As a local fan wanting to watch most of the Phillies, 76ers, or Flyers regular season games, I need NBC Sports Philadelphia. While streaming options for this channel are limited, I still have some good choices available to me as a cord-cutter.
In a hurry? NBC Sports Philadelphia is the only major RSN that DIRECTV STREAM does not offer. But these services do — along with a whole lot more:
Fubo
Known for its outstanding sports coverage, Fubo’s 150+ live TV channels provide a broad selection that appeals to most people. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
Hulu Live
Get 95+ live TV channels along with the Hulu Bundle with Disney+ and ESPN+! Try it today with a free trial.
If you can’t watch your favorite sports because of your location, get ExpressVPN to access the content you deserve.
Table Of Contents
NBC Sports owns five American regional sports networks (RSN) on the west and northeast coasts of the United States. NBC Sports Philadelphia is focused on sports in the City of Brotherly Love. It carries in-market broadcasts for three of the city’s major league sports teams: Philadelphia Phillies (MLB), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), and Philadelphia Flyers (NHL). It also airs select local college sports events.
How can you gain access to NBC Sports Philadelphia without cable? As long as you live within its broadcast area, you can subscribe to Fubo or Hulu + Live TV to receive it. Fubo is more expensive, but depending on where you live, it offers a lot more.
Streaming NBC Sports Philadelphia
Cord cutters looking to stream NBC Sports Philadelphia have, unfortunately, seen their options diminish over the years due to contract disputes and for other reasons. But you do still have a couple of options and they will allow you to watch a wide variety of events including the biggest like the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup.
Fubo for NBC Sports Philadelphia
Fubo (formerly FuboTV) ($91.98/month) offers those located in this channel’s broadcast area access to NBC Sports Philadelphia. It is the primary home of the Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers games every season, including some postseason contests.
With that said, it does carry ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, Fox Sports 1, ESPN, and ESPN2, ensuring that you can watch almost all Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers games. It also offers other channels that show sports like USA and CNBC. And it includes roughly two dozen channels from the networks beIN Sports and TUDN.
Subscribers in the middle of the state may also get AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, which provides coverage of the Pirates and Penguins. You may also get MSG, which features the New York Knicks and three NFL teams. (If you get 2 or more RSNs, Fubo is $94.98/month)
All Fubo plans come with unlimited cloud DVR storage and simultaneous streaming on up to 10 devices at your home location and 2 elsewhere. See our Fubo review for all the details.
NBC Sports Philadelphia With Hulu + Live TV
Hulu + Live TV ($82.99/month) is likely the streaming service that you want to go with if you are interested in the teams broadcast by NBC Sports Philadelphia as it offers ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, FS1, ESPN, and ESPN2 as well as TBS and TNT, ensuring that you are all set for watching all Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers games. It also includes ESPN+ and Disney+.
It does not offer AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh but that isn’t an issue for those in the eastern part of the state. For more information, see our Hulu + Live TV review. There is a similar plan offered by YouTube TV.
Other Viewing Options Beyond NBC Sports Philadelphia
Of course, an alternate option that you can take advantage of is not paying for a cable or satellite service and also not paying for a streaming service. Simply get an antenna.
Fortunately, going this route will offer you more than you may at first realize. For example, some Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers games are shown on network television, including a number of their postseason contests. Also of note, you can watch more than three-quarters of Eagles games with an antenna and television.
Another route that you could take is subscribing to a different streaming service and being fine with not watching the sports events broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia. One of the major ones not carrying this channel is DIRECTV STREAM ($114.99/month), which does feature extensive offerings otherwise. Another streaming services to consider is Sling TV ($40.00/month).
In addition, those who are situated outside of these respective teams’ blackout areas can get MLB.TV ($24.99/mo), NBA League Pass ($14.99/mo), and ESPN+ ($10.99/month) to watch out-of-market Phillies, 76ers, and Flyers broadcasts.
Sign up for MLB.TV on Fubo for Free
Live Stream NBC Sports Bay Area With These Devices
Fubo and Hulu + Live TV support most streaming devices:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android mobile devices
- Android TV compatible devices
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- iOS mobile devices
- LG smart TVs
- Roku
- Samsung smart TVs
- Vizio SmartCast TVs
- Web browsers
- Xbox One gaming systems.
FuboT supports Hisense smart TVs. And Hulu supports the gaming systems PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
You can also use your login credentials (via TV Everywhere) to watch on the NBC Sports app (or the website NBCSports.com) with most of the same devices.
What Is NBC Sports Philadelphia?
NBC Sports Philadelphia is a regional sports network (RSN) that broadcasts professional and college sports teams based in and near Pennsylvania’s largest city. In fact, this is the NBC Sports Regional Networks’ flagship affiliate.
It launched in 1997 as Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and carried that name until 2017 when it became known under its current moniker.
Where Is NBC Sports Philadelphia Available?
