AT&T SportsNet

AT&T SportsNet (ATTSN) is the name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by AT&T Sports Networks, LLC (formerly Liberty Sports Holdings and DirecTV Sports Networks, LLC), a subsidiary of WarnerMedia News & Sports, which in turn is a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. Each of the networks carry regional broadcasts of sporting events from various professional, collegiate and high school sports teams (with broadcasts typically exclusive to each individual network, although some are shown on more than one AT&T-branded network within a particular team's designated market area).

"Root Sports" redirects here. For the channel in Seattle, Washington, see Root Sports Northwest.
AT&T SportsNet
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaNationwide (through regional affiliates)
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington, U.S.
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format720p (HDTV)
480i (SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerAT&T Sports Networks, LLC
(WarnerMedia News & Sports)
Sister channels
History
LaunchedApril 1, 2011 (2011-04-01)
Former namesRoot Sports (2011–2017)
Links
WebsiteOfficial website
Availability
Cable
Available on some U.S. cable systemsConsult your local cable provider or program listings source for channel availability
Verizon FiOSConsult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Satellite
DirecTVConsult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
Dish NetworkConsult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability
IPTV
AT&T U-verseConsult channel lineup or program listings source for channel availability

In addition to carrying team and conference-related magazine, analysis and discussion programs exclusive to each region, most of the networks (with the current exception of AT&T SportsNet Southwest) also broadcast nationally distributed sports events, documentary and entertainment programs through a programming agreement with Fox Sports Networks (FSN), a remnant of their former ownership under their previous corporate parents.

While previously operating under the FSN name, these four networks relaunched under the brand Root Sports on April 1, 2011, coinciding with the start of the Major League Baseball regular season. On July 14, 2017, following the acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T, the networks (besides Root Sports Northwest as it is majority-owned by the Seattle Mariners and minority-owned by AT&T) were re-branded under the name AT&T SportsNet, coinciding with the second half of the 2017 Major League Baseball season. Collectively, the networks serve 13 million cable and satellite subscribers in 22 states.[1] AT&T SportsNet master control operations are based in Atlanta, Georgia.

History

On December 22, 2006, Liberty Media acquired four Fox Sports regional networks – FSN Utah, FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest and FSN Rocky Mountain – as part of a deal with News Corporation, which exchanged the networks and its controlling 38.5% ownership interest in satellite provider DirecTV for US$550 million in cash and stock, in exchange for the 16.3% stake in News Corporation that had been owned by Liberty.[2][3] These three FSN affiliates became part of the Liberty Entertainment division, which also owned a stake in the Game Show Network.

On May 4, 2009, DirecTV Group Inc. announced it would become a part of Liberty Entertainment, and spin off certain properties into a separate company under the DirecTV name, in a deal in which Liberty would increase its share in DirecTV from a minority 48% to a controlling 54%, while Liberty owner John Malone and his family would own a 24% interest. DirecTV would then operate the four acquired FSN-affiliated networks through DirecTV Sports Networks,[4] a new division formed on November 19, 2009, upon the spin-off's completion.[5][6]

In December 2010, DirecTV announced that it would rebrand its FSN affiliates collectively under the "Root Sports" brand. The new brand was created to emphasize connections between the network and fans who passionately support (or "root" for) their local teams. The networks would, according to Mark Shuken, president and chief executive officer of DirecTV Sports Networks at the time, have a "mindset" that "enables us to go from simply covering teams and games to providing an immersive experience as a fan and for the fan."[7] The introduction of Root Sports was also intended to signify a form of independence from FSN; however, the Root Sports networks will maintain their current affiliations with the group through a programming agreement.[8][9] The Root Sports brand was phased in on the networks during the first quarter of 2011, and officially replaced the channels' FSN branding (FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest, FSN Rocky Mountain and FSN Utah) on April 1, 2011. The launch of Root Sports coincided with the opening weekend of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, as Root Sports holds broadcast rights for all of the MLB teams in their respective regions.[7]

On August 6, 2014, DirecTV and AT&T (which was in the process of acquiring DirecTV) acquired Comcast SportsNet Houston – which had earlier been granted a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection placement through an involuntary petition filed by Comcast and NBCUniversal in September 2013[10] – as a 60/40 joint venture (with DirecTV as majority owner). The network was subsequently rebranded as Root Sports Southwest on November 17, 2014,[11][12][13][14] becoming the first Root Sports network to not be a rebranded Fox Sports Networks affiliate.

In April 2016, following the completion of the acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T, DirecTV Sports Networks rebranded under the AT&T name as AT&T Sports Networks. Following this announcement, the channels began to downplay the Root Sports brand by replacing their logo bugs with an AT&T Sports Networks logo, restricting the Root Sports brand to station identification only.[15] Three of the channels were re-branded as AT&T SportsNet on July 14, 2017, introducing new logos and on-air graphics. Root Sports Northwest adopted the new AT&T SportsNet graphics,[16] but remains under the Root Sports brand; it is the only network in the group that is not majority-owned by AT&T.[17][18]

Following AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2018, AT&T SportsNet was moved into the WarnerMedia News & Sports division in March 2019, alongside Time Warner's existing national sports unit Turner Sports. The division is led by CNN president Jeff Zucker.[19]

In February 2020, the New York Post reported that AT&T had abandoned a plan to divest the channels, after only receiving bids in excess of $500 million (rather than the $1 billion valuation it had expected).[20]

Networks

The AT&T SportsNet group consists of three FSN-affiliated and one former CSN-affiliated sports network(s):

Channel Region served Team rights Formerly operated as Year joined/launched Notes
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (outside of the Philadelphia market)
most of West Virginia
(except for eastern panhandle)
far Western Maryland
southeastern Ohio
extreme southwestern New York
far eastern Kentucky		 Professional:

