SportsNet Pittsburgh Without Cable: Stream Pirates & Penguins Cheaper Online

Pirates and Penguins fans will want SportsNet Pittsburgh. Below we explain all you need to know to watch without cable.

In a hurry? SportsNet Pittsburgh isn’t widely available but there are two excellent streaming choices:

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SportsNet Pittsburgh (formerly AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh) is part of Warner Bros Discovery. It is the must-have channel for anyone who is a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates or Pittsburgh Penguins.

It also features a significant amount of coverage of the West Virginia Mountaineers, albeit usually not live game broadcasts.

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Cord cutters can gain access to this regional sports network through DIRECTV STREAM ($108.99/mo) or Fubo ($79.99/mo).

Streaming SportsNet Pittsburgh

Those looking to watch SportsNet Pittsburgh and are in its broadcast area have two options.

Fubo

Fubo (formerly FuboTV) is an affordable option for receiving access to SportsNet Pittsburgh. It is included in the base plan for those in its broadcast area. For most subscribers, it will cost $91.98/mo. But it depends on exactly what you get:

• Plan Cost: $79.99/mo
• RSN Fee:
  • One RSN: $11.99/mo — total: $91.98/mo
  • Two or More RSNs: $14.99/mo — total: $94.98/mo

However, do also consider that Fubo does not carry TBS nor TNT, which may cause you to miss games played by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins, possibly postseason contests.

On the plus side, if you are located outside a metropolitan area in Pennsylvania, you will also get NBC Sports Philadelphia. In Buffalo, you get YES Network!

You can get MLB.TV as an add-on too.

Fubo also includes CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, and FS2 in its base plan. You can get MLB Network and NHL Network with the Fubo Extra add-on ($7.99/mo) or the Sports Plus with NFL RedZone add-on ($10.99/mo).

Meanwhile, the ACC Network is featured in Fubo’s base plan for those in certain areas, including Pittsburgh, while the Big Ten Network is included in it for everyone.

The base plan comes with 1000 hours of cloud DVR and simultaneous streaming on up to 10 devices. For more information, see our Fubo review.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

DIRECTV STREAM

DIRECTV STREAM provides access to SportsNet Pittsburgh to those eligible to receive it as well as any other regional sports networks available in that area to Choice plan ($108.99/mo) and above subscribers. However, note that this selection of RSNs varies considerably. For example, subscribers in Pittsburgh just get one while their counterparts in Buffalo enjoy access to the MSG Network, SNY, YES Network, and Bally Sports Great Lakes as well.

One major hole in the channel lineup is NBC Sports Philadelphia. Pennsylvania is probably the only place in the United States where Fubo is a better option.

Those who select that Choice plan will also receive channels such as ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), MLB Network, TBS, and TNT, allowing them to watch any Pirates and Penguins games shown on those channels as well. Also included in the Choice plan is the ACC Network, which regularly features the Pittsburgh Panthers, Big Ten Network, a regular home for the Penn State Nittany Lions, SEC Network, and ESPNU.

All plans come with unlimited cloud DVR storage (online orders) and streaming on unlimited devices at once. See our DIRECTV STREAM review for details.

Get DIRECTV STREAM Free for 5 Days

Other Options to Stream Pittsburgh Sports

If you want to follow the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Panthers without access to SportsNet Pittsburgh, consider these options.

Solely focusing on regional and national broadcasts is one. In other words, get a streaming service that provides access to channels such as ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, TBS, and TNT. A couple that do are Hulu + Live TV ($79.99/mo) and Sling TV ($55.00/mo). Also, note that Hulu + Live TV’s base price includes access to ESPN+, which exclusively streams some Penguins games.

Another option is to focus on over-the-air channels through the use of an antenna. Doing this grants you access to Pirates games on Fox, ABC, or NBC and Penguins matchups on ABC. However, keep in mind that these instances are relatively rare, albeit more common in the Penguins’ case.

An affordable alternate way to follow every game that these teams play is through their radio broadcasts.

Meanwhile, if you are located outside of either club’s blackout area, you need to subscribe to an out-of-market league pass, such as, in the case of the Pirates and Penguins, MLB.tv ($24.99/mo) or ESPN+ ($10.99/mo). As for ESPN+, remember that the Penguins will also be on there periodically for everyone, including local fans.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

TVs and Devices to Live Stream SportsNet Pittsburgh

Fubo and DIRECTV STREAM support the most popular streaming services in use today:

Fubo also supports these:

• Hisense smart TVs
• LG smart TVs
• Vizio SmartCast TVs
• Xbox One gaming systems.

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What Is SportsNet Pittsburgh?

