand for

5586-561: The dismantling of AT&T SportsNet and the Diamond Sports bankruptcy, multiple NBA and NHL teams have pivoted away from the pay television RSN model and returned to primarily carrying their games on free-to-air television via regional syndication, with supplemental distribution via paid OTT services. The NBA's Phoenix Suns signed a deal with Gray Television , and Utah Jazz signed with Sinclair Broadcast Group -owned station KJZZ-TV (which had formerly aired Jazz games while under

5684-405: The firm under local marketing agreements or similar pacts, which itself included stations owned by companies such as Cunningham Broadcasting , Deerfield Media , and Howard Stirk Holdings among others. These telecasts were not always scheduled to appear on a station's main digital subchannel nor on a fixed single station where Sinclair owned and/or managed more than one station. In addition to

5782-459: The first Bally Sports-related regional sports network to shut down. In October 2024, the networks were renamed again to FanDuel Sports Network, as part of an agreement with online gambling company FanDuel . Cable conglomerate Comcast began creating Comcast SportsNet (CSN) after their March 1996 purchase of a 66% stake in Philadelphia -based event organizer Spectacor , which owned

5880-595: The first provider to carry the national feed, initially on its systems in North and South Carolina . Bright House Networks added NESN National on its Michigan systems on November 1, 2010. Verizon Fios added it in New Jersey in December of that year. NESN National differs from the regular feed of NESN that is available nationally on DirecTV in which Red Sox and/or Bruins games are viewable outside of New England with

5978-741: 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. DirecTV Sports Networks would be acquired by AT&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

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6076-748: The home games of the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League . As of 2024, NESN became the official broadcast partner of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). In 2024, NESN and NESN+ also began televising a package of games involving the Hartford Yard Goats (a AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies ). NESN also airs various soccer and tennis matches. NESN 360 (formerly NESNgo )

6174-571: The joint venture company operated by News Corporation and Liberty Media, purchased a 40% interest in the Cablevision -owned SportsChannel group. As part of a rebranding effort, the collective branding of the networks – which eventually became "FSN (Region/City)" in 2004 – was extended to Fox Sports (Region/City) (also used from 1996 to 2000) with the start of the 2008 college football season. The FSN networks were acquired by Diamond Sports Group from The Walt Disney Company in 2019, as Disney

6272-419: The late Jerry Remy , was emotional following the announcement, calling the previous 15 years "an absolute pleasure [...] I've been very fortunate because I've worked with a lot of good people, and he's right at the top of the list." Fox Sports San Diego subsequently announced that Orsillo had been hired as the new play-by-play voice of the San Diego Padres , succeeding Dick Enberg (who would be retiring after

6370-457: The launch of its simulcast feed NESN HD. On August 25, 2015, NESN announced that Don Orsillo , a Red Sox announcer since 2001, would not return following the 2015 season, and that his replacement would be Dave O'Brien , who had been a Red Sox Radio Network voice since 2007. NESN's decision to replace Orsillo, a fan-favorite and Massachusetts native, was met with considerable outrage and disappointment by Red Sox fans. Orsillo's broadcast partner,

6468-404: The local rights to telecast the matches in their markets. On May 19, 2015, ASN announced that it had reached an agreement with Minor League Baseball (MiLB) to televise a weekly game during the 2015 season. ASN aired a weekly game live from different individual leagues on Sunday nights, and also aired the all-star games for the Florida State League and the Midwest League . On June 24, 2015,

6566-407: The local sports teams they carry, particularly those in Major League Baseball , the National Basketball Association and the National 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 as Charter Spectrum and Verizon FiOS have charged customers

6664-445: 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 "). Both packages ended when ESPN launched dedicated cable channels for both conferences. ESPN was originally intended to focus on sports in Connecticut , but chose to broadcast nationally when it debuted in 1979 when it

6762-455: The minor league Worcester Red Sox and NESN's coverage of the WNBA 's Connecticut Sun are often moved to NESN+ in the event of a conflict with NESN's Red Sox or Bruins coverage. NESN National is a separate feed of NESN for cable systems located outside of New England. It carries alternate programming during Red Sox and Bruins games, but does air the network's pre-game and post-game shows. Launched in September 2010, Time Warner Cable became

6860-466: The multicast network component of ASN would be re-launched later in the year as part of a joint venture with Silver Chalice (owner of Campus Insiders ) and its online sports video service 120 Sports , later revealed to be Stadium . The service was set to target both broadcast and digital platforms, with the linear service utilizing the syndication and broadcast network built out for ASN, and 120 Sports providing original studio and long-form programming to

6958-456: The network as well as the Boston Bruins and TD Garden , home of the Bruins and the Boston Celtics ). Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts , the network is primarily carried on cable providers throughout New England (except in Fairfield County, Connecticut , which is part of the greater New York City media market). NESN is also distributed nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and as NESN National via select cable providers. NESN

