Kansas City Royals: How Cable Dispute Impacts Fans
By Jesse Holt
Kansas City Royals fans undoubtedly are still reeling from the three consecutive losses to begin the season. Unfortunately for many in Kansas City, a more pressing loss is on the horizon. One that specifically impacts fans’ ability to even watch the Royals.
Spectrum, the former Time Warner Cable, and Fox are currently involved in a carriage dispute directly impacting Royals fans. If not resolved by Saturday, fans will find the Kansas City Royals – Houston Astros game blacked out. Fox Sports Kansas City is also the broadcast home of Sporting Kansas City. The majority of Royals games are broadcast on FSKC so fans should have cause for concern.
Fox Sports Kansas City is not the only Fox network affected by the dispute. FS1, the FX channels, National Geographic Channel, and all Fox Sports regional networks will find feeds disrupted as well.
What that means is not just Kansas City Royals fans are impacted by this decision. Fans of teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Blues, and Oklahoma City Thunder are finding themselves impacted by this dispute in their local markets as well.
The Dispute Affects Both the Royals and Fans
Per The Kansas City Star, the Royals themselves are very much concerned about how this dispute will directly impact their fan base.
"“Obviously we’re concerned,” said Kevin Uhlich, the Royals’ vice president of business operations. “Our first priority is to make sure our fans have access to us. Fox is our partner. We’re hoping and trusting that between them and Charter and Spectrum that something can come together so fans won’t miss any games.”"
While Spectrum and Fox would likely argue otherwise, fans will undoubtedly be the ones who are hurt the most by all of this. One would have to believe that if FSKC does end up off of Spectrum’s airwaves, it would be a short-term issue rather than long-term. The truth is that no one knows when millions of dollars are involved, not to mention the armies of lawyers at both companies’ disposal.
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By the time this is over, Spectrum customers are liable to find themselves with higher cable rates than ever before.
What Should Royals Fans Do?
Fortunately for Kansas City Royals fans, there is no shortage of alternatives to fill their baseball fix. You could always switch your service to another cable provider but the odds of being able to do so quickly are slim. Unfortunately, MLB.tv is not an option for Royals fans in the KC metropolitan area due to blackout restrictions.
It might be the perfect time to make friends with your next-door neighbor with Google Fiber or DirecTV. Invite yourself over to watch the games each day. If not, at least beg for their cable password and watch via Fox Sports Go. There are obviously other sites available where fans could watch online, but none that would come recommended.
Maybe you’ll find yourself at a local sports bar cheering on the boys in blue with some brand new friends. The best case scenario for this carriage dispute would be for fans filling Kauffman Stadium to capacity daily. Not only would that create an incredible environment, but it’d also pump some more money into the organization. You never know, maybe those funds will be used to resign Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas.
Spectrum customer that want to make their voice heard can visit keepmynets.com. After all, you don’t want to miss out on any of the final season together for the Royals championship core.