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s broadcast area covers the Philadelphia metropolitan area and stretches out from there. This region includes Pennsylvania except for in and around Pittsburgh — Erie is even included — as well as all of Delaware and southern and central parts of New Jersey, including Princeton.
Which Teams Are Shown on NBC Sports Philadelphia?
NBC Sports Philadelphia is one of the country’s busiest regional sports networks. It broadcasts Philadelphia Phillies games both at home at Citizens Bank Park and away. You will also get to watch a number of Spring Training games.
The same goes for the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers for their games at Wells Fargo Center and beyond. All of these broadcasts are sandwiched between pregame and postgame shows.
It also airs programming related to the Philadelphia Eagles, such as Eagles Game Plan, Eagles Pre-game Live, and Eagles Post-game Live. But note that it does not air any Eagles games. If you are looking for them, they may be found on Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network.
In addition, NBC Sports Philadelphia airs a number of college sports events played by teams located in its broadcast area. During the 2021-22 school year, this included six football games and 11 men’s basketball contests hosted by Delaware, Penn, Drexel, and Princeton. It even aired a Penn away football game versus Columbia.
Princeton-Penn rivalry football and men’s basketball games are amongst NBC Sports Philadelphia’s featured college broadcasts.
Finally, NBC Sports Philadelphia also broadcasts NCAA games from the Atlantic 10 and CAA conferences as well as the schools Pennsylvania, Temple, and Villanova.
NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus
With how many sports teams and events that NBC Sports Philadelphia shows, it is not a surprise that it offers a full-time overrun channel, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, to take care of situations when it broadcasts multiple games at the same time.
NBC Sports Philadelphia Shows and Commentators
NBC Sports Philadelphia features a number of original shows. These including the morning Philly sports news program SportsNet Central and discussion show The Best Show Ever?
It also distributes a lot of podcasts like Take Off With John Clark, Eagle Eye, Phillies Talk, Sixers Talk, The Orange Line, Flyers Talk, and State of the Union.
Other shows include Inside Golf, Golf Shots, Phillies Clubhouse, and Phillies Hot Stove.
They also feature pre- and post-game shows for all Phillies, Flyers, and 76ers games:
- Phillies Pregame Live
- Phillies Postgame Live
- Flyers Pregame Live
- Flyers Postgame Live
- Sixers Pregame Live
- Sixers Postgame Live
For Philadelphia Phillies broadcasts, Tom McCarthy acts as the play-by-play announcer. He is normally joined by Ben Davis for analysis although you might also see John Kruk and Ruben Amaro Jr. Mike Schmidt also makes appearances at Sunday games that are played in Philly.
Kate Scott became the second female to be named play-by-play announcer for a major league sports team when she was appointed to that role for the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the 2021-22 season. Analyst Alaa Abdelnaby joins her courtside.
Jim Jackson and Brian Boucher team up to describe the action on the ice for NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Flyers broadcasts. Jackson has been the team’s play-by-play voice since 1995-96. Scott Hartnell sometimes fills in for Boucher.
Wrapping Up
Sports fans looking to gain access to NBC Sports Philadelphia and who are located in its broadcast area have two streaming services to choose from, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV. Hulu is cheaper at $82.99/month. But if you live outside of Philadelphia, you are likely better off with Fubo for $94.98/month which has AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and other RSNs.
Fubo is our top choice for Philadelphia sports.
FAQs
How come DIRECTV STREAM does not offer NBC Sports Philadelphia?
DIRECTV STREAM does not offer NBC Sports Philadelphia because the entities have not been able to come to an agreement over carriage fees. This battle dates to Comcast being the only cable/satellite service in the Philadelphia area allowed to carry this channel. This has resulted in DIRECTV saying that this created an unfair competitive advantage. However, despite that monopoly no longer existing, no agreement between the two has occurred.
What happened to Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia?
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia was the original name of NBC Sports Network. After Comcast acquired NBCUniversal, all of its SportsNet channels became part of NBC Sports and in 2017, the names were all changed. CSN Philadelphia took over most of the broadcasting rights of PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia starting in 1997.
Does NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast Philadelphia Union matches?
Philadelphia Union matches are not aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia. From 2018 through 2022, local channel PHL17 aired their matches. But MLS has gone streaming only with their MLS Season Pass program on Apple TV+. With it, you can stream any game you like. It’s a great service — if a bit pricy.
What is the cheapest way to stream NBC Sports Philadelphia?
Those looking for the cheapest way to stream NBC Sports Philadelphia should choose Hulu + Live TV, which offers it as part of its base plan for $82.99/month. Note however that Fubo alone offers AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, which airs Pirates and Penguins games. It also offers other RSNs depending on the area.
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My expertise in sports coverage, particularly for out-of-market games and regional sports networks, stems from years of hands-on experience as an early adopter of streaming services and my work addressing fans' viewing challenges. As a longtime cord-cutter and subscriber to multiple streaming platforms, I combine my technical knowledge with practical user experience, making me a leading expert in the field of sports streaming and entertainment technology.
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