There is perhaps no sports fan conundrum quite like the revolving door of modern sports media rights that makes it hard to know where to find every game you want to watch.
The writing has been on the wall for years, but we’re officially at the point where, if you wanted to watch all 162 of your favorite Major League Baseball teams’ games in 2025, you’ll probably have to sign up for at least three or four different services and platforms. In some cases, you’ll have to sign up for way more.
That’ll be the case for the Boston Red Sox this season. Along with NESN, you’ll have to have access to ESPN, Fox, FS1, TBS, AppleTV+, and Roku to see every 2025 regular-season game. Depending on where you live, you can also sign up for MLB.TV and NESN 360. If you have cable, that’s relatively easier. But if you’re a cord-cutter, you must also factor in which cable provider to sign up for and what tier to pay for, as they’re all different.
That situation was at the heart of a recent rant by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Mike Felger. The co-host of Felger & Mazz shared his deep frustrations with what it’s like to try and figure out how to ensure you have access to every Sox game, eventually landing on the feeling that he and many other sports fans are being “digitally penetrated” over the costs and constant confusion.
@985thesportshub Viewers Are Getting “DIGITALLY PENETRATED” When Trying To Watch Baseball – Felger #redsox #baseball #mlb ♬ original sound – 98.5 The Sports Hub
“Here’s a bigger issue in my mind, how to watch the thing. It’s becoming harder and harder,” said Felger on a recent show. “Cable TV has gotten stupid expensive. So a lot of us have cut the cord, especially just this past year, NESN and NBC Sports Boston, unfortunately, jacked up the rates again. So eff you, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to cut the cord. I’ll get YouTube TV. Much better.
“Ah, NESN’s not on YouTube TV. So you get Fubo. Well, if I get Fubo, you know what I can’t get on Fubo? TNT. So I can’t see NBA nationally televised games, which is the best product going. I don’t get that if I have Fubo. So eff you, Fubo. Never mind the fact I want NFL Sunday Ticket. I know I can separate the two, but it’s cheaper if you get YouTube TV AND the NFL Sunday Ticket. So I’m going to stick on YouTube TV. So now I’ve cut the cord, and I want the Ticket, so I want to bundle it with YouTube.
“So now, how do I watch the Red Sox? Okay, I’ve got to get violated with that insanely overpriced, hideous product, NESN 360, which often doesn’t work, which provides virtually no programming other than the live games of the worst team in hockey and this unwatchable baseball team. But they’re gouging me for 30 bucks a month. Those cheap pricks won’t even give me a pre- or post-game show if they’re not broadcasting the game. So what do I get out of that horrible product to begin with? But fine, take my $30. I can’t get it on my TV.
“I’ve been on this now for six minutes just trying to get the Red Sox game. I didn’t even get to, they’re playing Friday night, and now we’re all boned because it’s not on ESPN, it’s not on TV38, it’s not on NESN, it’s not on F-U Fubo, it’s not on YouTube TV, it’s not on my laptop. It’s now on, is it AppleTV+? I was like, What? How do I… I can’t even… I don’t know where to begin to watch the effing game.
“Don’t you get sick of getting digitally penetrated? Every time you want to watch a ball come across your TV screen.”
We think we’ve finally found the one thing that Red Sox and Yankees fans can agree on.
