In March, 2020, YouTube TV and Sinclair Broadcast Group reached a new carriage agreement covering most of the Fox regional sports networks (RSNs). These RSNs broadcast the games of about half of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. The deal between Google and Sinclair kept 19 of the 21 Sinclair-owned Fox RSNs on the streaming provider. Under the new agreement with Sinclair, YouTube TV significantly reduced the market footprint in the home markets of the 19 Fox RSNs that are available, eliminating access to home team broadcasts for millions of subscribers nationwide.

That means that if you are a YouTube TV subscriber who previously had any of the following Fox-branded RSNs as part of your basic tier subscription, and lived outside the primary metro areas, you likely lost access to the RSN carrying your regional sports teams.* These RSNs include: 

• Fox Sports Arizona,
• Fox Sports Carolinas,
• Fox Sports Detroit,
• Fox Sports Florida,
• Fox Sports Indiana,
• Fox Sports Kansas City,
• Fox Sports Midwest,
• Fox Sports New Orleans,
• Fox Sports North,
• Fox Sports Ohio,
• Fox Sportstime Ohio,
• Fox Sports Oklahoma,
• Fox Sports Prime Ticket (L.A.),
• Fox Sports San Diego,
• Fox Sports South,
• Fox Sports Southeast,
• Fox Sports Southwest,
• Fox Sports Sun,
• Fox Sports Tennessee,
• Fox Sports Wisconsin.

*YouTube says customers can check which channels are available in their ZIP code on its site at tv.youtube.com.

This also means that because you live in that Fox Sports RSNs designated market area - considered the home market for your team - you are blacked out of team broadcasts on other networks such as MLB Network, ESPN and Fox. You are also prevented from accessing in-market broadcasts if you purchase an MLB.TV package. You won't be able to watch your home MLB team unless you terminate service with YouTube TV and switch to another provider, but the options are limited.

The Fox Sports RSNs also continue to be unavailable on Sling, Dish Network, and fuboTV, which limits options for sports fans looking to watch their games through streaming services rather than cable or satellite providers. Sinclair is currently touting Hulu Live TV and AT&T TV NOW as the other two streaming platforms where viewers can find the Fox RSNs.

That’s more than a quarter of all households in the United States potentially affected by lack of access to Fox RSN programming, blackouts or higher prices.

Because of the unusual circumstances surround the COVID-19 Pandemic and the delay of the start of the 2020 MLB regular season, many YouTube TV subscribers may not have realized the impact this new agreement with Sinclair would have on viewing once baseball resumed. With in-person attendance not an option, the lack of access to these networks creates a hardship for subscribers and long-time baseball fans across the nation. 

If YouTube TV's argument is that subscribers are unwilling to pay more for these channels, that didn't affect the provider's negotiations with ViacomCBS in a May, 2020 deal that resulted in the addition of 14 ViacomCBS networks and a 30 percent increase in the monthly subscription rate ($64.99) in June, 2020.

What Can I Do To Get My Home Teams Back?

Submit feedback to YouTube TV to let them know how important this is to you!

• Open the YouTube TV app or visit YouTube TV on a web browser.
• Select your Profile Picture and select Send Feedback.

Make your feelings known to YouTube TV on Twitter by interacting with and tagging YouTubeTV, TeamYouTube, and responding to posts about lack of TV access to your home MLB teams.

Sign this petition to urge YouTube TV to do the following:

• Revisit the deal negotiated with Sinclair Broadcast Group for distribution/carriage of the Fox RSNs and come to an agreement that gives ALL subscribers access to their home teams; or,
• At the very least, if YouTube TV and Sinclair are unwilling to come to financial terms on a deal that restores these RSNs to the provider's basic tier, consider providing the Fox RSNs as a premier-tier add-on that subscribers would pay an additional monthly fee to access.