NBC Sports Philadelphia is heading to Peacock, but not anytime soon

As soon as next year, Philly sports fans will be able to watch Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers games without a cable subscription.

NBC Sports Philadelphia personalities Michael Barkann (left) and Ricky Bottalico on the set of "Phillies Pregame Live."Read moreRob Tornoe / Rob Tornoe / Staff

by Rob Tornoe

Published Dec. 8, 2022, 8:27 a.m. ET

Philly sports fans will finally be able to watch Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers games without needing a cable subscription. But that won’t happen anytime soon.

Last week, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBCUniversal’s television and streaming arm, announced that the company planned to put its regional sports networks — including NBC Sports Philadelphia — on its subscription streaming service Peacock.

“We’re working with our team partners and the leagues to sort out the rights and how that will work,” Lazarus said last week at the SBJ Media Innovators conference in New York City. “But we feel confident that we’ll get there and we’ll launch a [direct-to-consumer] product as part of Peacock later this year.”

While Lazarus said the move would happen “later this year,” NBC sources told The Inquirer that NBC Sports Philadelphia won’t be available on Peacock until sometime in 2023.

It’s a complicated dance for Comcast’s NBCUniversal, which owns five regional sports networks and has rights deals with at least 12 professional teams. The company sold its majority stake in NBC Sports Washington to Monumental Sports & Entertainment in August.

In Philadelphia’s case, it requires reworking TV deals with the leagues involving the Flyers, Sixers, and Phillies, who purchased a 25% stake in NBC Sports Philadelphia as part of the team’s 25-year, $2.5 billion deal to broadcast games on the network through 2041. Comcast owns the Flyers under Comcast Spectator, which also owns and manages the Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, and the Philadelphia Fusion of the esports Overwatch League.

NBC would also need to get permission from sports leagues to stream “out of market” games on Peacock, which are available on league-owned streaming packages such as NBA League Pass and MLB.TV

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that NBCUniversal scrapped plans to offer NBC Sports Philadelphia on Peacock over fears of complicating its broader streaming strategy.

It’s unclear if NBC Sports Philadelphia will be available as part of Peacock’s premium subscription plan, which costs $4.99 a month, or if there will be an added fee. Judging by what other regional sports networks are charging, Philly sports fans should plan on spending more to ditch cable entirely.

Sinclair launched a direct-to-consumer app for its 19 regional sports networks in the summer called Bally Sports+ priced at $19.99 a month or $189.99 a year. But Sinclair has yet to get the approval from MLB to stream most of the baseball teams it currently has TV rights for.

In Boston, NESN launched a direct-to-consumer service earlier this year that charges $29.99 a month to stream Red Sox and Bruins games (Celtics games air on NBC Sports Boston). Fans who paid $329.99 for an annual subscription got a free month and eight tickets to Red Sox games last season.

It’s also unclear if the move will impact NBC Sports Philadelphia’s availability on skinny cable bundles. The network is available as part of the basic monthly subscription to YouTube TV ($64.99), Fubo ($69.99), and Hulu + Live TV ($69.99).

The move to streaming is happening as cord-cutters eat into the profitability of networks like NBC Sports Philadelphia. Sinclair ceded control of its Bally Sports regional sports networks to creditors and placed former NBC Sports and ESPN executive David Preschlack in charge. Last month, Bally revealed in its quarterly earning call that subscriber levels had fallen 10% so far this year, according to The Athletic.

“We feel comfortable, and we still make a lot of profit from our [regional sports networks], but in many ways are managing decline,” Lazarus said of NBC’s sports networks. “Over time, what’s going to have to happen is that teams … are going to have to take a haircut on rights, because the ecosystem won’t support what we’re currently paying.”

Beginning Dec. 20, Xfinity subscribers will see what has become an annual rate increase. The regional sports fee for NBC Sports Philadelphia and others will increase to $13.35 a month, up from $3 in 2016.