Fans of the Wizards and Capitals definitely want NBC Sports Washington because it will allow you to watch almost all the regular-season games. Cord-cutters have a few options. Read on to learn what they are!
In a hurry? All of these streaming services provide local fans with access to NBC Sports Washington along with much more:
- Fubo: This streaming service is especially good for sports fans even though it has a broad selection of 150+ channels in its base plan. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
- DIRECTV STREAM: More expensive but with other regional channels depending on your location. Also includes over 100 other channels in its Choice Plan. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
- Hulu + Live TV: This total entertainment streaming service provides a great on-demand selection and all the essential live TV channels.
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Table Of Contents
Are you a fan of the Washington Wizards (NBA) or Washington Capitals (NHL)? If so, you surely want to get NBC Sports Washington, the in-market home for those teams. In fact, it is also the non-game destination for Washington Football Team fans as well as the destination for many local college sports fans looking to watch their teams play.
How can you watch this channel without cable? Get FuboTV ($74.99/mo), Hulu + Live TV ($69.99/mo), or DIRECTV STREAM ($74.99/mo).
Streaming NBC Sports Washington
Although numerous streaming services used to carry NBC Sports Washington, that is no longer the case for a number of reasons, mainly contract disputes between them and the channel. However, you do still have a few good options to choose from.
NBC Sports Washington With FuboTV
FuboTV ($85.98/mo) provides NBC Sports Washington to those located in its broadcast area. It also carries numerous other sports-related channels, including CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Fox Sports 2 (FS2), ESPN, and ESPN2. And it offers over a dozen beIN Sports and TUDN channels.
However, FuboTV does not offer MASN, a significant con for baseball fans as that is the local channel that broadcasts Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles games.
Also get 1000 hours of cloud DVR storage and streaming on up to 10 devices at once. For more information, read our FuboTV review.
DIRECTV STREAM for NBC Sports Washington and MASN
DIRECTV STREAM ($99.99/mo) is the most expensive option of these three. But it is also the only one to offer NBC Sports Washington to subscribers based in that channel’s broadcast area as well as TNT and MASN. This ensures that you are all set for thorough game coverage of all non-NFL major league sports teams that are based in Washington and Baltimore.
For more details, check out our DIRECTV STREAM review.
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Hulu + Live TV NBC Sports Washington
Hulu + Live TV ($69.99/mo) offers many of the same channels that FuboTV does, not including TUDN and beIN Sports. But it does feature TNT, ensuring that you are covered for all Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals games. It also comes with ESPN+ and Disney+.
With that said, it is the same as FuboTV in that it does not offer MASN, meaning that you will miss coverage of the local MLB teams.
Our Hulu + Live TV review has more information. You can get a similar plan with YouTube TV.
Other Options
If you do not want to pay for a streaming service, you could simply procure an antenna to watch telecast sports events. Doing so will grant you access to a select number of Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals games, including several contests during any long postseason runs that they may go on.
Doing this will also garner you access to numerous Washington Commanders contests.
Another option would be to select a different streaming service, focusing on nationally broadcast Wizards and Caps games and the other sports programming that it offers. Some of the best streaming services that are not mentioned above are Sling TV ($40.00/mo) and Vidgo ($69.99/mo).
Meanwhile, those outside of the blackout regions for the Wizards and Capitals can watch their out-of-market broadcasts with subscriptions to NBA League Pass ($28.99/mo) and ESPN+ ($9.99/mo).
Live Stream NBC Sports Bay Area With These Devices
These streaming services support the most popular devices and TVs:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android phones
- Android TV smart TVs
- Apple TV
- Chromecast
- iOS devices (iPhone, iPad)
- Roku
- Samsung smart TVs
- Web browsers.
Both FuboTV and Hulu also support these:
- LG smart TVs
- Vizio SmartCast TVs
- Xbox One.
You can also use Hisense smart TVs with FuboTV. Or use PlayStation and Nintendo Switch with Hulu.
DIRECTV STREAM has its own device. It costs $120 but you can pay that over 24 months.
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What Is NBC Sports Washington?
NBC Sports Washington, one of the country’s oldest regional sports networks, provides coverage of numerous local sports events throughout the year. That’s particularly true from September to April. It focuses on providing content to fans located in the Washington metropolitan area and throughout its vast coverage area.
