Regional Sports: Find Your Local Sports Team on DIRECTV

For sports fans, tuning in to your team used to be simple. In most cases, if you wanted to watch your local MLB, NBA or NHL team, you’d just flip to your regional sports network (RSN) through your cable or satellite provider, and the game would be there — no surprises.

More often than not, a single RSN featured all three (or more) of the most popular MLB, NBA or NHL teams in that region, giving fans a common destination.

That is no longer the case.

The traditional regional sports industry has endured massive-and ongoing- changes in recent years.Today’s local sports landscape is far more fragmented and still extremely fluid.

A game that once lived on a single RSN may now appear across streaming services like Apple TV+, Peacock, HBO Max or a direct-to-consumer app like ESPN Unlimited or one or more over-the-air  broadcast stations, depending on where you live. In many cases, a decades long “home” for the top local teams may no longer exist — or at least has a new name.

FOX Sports regional networks evolved into Bally Sports and soon after into FanDuel Sports amid bankruptcy proceedings and ownership restructuring.

But even that proved temporary, as the 20 or so FanDuel Sports Networks began losing or sometimes abandoning their teams in favor of local broadcasts, streaming, and team owned distribution models over the last few seasons. Other RSNs similarly began breaking down. Just recently, the FanDuel regional sports networks replaced all of their prior local teams with a single national service and are expected to end all transmissions before the 2026-27 NBA and NHL seasons begin in the fall. While the nine MLB teams leaving FanDuel RSNs have found new homes on DIRECTV, four of the seven NHL teams and all 13 NBA teams leaving FanDuel will search for new services this summer.

At the same time, sports viewers continue to change how and where they want to watch. Cord-cutting, streaming subscriptions, mobile viewing and direct-to-consumer services have reshaped how local sports are delivered — and fans are often left navigating a confusing mix of channels, apps, blackout restrictions and streaming alternatives just to follow their teams.

Fans are loyal to a team not to channels, and amid all of these ongoing changes and confusion, the one enduring constant is deep loyalty – and regrettably, now frustration – over the urgent need to avoid missing the epic homerun, slam dunk or bar-down snipe. 

In this guide, we’ll break down how regional sports fit into the modern sports media landscape, how team specific channels or local streaming services are changing the industry, and the different ways fans can watch local sports today.

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What Is a Regional Sports Network (RSN)?

A regional sports network (RSN) is typically a 24/7 sports-focused TV channel that televises live games and team-related programming across its participating teams’ league-mandated home territories. For decades, RSNs served as the primary local home for each regions most popular MLB, NBA and NHL teams, giving fans access to regular season games, pregame and postgame coverage, analysis, classic games and other round-the-clock team-focused content. The spring and summer months featured the local MLB team, while the fall and winter months were shared by the NBA or NHL franchises.

Fans obtained their RSNs through cable and satellite providers and teams generated local revenues to attract players using a subscription-based model that relied heavily on carriage fees paid by the distributors, who in turn passed on the fees to each regional customer in order to have the RSN channel in their TV package subscription. 

Why has the RSN Industry Changed?

Two key reasons. Live sports became far more expensive, leading many customers to want to stop paying high prices for teams or games they no longer cared to watch. That created a paradox for providers who wanted to keep diehard fans happy, while trying to add more choice, control and value for casual fans or people with entirely different interests. Fans increasingly expected greater flexibility in how they watched games – including mobile access, standalone streaming subscriptions and direct-to-consumer viewing options that did not require a cable or satellite TV package.

As cord-cutting accelerated, and streaming options changed viewer habits, a huge financial pressure was began weighing on the traditional RSN model, which continues to buckle. Teams, leagues and media companies have since started exploring new ways to deliver local sports directly to fans through streaming services, team specific networks and a combination of over-the-air broadcasts.

Types of Local Sports Channels

Here’s a brief overview on the types of services that may air local sports in 2026.

Traditional RSNs

Despite major changes across the local sports industry, traditional Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) are still the primary local TV homes for many MLB, NBA and NHL teams. Sometimes, RSNs are owned by local distributors like NBC Sports and Spectrum SportsNet, by the teams themselves, such as Angels Broadcast Television and oftentimes a combination of both.

Team Specific Channels and Streaming Apps

As FanDuel and several other RSNs began to collapse, leagues like MLB began stopping their local teams by aggregating their rights into new league operated streaming services and linear channels. On Opening Day 2026, MLB added nine new channels, each comprising a single team’s pregame, post-game and in-game action, which stops transmitting until the next telecast. 

Other former FanDuel teams, such as the Atlanta Braves or Texas Rangers, created their own RSNs, such as the new BravesVision or Rangers Sports Network, while others like the Los Angeles Angels bought out their old FanDuel partners and continued airing their games under a new name. In one unique situation, Detroit’s Ilitch family owns both the MLB Tigers and the NHL Red Wings. MLB is producing and operating the new Detroit SportsNet for the Tigers and the Red Wings are hitching a ride for the coming 2026-27 season.

Unlike traditional RSNs, these networks often use hybrid distribution models that combine cable and satellite carriage with streaming access and local broadcast partnerships.This approach gives teams greater flexibility in how they reach fans across both traditional television and digital platforms Depending on whether it’s a team or league operated service, these alternatives enable their owners to exert greater influence over television and streaming rights, advertising, production quality and relationships with fans.

Over-the-Air Local Sports Broadcasts

Some teams have shifted local games to over-the-air (OTA) broadcast stations via digital antennas. This model can help teams expand their advertising reach within their home markets while giving fans another way to watch games without a cable subscription.

In many cities, OTA broadcasts are paired with team-controlled local sports channels networks or streaming platforms through simulcast agreements. And in some cases, such as Gray Broadcasting Gulf Coast Sports Network or Sinclair’s Rip City Network, a local broadcaster will daisy-chain several broadcast stations in the team’s home territory to televise games.

Direct-to-Consumer Sports Streaming

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) sports streaming services allow fans to watch local games through standalone apps or streaming subscriptions. While most are paid, some like Victory+, are subsidized by advertising revenues.

Depending on the market, D2C access may be offered directly by the teams involved, league operated streaming platforms or even regional sports networks.

Local Sports Channels Available on DIRECTV

While the fragmented sports broadcasting landscape is more complicated than ever, DIRECTV makes it easy for fans to keep up with their local teams. Below is the full list of all channels and networks airing local sports available on DIRECTV:

Some local broadcast affiliates and channel numbers vary by market and availability.

DIRECTV, a longtime industry leader renowned for sports, continues to offer one of the most comprehensive local sports lineups available, bringing together traditional RSNs, team channels, local broadcast access and sports streaming options in one place. Whether you’re following your hometown MLB club, NBA team or NHL franchise, DIRECTV remains committed to helping fans stay connected to the live games, rivalries and moments that matter most.

As the future of local sports distribution continues to evolve, DIRECTV will continue evolving alongside it — giving fans more ways to watch their teams at home and on the go.

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