7056-677: The network formally transitioned on-air to Stadium. Sinclair Broadcast Group formally announced the launch of the American Sports Network on July 17, 2014; the service was led by Doron Gorshein, who joined the company in January 2014 in the role of chief operating officer of Sinclair Networks. ASN carried live broadcasts of mainly collegiate sporting events, along with ancillary programming focusing on colleges, their students and student-athletes. ASN's content aired primarily on Sinclair-owned-or-operated affiliates of The CW and MyNetworkTV or on secondary digital subchannels of other stations run by

7154-499: The network served as an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks and the American Sports Network , giving it access to collegiate sports events from the AHA , American Athletic Conference , Atlantic 10 , Big 12 , Big East , CAA , Conference USA , ECAC , Pac-12 , and Patriot League , among other conferences. Additional collegiate programming formerly carried by NESN includes Southern New Hampshire University athletics, UMass football , and

7252-593: The network's national sports and magazine programs; this lasted until 1999. In January 1998, then-FSN parent News Corporation acquired partial ownership of Cablevision -owned SportsChannel New England (and its sister networks), turning it into Fox Sports Net New England (now NBC Sports Boston). However, despite the name change Fox Sports New England was blocked from carrying any FSN programming due to NESN's existing affiliation agreement. Fox had hoped to negotiate an early termination of that agreement, but had to wait until it expired on December 31, 1999. NESN converted into

7350-467: The networks to be merged into its NBC 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. In May 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced that it would become a part of Liberty Media's entertainment unit, with some of

7448-532: The otherwise nationally distributed TSN 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, the New York Rangers and New York Knicks have long co-owned their RSN, MSG ; they also have purchased

7546-733: The ownership of then-owner Larry H. Miller ). Both the NHL's Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights signed with the E. W. Scripps Company 's newly-formed Scripps Sports division for the 2023–24 season. For the subsequent 2024–25 season, Scripps also signed with the Florida Panthers , and retained its association with the Utah Hockey Club (which acquired the Coyotes' hockey operations and relocated them to Salt Lake City ). The Seattle Kraken similarly made an agreement with Tegna Inc. and Amazon Prime Video , and

7644-461: The postgame show from its Watertown studios; it had previously been broadcast from its Fenway Park studio. NESN was a former affiliate of the ACC on Regional Sports Networks package, which included football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sporting events from all 15 ACC schools, including Boston College locally. These games have since been moved to The CW as of 2023. Through the late 2010’s,

7742-485: The preceding game and often have a team member of the Red Sox on hand to get their take on the game. This hour of coverage also focuses on the game to be played next on the preseason/seasonal game schedule, as well as news from the league. The post-game is usually not covered if the Red Sox play a game held on the west coast ; NESN Sports Today immediately follows the game in those instances. Since 2006, NESN has broadcast

7840-559: The primary RSN in many markets was owned by Fox Sports . Fox Sports Networks, which launched on November 1, 1996, as Fox Sports Net, was created through former parent News Corporation 's October 1995 purchase of a 50% equity stake in Liberty Media -owned Prime Sports Networks , co-founded in 1988 by Bill Daniels and Liberty's then-sister company Tele-Communications Inc. The group expanded further in June 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks,

7938-422: 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 as Cox Cable 's YurView California . The broadcasts maintain team-contracted staff, such as commentators. In July 2023, MLB Local Media took over the rights to the Arizona Diamondbacks , after Diamond was granted a motion to decline its contract with

8036-497: The regional sports market by divesting its AT&T SportsNet channels. Major League Baseball established a local media department prior to the 2023 season, using resources from MLB Network , to produce telecasts for teams whose RSNs would become unable to broadcast their teams' games. In May 2023, when the rights to the San Diego Padres reverted to the team after Diamond missed a payment, MLB Local Media took over

8134-447: 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 of sports radio programs. RSNs also rerun sports events from the recent and distant past. Some RSNs air infomercials . In the United States, DirecTV offers all regional sports networks to all subscribers across

8232-488: The rights to University of Massachusetts Minutemen football games for the 2016 season, and retained the rights to air the Arizona Bowl college football bowl game . ASN also had the rights to the D2 Game of the Week and televised NCAA Division II football and men's and women's basketball on their network during 2016-17. American Sports Network telecasts were aired primarily on stations owned or managed by Sinclair Broadcast Group ; this included stations operated by

8330-471: The rights to the Golden Knights' syndication package with Scripps Sports. Some regional sports networks have been formed as digital multicast television networks . BEK Communications Cooperative operates BEK Sports, an RSN focusing on North Dakota high school sports, across several stations in the state. In 2023, Gray Television (the current owner of sports syndicator Raycom Sports ) began

