$23 a month for Bally Sports North? It could happen, per report
Credit: Bally Sports North
Bally Sports North, formerly known as Fox Sports North, remains a difficult-to-obtain channel for thousands of Minnesota sports fans who have cut the cord and refused to move to a Sinclair Broadcasting-owned service. But the opportunity to get a standalone product that offers the regional sports network appears to be in the works.
According to the New York Post, Sinclair is attempting to raise $250 million to help launch a sports-specific app that would serve customers in the 21 regional sports networks in which it operates, including right here in Minnesota.
Per the report, the app would give people in the Bally Sports North region access to all of its sports content, including the Minnesota Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Lynx and United FC – and it could be priced at $23 a month.
That begs the question: Is that too much for one channel? It'll be up to each customer to decide if the app comes to life, though there are other ways to get Bally Sports North and a boatload of other channels for about the same price.
Take AT&T Now as an example. For $80 a month, a customer receives a solid level of local and cable channels (including HBO), Bally Sports North and HBO Max.
The catch is that AT&T Now subscribers can be streaming on up to three devices simultaneously, so the obvious workaround is to split the $80/month three ways with family or friends, thus getting up to three households everything mentioned above for about $27/month each. We're not endorsing cheating the system, but it's possible
Since 2019, YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, fuboTV, Sling and DISH have all dropped Sinclair-owned regional sports channels
Anyway, we're a long way out from a Bally Sports Regional Network app being introduced, as the New York Post says Sinclair's goal is to launch the service in time for the 2022 MLB season. If that's the case, it would mean another season without Bally Sports North for select Timberwolves, Wild and Loons fans, not to mention the remainder of the ongoing Twins and Lynx seasons.