SportsNet Pittsburgh is a regional sports network (RSN), meaning that it provides coverage of sports events to viewers located in its broadcast area. In this case, those situated in Pittsburgh and nearby can access this channel and watch all or a significant portion of its content.

This network was founded in 1986 and was initially focused on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Its name was, appropriately, the Pirates Cable Network.

However, it was quickly changed to the KBL Entertainment Network, indicating that it was going to show more than baseball. A later name used was Prime Sports KBL, which was followed by Fox Sports Pittsburgh, Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh, FSN Pittsburgh, and Root Sports Pittsburgh until it adopted its current rebrand in 2017.

Areas Covered by SportsNet Pittsburgh

This regional sports network’s coverage area covers the vast majority of Pennsylvania – all but the Philadelphia metropolitan area – as well as all of West Virginia and nearby portions of Maryland, Ohio, and New York. Its stretch into Ohio goes all the way to Columbus.

However, with that said, make sure to also take note of any blackouts that may occur. For example, Pirates fans in Columbus and Penguins fans in Buffalo, NY, will need to get an out-of-market package to watch those games as their broadcasts on SportsNet Pittsburgh will be blacked out where they are. The ones related to these clubs are MLB.TV ($24.99/mo) and ESPN+ ($10.99/mo).

Sign up for MLB.TV on Fubo for FREE today!

Teams Covered by SportsNet Pittsburgh

The principal focuses for SportsNet Pittsburgh are the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Live game coverage of the Pirates is extensive including games at PNC Park and on the road. The channel was scheduled to show all 162 regular-season games that the team had on its 2021 slate. Generally, every Pirates contest not shown regionally or nationally on an outlet such as Fox, ESPN, and TBS, will be on SportsNet Pittsburgh.

Note that while SportsNet Pittsburgh features many Spring Training games, as with other RSNs, it does not broadcast any playoff games. But it does offer analysis.

As for the Penguins, during that team’s 82-game 2021-22 campaign, they were scheduled to be on SportsNet Pittsburgh 69 times. The rest were slated for coverage on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and ESPN+. Note that postseason contests played by the Penguins may be broadcast on SportsNet Pittsburgh as well.

SportsNet Pittsburgh carries local sports including a tremendous amount of programming related to the West Virginia Mountaineers. These are generally coaches shows featuring the school’s football, men’s basketball, and baseball head coaches and Mountaineer GameDay, which is related to the school’s football and men’s basketball games. However, WVU live game broadcasts are not common.

SportsNet Pittsburgh also features shows like In Depth with Graham Bensinger.

SportsNet Pittsburgh Subchannels

In some cases, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins will be playing at the same time. This is most apt to occur in April. However, even in those situations, both contests receive thorough coverage with one of the games bumped to SportsNet Pittsburgh’s subchannel: Pittsburgh 2, also known as Pit2.

SportsNet Pittsburgh Commentators

Greg Brown and Joe Block split play-by-play announcing duties for the Pittsburgh Pirates while Bob Walk and John Wehner do the same in the analyst role. Those not in the television booth are usually in the radio booth at that time.

Josh Getzoff is the Pittsburgh Penguins’ play-by-play commentator for the team’s local television broadcasts. He had previously served in that role on the radio.

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Wrapping Up

SportsNet Pittsburgh is the channel that you want if you are looking to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins or Pittsburgh Pirates play as often as possible. And your two streaming service options are Fubo ($91.98/mo) and DIRECTV STREAM ($108.99/mo).

FuboTV is our recommended service for SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.

Sign Up for a Free Fubo Trial

FAQs

How can I watch the Pirates’ divisional rivals?

Other teams in the National League Central can also be streamed. See the following:

• Chicago Cubs — Marquee Sports Network
• Cincinnati Reds — Bally Sports Ohio / Bally Sports Indiana
• Milwaukee Brewers — Bally Sports Wisconsin
• St Louis Cardinals — Bally Sports Midwest

How can I watch the Penguins’ divisional rivals?

For other teams in the Metropolitan Division, see these articles:

• Carolina Hurricanes — Bally Sports South
• Columbus Blue Jackets — Bally Sports Ohio
• New Jersey Devils — MSG
• New York Islanders — MSG
• New York Rangers — MSG
• Philadelphia Flyers — NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Washington Capitals — Monumental Sports Network

Is SportsNet Pittsburgh available from Hulu?

Hulu + Live TV is a great streaming service that also includes Disney+ and ESPN+. However, it does not offer much in the way of RSNs. As a result, Hulu doesn’t offer any of the AT&T SportsNet channels. It does, assuming you are in the broadcast area, offer NBC Sports Philadelphia. The same goes for YouTube TV.

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Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is Content Editor at HotDog.com. He specializes in streaming, sports, and technology. You can see his writing on low-budget and "weird" film at Psychotronic Review — and many other places.

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