Sports Blackouts Explained

Blackouts are determined by the right to broadcast a given game in a given area, and defined by sports leagues or by their rights holders, such as ESPN and TNT.

Blackouts and National Rights
If a national broadcasting service, such as ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX has national rights to broadcast an NBA, NHL^® or Major League Baseball^® game, customers may not be able to receive that game, depending on their local market. If a service that DIRECTV carries, such as ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS or USA Network, has national rights, subscribers will be able to receive it through their programming package (although some of these games are also subject to blackouts). Regional sports networks do not obtain national broadcast rights.

Blackouts and Local Rights
If a local off–air broadcast channel (not ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX) or local cable system has rights to broadcast a game in a certain region, customers in that area will be unable to receive that game through their DIRECTV^® subscription(s). If a regional sports network DIRECTV carries has local rights to broadcast a game, customers within the region can receive that game through any DIRECTV^® CHOICE or SPORTS Pack subscription, which includes customers' local regional sports network(s). Customers outside of the region will receive that game through the appropriate out–of–market pro sports subscription.

Sports Subject to Blackouts
The following sports subscriptions are subject to blackouts:

NFL SUNDAY TICKET^™
NBA LEAGUE PASS
NHL^® CENTER ICE^®
ESPN FULL COURT
ESPN GamePlan
MLB EXTRA INNINGSS
MLS DIRECT KICK^™
MEGA MARCH MADNESS^™