News

DirecTV’s MySports Adds RSNs in 18 Markets, Including Chicago – Sportico

admin March 13, 2025

                        By  <a class="c-link  lrv-a-unstyle-link" href="https://www.sportico.com/author/jason-clinkscales/"             >   Jason Clinkscales</a>                       <br>Reporter/Editor, Breaking News<br>  Ahead of <a  href="https://www.sportico.com/t/mlb/"  id="auto-tag_mlb_1"  data-tag="mlb"  >MLB</a>&rsquo;s Opening Day, DirectTV has officially added <a  href="https://www.sportico.com/t/regional-sports-networks/"  id="auto-tag_regional-sports-networks_1"  data-tag="regional-sports-networks"  >regional sports networks</a> to its MySports skinny bundle in 18 markets via its MyHome Team add-on.<br>    Most of these areas are covered by the FanDuel Sports Network, the Chicago Sports Network (CHGO), the <a  href="https://www.sportico.com/t/chicago-cubs/"  id="auto-tag_chicago-cubs_1"  data-tag="chicago-cubs"  >Chicago Cubs</a>&rsquo; Marquee Sports Network and Altitude Sports in Colorado.<br>    MyHome Team isn&rsquo;t only alluring for baseball fans but also basketball and hockey fans; several NBA and NHL teams in these markets are currently in the hunt for the playoffs in their respective leagues. The first-round postseason series for both the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs air on RSNs as well as national channels, giving local fans a choice of team coverage.  <br>    In total, these RSNs carry games for 12 MLB teams, 15 NBA and 10 NHL franchises.    <div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-1">                     <div class="adma boomerang" data-device="Desktop" data-width="300">                  <div style="min-width:300px;min-height:275px;"     class="pmc-adm-boomerang-pub-div ad-text"   data-priority="10" >    <div id="gpt-sprt-dsk-tab-midarticle-uid0"      class="adw-300 adh-250" data-is-adhesion-ad="">         <script type="application/javascript">

        blogherads.adq.push(function () {
                            blogherads
                .defineSlot( 'medrec', 'gpt-sprt-dsk-tab-midarticle-uid0' )
                            .setTargeting( 'pos', ["mid-article1","btf","mid","mid-articleX"] )

.setTargeting( ‘viewable’, ‘yes’ )
.setSubAdUnitPath(“ros/mid-article”)
.addSize([[300,250],[620,366]])
.setClsOptimization(“minsize”)
;
});

MySports and similar bundles for news, entertainment and Spanish-language TV have exceeded company expectations for the first 60 days, according to Jon Greer, DirecTV’s head of communications and community.
“We designed these [bundles] to reach an entirely new market, and a little bit more [direct-to-consumer] friendly price points,” Greer said in a phone interview. “What we’ve seen in our sales and sign-up flow is that we are doing just that. We’re hitting a new market without slowing down the growth of the DirecTV signature packages.”
That new market, Greer said, is a mix of those who never relied on traditional cable and satellite companies (cord-nevers) and those who want to lower their home entertainment costs (cord-shavers).
“Maybe some who are had DirecTV before and are considering, ‘OK, what does this look like to come back?’” Greer said. “Or maybe they’ve tried other virtual multi-video distributors and seen that their experience and their interface isn’t as robust as ours, particularly for a sports fan.”
In January, the satcaster announced the launch of MySports, a bundle of select national broadcast and cable channels, FAST channels and networks produced by sports leagues and college conferences. The offering was initially available in 24 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, the Bay Area and more. However, by the end of January, MySports was available in 122 of the 210 Nielsen DMAs, including all top 50.
At launch, MySports, like a competing product from Comcast, lacked RSNs because of the high costs those channels carried for customers. The initial bundle still works for more casual sports fans who watch nationally televised games, but most games are shown on local cable channels and, increasingly, local broadcast affiliates, a tricky proposition for die-hard fans of leagues outside of the NFL.

DirecTV said regional sports channels would be an add-on to MySports later this year. According to multiple media reports in February, it targeted March for their availability, though it did not specify which markets.
Greer said that MyHome Team’s $19.99 add-on monthly fee is on par with competing video operators.
MySports launched less than a week after the much-hyped Venu Sports was terminated before its planned fall launch. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox chose not to move forward with the service after Fubo settled its antitrust lawsuit against the three media giants on Jan. 10. Disney subsequently announced that it was going to invest in Fubo and eventually merge it with the Hulu + Live TV service.
DirecTV said it had been in talks with Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery about its planned bundle long before Venu Sports was shuttered.
Before last month’s Super Bowl and Daytona 500, DirecTV brought access to Fox affiliates in 65 separate markets, capturing all 187 markets where it carries the channel. MySports also has access to all NBC affiliates in DirecTV’s footprint, and the company remains in discussions with Disney and Paramount to carry all their respective ABC and CBS affiliates.
Greer said that the skinny bundles have delivered some relief for DirecTV as cable and satellite operators continue to feel the pressure of subscriber declines. “What this does is it gives DirecTV a position here to where we can balance out any declines in the industry, actually start to flatten the curve and eventually bend that back up as we drive the take rate of the genre packs,” Greer said.
At the end of 3Q 2024, DirecTV and Dish combined for 12.59 million subscribers, compared to 31.63 million among cable operators. The total of all bundled pay-TV subscribers, except for streaming multi-video services such as Fubo and DirecTV Stream, is 48.18 million.
Satellite companies lost 4.77 million customers in the past two years, a 27% drop against the 17.36 million subs they had at the end of Q3 2022. In the same period, cable operators lost 7.91 million subs, down 20%. Cable operators continue to have more penetration across the country, however, with 25% of all U.S. TV households versus just 10% for DirecTV/Dish.
Get our latest stories in the feed of your favorite networks
We want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our anonymous form.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Sportico is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Sportico Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Related

Leave a ReplyCancel reply