Collegiate:

High School:

  • WPIAL regular season football
  • WVSSAC football, basketball, and baseball championships and regular season football
 KBL Entertainment Network (1986–1994)
Prime Sports KBL (1994–1996)
Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (1996–2004)
FSN Pittsburgh (2004–2011)
Root Sports Pittsburgh (2011–2017)		 2011
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain Denver, the Rocky Mountains, Utah and Nevada Professional:

Collegiate:

 Prime Sports Network (1988–1990)
Prime Sports Rocky Mountain (1990–1996)
Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (1996–2000)
Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain (2000–2004)
FSN Rocky Mountain (2004–2011)
Root Sports Rocky Mountain (2011–2017)		 2011 Operates AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain West and AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain Utah as subfeeds
AT&T SportsNet Southwest Houston metropolitan area
East Texas
Bryan/College Station
Texas Gulf Coast
parts of San Antonio and Austin markets
Southwestern Louisiana
portions of Arkansas		 Professional:

Collegiate:

 Comcast SportsNet Houston (2012–2014)
Root Sports Southwest (2014–2017)		 2014 Formerly owned by the Houston Astros, the Houston Rockets, and NBCUniversal/Comcast as Comcast SportsNet Houston. Purchased by DirecTV Sports Networks (60%) and AT&T (40%) in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Due to the presence of Fox Sports Southwest on cable providers in its regional territory, AT&T SportsNet Southwest does not carry any programming distributed by Fox Sports Networks.
Root Sports Northwest Pacific Northwest and Alaska, covers primarily
teams from Washington and Oregon		 Professional:

Collegiate:

High School:

  • WIAA football and basketball

Montana, Idaho, and Spokane only:


 Northwest Cable Sports (1989–1992)
Prime Sports Northwest (1992–1996)
Fox Sports Northwest (1996–2000)
Fox Sports Net Northwest (2000–2004)
FSN Northwest (2004–11)		 2011 In April 2013, the Mariners acquired a controlling 60% stake in the network as a result of its extended rights deal with Root Sports Northwest. AT&T remains partial owner and operator of the network.[21]

AT&T SportsNet HD

AT&T SportsNet HD is a high definition simulcast feed of select programs from AT&T SportsNet including live sports events, studio shows and Fox Sports Networks-distributed national programming. Each regional channel (and in some cases, their alternate feed) has its own separate high-definition feed, with their own set schedules of programming that are made available in HD.

AT&T SportsNet Plus

Currently, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and AT&T SportsNet Southwest maintain alternate (or overflow) feeds under the AT&T SportsNet Plus brand (with the network's regional name suffixed preceding the "Plus" title) for the broadcast of two or more events involving teams that the respective networks hold the broadcast rights to carry. These overflow feeds are available via digital cable, telco and satellite providers in their home markets, which may provide alternate programming when not used to carry conflicting scheduled game broadcasts.

Video streaming

Since 2017, AT&T SportsNet streaming is available to TV Everywhere authenticated subscribers. AT&T SportsNet Southwest will be added to FuboTV starting February 11, 2019, becoming the first over-the-top streaming service to provide any AT&T SportsNet channel[22]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2017-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "News Corp. Reaches Deal with Liberty Media". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. December 22, 2006. Archived from the original on 2015-04-16. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  3. Ted Hearn (February 25, 2008). "Liberty Media Completes DirecTV Buyout". Multichannel News. Reed Business Information. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  4. Todd Spangler (May 4, 2009). "DirecTV, Liberty Media Announce Spin-Off Plan". Multichannel News. Reed Business Information. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  5. Mike Reynolds (November 20, 2009). "Liberty Sports Rebrands As DirecTV Sports Networks". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  6. Tim Mullaney; Kelly Riddell (May 4, 2009). "DirecTV Group to Combine With Liberty Entertainment". Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg News. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  7. Tim Baysinger (March 31, 2011). "Root Sports to Launch April 1". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  8. "DIRECTV Sports Networks Will Rebrand FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Northwest, FSN Rocky Mountain in Spring 2011". Pittsburgh Penguins. December 17, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  9. "'Root Sports' new name for sports networks". Denver Business Journal. American City Business Journals. December 17, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2011.
  10. David Barron (February 4, 2014). "Judge places Comcast SportsNet houston in bankruptcy". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  11. David Barron (September 27, 2013). "CSN Houston bankruptcy filing surprises Astros". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  12. "Root Sports Southwest channel debuts Monday". Houston Chronicle (Ultimate Rockets). Hearst Corporation. November 17, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  13. David Barron (August 6, 2014). "AT&T, DirecTV to take over Comcast SportsNet Houston". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  14. Mike Reynolds (October 22, 2014). "CSN Houston Chap. 11 Closing Arguments Now Oct. 30". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  15. "Root Sports regional nets now part of AT&T Sports Networks". Awful Announcing. Ken Fang. April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  16. "ROOT Sports NW Debuts New Graphics on Mariners Telecasts". From the Corner of Edgar & Dave. 2017-07-15. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  17. "AT&T Rebranding Three ROOT Sports RSNs as 'AT&T SportsNet' in July". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  18. "Root Sports Southwest is now AT&T SportsNet Southwest". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-07-15.
  19. Feiner, Lauren (March 4, 2019). "WarnerMedia reorganizes its leadership team after AT&T acquisition". CNBC. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  20. Kosman, Josh (2020-02-18). "AT&T's auction to sell four regional sports channels falls short". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  21. Nick Eaton (April 16, 2013). "Update: Mariners buy, will control Root Sports Northwest TV network". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  22. ndelgreco. "AT&T SPORTSNET TO BE AVAILABLE TO fuboTV CUSTOMERS IN THE SOUTHWEST TELEVISION TERRITORY". AT&T SportsNet. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
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