When it launched in 1984, it owned the in-market rights to the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals as well as the Baltimore Orioles (MLB). Since then, the Orioles have moved to MASN, where they are joined by the Washington Nationals (MLB).
NBC Sports Washington has held three names in its history, starting out as Home Team Sports, changing to Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in 2001, and adopting its current name in 2017.
Where Is NBC Sports Washington Available?
NBC Sports Washington’s coverage area is considerable. It includes, of course, all of the District of Columbia as well as all of Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. In addition, it stretches just across the Pennsylvania border into the south-central portion of that state (eg, Gettysburg) and across West Virginia’s eastern panhandle.
Do note that its coverage in Delaware is sometimes limited. Although full access is available in the southern portion of the state, Wizards games are blacked out in Dover, and Wizards and Capitals contests are not available in Newark.
Which Teams Are Broadcast on NBC Sports Washington?
The focuses of NBC Sports Washington are the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals. The vast majority of their games both at home at the Capital One Arena and away are broadcast live on the channel.
However, that is not the extent of its game coverage. For one thing, these games all include pregame and postgame shows.
It also broadcast 11 of the 32 games played by the Washington Mystics (WNBA) during their 2021 campaign. And it airs numerous college sporting events. The most notable include a wide selection of college football games hosted by Richmond and James Madison and men’s basketball contests hosted by those two schools and non-football-playing George Washington.
Football fans looking for coverage of the Washington Commanders also regularly head to NBC Sports Washington to watch shows such as Washington Football Today as well as Washington Football Kickoff Live and Washington Football Post-game Live before and after the team plays regular-season games on Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN, or NFL Network. Preseason games are broadcast on NBC Sports Washington, however; it shares coverage of those match-ups with NBC 4 in a simulcast setup.
Note that the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are both carried by MASN.
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NBC Sports Washington Plus
With NBC Sports Washington carrying so many games played by two winter sports teams, the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals, there are going to be numerous occasions when they play at the same time. NBC Sports Washington is obligated to broadcast both of those games. When this happens, one is bumped over to NBC Sports Washington Plus, its overflow channel.
NBC Sports Washington Shows and Commentators
NBC Sports Washington features a number of syndicated shows. Their original content is mostly just radio content. Each morning features 4 hours of 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies. And the channel also features the podcasts Washington Football Talk, Wizards Talk, Nationals Talk, and Told It Here!
The focus of the channel is on the live game broadcasts.
Washington Wizards broadcasts are accompanied by the voices of Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Drew Gooden (color analyst). Gooden had ended his 15-year playing career with two seasons with the Wizards (2014-15 and 2015-16).
The long-time duo of Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have been lending their insight to Washington Capitals broadcasts since 1996-97. No other NHL broadcasting pair has been together that long.
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Wrapping Up
If you are a fan of Washington-based sports teams and based in its broadcast area, you are going to want to get NBC Sports Washington, which you can do with a subscription to FuboTV ($85.98/mo), Hulu + Live TV ($69.99/mo), or DIRECTV STREAM ($99.99/mo).
If you have no interest in baseball, Hulu + Live TV is likely your choice as it is the cheapest. However, if you want to watch the Washington Nationals or Baltimore Orioles play as well, you should get DIRECTV STREAM for access to MASN. A 5-day free trial is now available for DIRECTV STREAM.
FuboTV is our top choice for Wizards and Capitals fans. Fubo allows you to try out its service with a free trial.
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FAQs
What happened to Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic?
What is currently NBC Sports Washington began in 1984 as Home Team Sports. In 2001, it became Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. But when Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, the channel became part of NBC Sports. So in 2017, it (like the other Comcast SportsNet channels) became NBC Sports Washington.
Does NBC Sports Washington broadcast DC United matches?
NBC Sports Washington had broadcast rights to DC United through 2015. After that, they switched to WJLA-TV. But starting in 2023, MLS and Apple TV+ got together to create an all-access (no blackouts) streaming service, MLS Season Pass. Although it is expensive ($14.99/mo), it is great in that it allows subscribers to watch any match they want regardless where they live.
How can I watch the Capitals’ divisional rivals?
For more about the 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
- Pittsburgh Penguins — AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
How can I watch the Wizards’ divisional rivals?
For more about the other teams in the Southeast Division, see these articles:
- Atlanta Hawks — Bally Sports Southeast
- Charlotte Hornets — Bally Sports Southeast
- Miami Heat — Bally Sports Sun
- Orlando Magic — Bally Sports Florida
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