INDIANAPOLIS — More Indiana Pacers fans will have a chance to watch the team play this upcoming season, but it's going to cost you.
Bally Sports Indiana, which carries the majority of Pacers games, is carried on a number of cable systems across the Hoosier State, but many who have "cut the cord" were left with no way to watch them play last season.
The network is carried on several cable providers in central Indiana, including AT&T U-verse, DirecTV, Spectrum, Xfinity, MetroNet and NineStar Connect, but only one streaming provider, DirecTV Stream (which was formerly called AT&T TV).
That leaves fans who subscribe to services like YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling TV, Philo and fuboTV without access to Pacers games in their subscription.
While Bally Sports promotes watching live streams of games on their app, you are still required to log in with your cable provider's credentials to watch the games. Logging in with one of the streaming providers listed above brings up a reminder that your TV subscription does not have access to the live stream.
New streaming option announced
On Monday, Bally Sports introduced Bally Sports+, a new streaming service that will allow streamers to catch local teams - including the Pacers, Indiana Fever and St. Louis Blues - watch live games.
But it comes at a price.
While Bally Sports+ is offering a seven-day free trial to new subscribers, the regular rate for the service is $19.99 a month, or $189.99 for a year subscription. It is currently available on streaming devices including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, mobile devices and BallySports.com, with more options possible in the future, the broadcaster said.
Under a rights extension reached earlier this month between Pacers Sports & Entertainment and Bally Sports Indiana, the network will "televise and stream all available regular season Pacers games," along with two preseason games and potential first-round playoff games each season. The Pacers are currently scheduled to have one game broadcast by ESPN and three games that will air on NBATV.
The Indiana Pacers open the preseason Oct. 5 in Charlotte. They play two home preseason games, on Oct. 12 and Oct. 14, before opening the regular season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Oct. 19 against the Washington Wizards.
