YouTube TV, Google’s internet pay-TV service, said it will drop the Fox regional sports networks and the YES Network from customer lineups this Saturday, Feb. 29 citing an impasse in negotiations with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the RSNs.
“We purchase rights from Sinclair to distribute content to you,” the YouTube TV account said in a post on Twitter. “Despite our best efforts, we’ve been unable to reach an agreement with Sinclair. As a result, we will no longer offer Fox Regional Sports Networks, including YES Network, beginning February 29th.”
As part of its Twitter thread, YouTube TV also said, “We do not take this decision lightly. This is a reflection of the rising cost of sports content.” It didn’t give any indication of passing the savings on to customers of the $50 per-month service, however.
In a statement, Sinclair spokesman Ronn Torossian said the offering YouTube “the best terms under which their competitors carry our regional sports networks. Unfortunately, they alone decided to drop these channels citing ‘rising costs’ despite our offer to actually lower the fees they pay us.” Sinclair also mentioned that it offered YouTube an extension but hadn’t heard back from the company about it. Now that extension is in place. “We’ll be sure to share an update as soon we we have more info on a potential timeline,” YouTube said last night.
Of course, keeping all of that programming available for sports fans might mean a higher monthly subscription for everyone in the near future. YouTube TV currently costs $49.99 per month.