8428-807: The rights to the Rangers' local rivals, the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils . MSG also owns the rights to the Buffalo Sabres , but the Sabres produce their own games for MSG Western New York , a separate channel managed by MSG and Pegula Sports and Entertainment , owners of the Sabres. The first regional sports network is considered to be the Madison Square Garden Network . An early unnamed version of that network started broadcasting Knicks and Rangers to

8526-401: The second team (behind the Toronto Blue Jays and Sportsnet ), and first U.S. team, to produce their home games in 4K. Following each game telecast, NESN airs W.B. Mason 's Extra Innings and Red Sox Final , in which Tom Caron and one or more of the studio analysts from the pre-game show deliver a wrap-up of that night's game from the studio. The team presents highlights and statistics from

8624-463: The service's content, and announced plans to expand ASN onto digital platforms. ASN planned to initially broadcast college football , men's and women's college basketball , women's college soccer, and college baseball events, beginning with the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS and FCS football seasons . Prior to the service's formal launch, Sinclair reached broadcast rights agreements with five NCAA Division I conferences, including Conference USA ,

8722-399: The set as a secondary studio, using it for its newscasts while its main studio was being renovated, and originating Sinclair sister station WGFL 's newscasts until 2023. During the 2014–15 season, ASN televised live events from the following NCAA Division I conferences: During the 2015–16 season, ASN televised live events from the following NCAA Division I conferences: ASN also acquired

8820-460: The team's market territory, with an increasing number of games moving to NESN. Since 2006, NESN is the exclusive home of all Red Sox games that are not nationally televised, using the slogan "One Nation, One Network" to signify this. In 2006, NESN became the first regional sports network to broadcast all Major League Baseball games in high definition (however, spring training games continued to be broadcast in standard definition until 2012), through

8918-546: The team's parent Fenway Sports Group —assuming day-to-day operations) and renamed to SportsNet Pittsburgh. The Pirates later bought a stake in the network as well. The Houston Astros and Rockets acquired WBD's shares in AT&;T SportsNet Southwest and rebranded it as Space City Home Network . AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain closed in October 2023, with the Utah Jazz moving to Sinclair Broadcast Group 's KJZZ-TV , and

9016-670: The team. The Colorado Rockies also joined MLB Local Media for the 2024 season amid the closure of AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain . In October 2024, MLB Local Media announced that it would begin producing and distributing broadcasts for the Cleveland Guardians , Milwaukee Brewers , and Minnesota Twins beginning in the 2025 season; it also announced that the Texas Rangers would end their relationship with Bally Sports Southwest and explore local television options for 2025 and beyond. Some NHL and NBA teams handled

9114-645: The team. ASN-produced coverage was aired by News Channel 8 and WJLA-TV . Matches were also syndicated to digital subchannels of WUTB Baltimore , WRLH Richmond , WTVZ Norfolk , and WSET Roanoke . On January 8, 2016, Sinclair announced a dedicated American Sports Network channel, offered as an affiliation for digital subchannels of stations in Baltimore, Charleston, Cincinnati, Columbus, Greensboro, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Raleigh-Durham. The service launched on January 11, 2016. On April 13, 2017, Sinclair officially announced that

9212-415: The venture. On June 1, 2017, it was reported that Stadium would officially launch around late-July 2017. After a soft launch in July 2017, the service officially launched on August 24, with ASN's over-the-air network formally joining Stadium on September 6. Stadium's studio programming is produced from Chicago ; Sinclair's West Palm Beach CBS affiliate WPEC-TV shared facilities with ASN, and retained

9310-625: Was a successor to the previous Raycom Sports-produced SEC package. In 2014, television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group established its own sports syndicator known as the American Sports Network (ASN), primarily syndicating broadcasts of college football and basketball from mid-major conferences (some of which were previously associated with ESPN Plus) to stations that it owns and operates. In 2015, Sinclair also acquired regional rights to Major League Soccer 's Real Salt Lake , with ASN handling production and distribution of team telecasts within its designated market. ASN later began to operate

9408-409: Was announced that AT&T would instead divest the entirety of WarnerMedia, and contribute it into a joint venture with Discovery Inc. , forming a new company later announced as Warner Bros. Discovery . 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

9506-538: 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. ESPN formerly served as a college sports syndicator via ESPN Regional Television —formerly branded on-air as ESPN Plus, but later using conference-oriented brands such as SEC Network (not to be confused with the SEC Network cable channel which succeeded it), and Big East Network. The SEC Network package

9604-411: Was required to divest them by U.S. Department of Justice as a condition of their own acquisition of 21st Century Fox . The channel group was renamed Bally Sports on March 31, 2021, as part of a naming rights agreement with casino operator Bally'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

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