Cord Cutting: Streaming sports in Charlotte NC

Posted: August 30, 2025

The never ending quest to watch as much sports (but pay as little) as possible.

TL;DR – jump to conclusion .

Almost a decade ago I ditched cable TV. It was one of the best feelings handing back the old cable box I had been renting, and joining the crowd of cord cutters. All I needed was a decent alternative.

Sling TV was my first choice to replace cable (and I think it's still one of the best options). I did the one week free trial and literally within minutes I knew I'd be handing in the cable box since the Sling app on my outdated Roku was significantly quicker than the interface of the aging cable box I was paying a subscription fee, and huge monthly bill, just to get the same set of channels. Hulu with Live TV was my second experiment (and is my favorite cable alternative overall) but it costs a bit more, and Fubu was my third experiment (but more on that below). I think Sling is still the most affordable option if you're just wanting to get something close to the traditional cable model. I have not tried YouTubeTV or any other cable alternatives.

Getting around regional blackouts

I love baseball, especially in October. And I like to watch NFL (particularly the commercial-free RedZone program every Sunday afternoon). I also enjoy MLS now that I can root for Charlotte's own FC; and I'd like to root for the Hornets and Hurricanes too. When I first moved to Charlotte all I had was an old boxy CRT television with an antenna, it happened to be when the Hurricanes were winning their last Stanly Cup.

MLB.tv, for $150 a year, feels like the best deal in sports streaming. And I think if it weren't for the regional blackouts (which isn't the fault of MLB.tv), it would be unquestionable. Because of regional blackouts in Charlotte NC I cannot watch the Braves (which makes sense as a blackout since they are the closest team), but I'm also blocked from watching Orioles, Nationals, and the Reds. Most of those teams are several states away, which makes it seem all the more absurd to me that they are blocked in Charlotte.

And the reason the Os and Nats are blacked out is even more absurd: the technicality that Spectrum offers the ability to watch the Mid-Atlantic Sports Networks (MASN) in a tiny corner in the north east part of NC, and in spite of the fact that Spectrum does not offer those MASN networks anywhere near Charlotte.

Braves and Reds games could be watched with a subscription to cable (I think it was Fox Sports South, then Bally Sports, and now Fan Duel Sports Network); but usually to see them you had to get a full cable package and then add an expensive regional sports option. Additionally regional blackouts also prevent someone in Charlotte from watching most Hornets and Hurricanes games.

A year or so ago it finally became possible for a streaming cable alternative Fubo to offer MASN channels, and they also already had regional Fan Duel channels. So I gave that a try last Fall and although it was expensive, it was really nice being able to finally watch ALL the teams I'm interested in – especially the Nats and Os. It really had everything: all the ESPNs and Fox channels, NFL RedZone, Nationals, Orioles, Reds, Braves, Hurricanes, Hornets, etc. But the price was even higher than I imagined at checkout, because at the end of the checkout process is when you find out that in addition to the extra regional "Sports Plus" package, there was also an additional regional sports fee of $15 a month. So due to the significant expense I decided that was just a one season experiment.

The emergence of a direct-to-consumer option for ESPN

Last year around the time I was giving Fubo a try, I was excited to hear about a planned new sports streaming partnership between Disney, Time Warner, and Fox, to provide a combined sports streaming app, which would have been named Venu. But not long after it was announced Fubo sued to block the deal from happening, and Venu never saw the light of day. (Subsequently, Disney purchased Fubo, so it seems likely Fubo could merge with Disney's Hulu with Live TV option.)

So I tried Fubo last Fall in spite of the fact I was irked they were responsible for the demise of the promised streaming sports paradise of Venu Sports. As a side note, whoever designed the graphic advertising Venu Sports did an outstanding job. (Here is the graphic, and here is the archived page. I love how the animated image frame adjusts to match the shape of the playing surface of the corresponding sport. That was some killer design work!)

Even though Venu never delivered a sports utopia, it's legacy may have led to what was temporarily being called "ESPN Flagship", and what just launched as simply ESPN (and what Disney refers to in their press releases as their Direct to Consumer (DTC) product). If you were to add a Max subscription (for Time Warner sports broadcasts) to ESPN (DTC) then you'd probably have most of what Venu would have been. This Fall I am excited to try ESPN (DTC)! Now that Disney has made the full spectrum of ESPN a stand alone offering I doubt I'd ever go back to cable, or a cable alternative.

TL;DR – My strategy for 2025

To figure out a strategy I had to make a list of what I really want to get out of streaming – This is what I'm really wanting to watch:

• MLB (and the playoffs, including ALDS/ALCS)
• MLS
• ESPN (for College Gameday, college sports, SportsCenter, etc)
• NFL Redzone

With that list in mind, this year I am trying out the following strategy:

• Total average monthly sports streaming cost: ~$41.25

Note: I think now that Disney has acquired Fubu there is a decent chance they will blend it into the already good Hulu with Live TV, and that could end up being a compelling way to add in those missing reginal sports – maybe without making too much of a dent on the wallet.