As you know, the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics and Washington Capitals are all owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment. And Monumental owns its own RSN, Monumental Sports Network. Virtually every traditional cable provider like Verizon FiOS and Comcast offer Monumental Sports Network in their packages, which allow Wizards, Mystics and Capitals fans the opportunity to […]
As you know, the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics and Washington Capitals are all owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment. And Monumental owns its own RSN, Monumental Sports Network. Virtually every traditional cable provider like Verizon FiOS and Comcast offer Monumental Sports Network in their packages, which allow Wizards, Mystics and Capitals fans the opportunity to air their games in front of D.C. sports fans.
However, Monumental Sports Network, which is now a standalone RSN, is at an impasse with virtual pay-TV providers like YouTube TV and Hulu. Both providers do not intend to stream Monumental Sports Network once their current contracts end. In short, YouTube TV and Hulu want to move from Monumental Sports Network because it is, from the providers’ eyes, not cost effective, according to Sara Fischer of Axios.
If Monumental Sports Network is no longer on YouTube TV and/or Hulu, that means people who cut the cord from traditional television, myself included, will not be able to watch Wizards games and Capitals games with their seasons about to start.
Monumental has put out a statement regarding recent statements made by YouTube TV, which claimed that few people watch programs on Monumental Sports Network.
It’s unclear what would happen if Monumental Sports Network has fewer providers to air their local NBA, NHL and WNBA teams’ games. But Troy Haliburton has a piece that states that this possible blackout isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a changing media environment.
The Capitals are one of the NHL’s top teams, so they are one of the regularly featured teams on the league’s national partners. They will have 18 games on TNT, ESPN and ABC. Fans won’t be shut out entirely if they use just YouTube TV or Hulu. However, the Wizards do not have any nationally televised games on TNT, NBC or ESPN. They have two nationally streamed games including a game on Peacock against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 10 and on Prime Video against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 29. But without Peacock and Prime Video, if you have YouTube TV or Hulu, you will have to go find your local sports bar or you are SOL.
For those of you in Virginia, SOL probably means Standards of Learning assessments in public schools. But in this case, I meant to say that SOL means shit out of luck.
Anyway, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Category: General Sports
