FSN Pittsburgh NHL blackout

[jcd148]

Hi,

I know many people are running into blackout situations, so maybe someone else has been having the same problem as me. I live near Philadelphia. Last year, I got all the Pittsburgh Penguin games on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. When I signed up with DTV, I ordered the sports pack to get Fox Sports Pittsburgh. While all the Pirate games are blacked out, the Penguins are listed as my home team, so I got all their games last year without needing CI. So far, 2 out of 4 games have been blacked out, all I get is the "channel not purchased (721)" message. Anyone else run into this situation?

 

[charper1]

A blackout should say "game not available in your area"; if you are getting the x721 message; you need to call DirecTV and tell them you have lost authorization to a channel you pay for.

 

[Digital Dude]

Good luck and welcome to satelliteguys!

 

[rocinante67]

This sounds like the same problem we had in New England about a week ago. I found calling DirecTV to be no help at all. Their CSRs all say the same thing, "we don't control the blackouts." I had much better luck by contacting regional sports network directly and telling them what was going on. If it's the same as what happened here, it's a zip code-database error on DirecTV's part. Good luck.

 

[nhl66pens]

I don't think you get to watch professional sports games with the Fox Sports Package on D*. When it was baseball season, could you watch Pirates games? I have the Sports Pack and that allows me to watch any Fox Sports across the country except when a game is being shown that is part of a package (baseball, hockey, college football...). If you thought you were going to be able to watch the Pens play without buying the CI package then you were misinformed. The only way you get to watch the hockey game is if it is the local outlet for the team in your area. For instance, even if I didn't pay for the Sports Pack, the Crapitals are the local team for my area so I could watch them on CSN or MASN (I'm not sure which one they're on this year). I suspect if you live in or near Philly, the Flyers games will not be blacked out when they are on your local sports channel. However, without CI, you are out of luck for watching the rest of the NHL.

 

[dewd]

I don't think you get to watch professional sports games with the Fox Sports Package on D*. When it was baseball season, could you watch Pirates games? I have the Sports Pack and that allows me to watch any Fox Sports across the country except when a game is being shown that is part of a package (baseball, hockey, college football...). If you thought you were going to be able to watch the Pens play without buying the CI package then you were misinformed. The only way you get to watch the hockey game is if it is the local outlet for the team in your area. For instance, even if I didn't pay for the Sports Pack, the Crapitals are the local team for my area so I could watch them on CSN or MASN (I'm not sure which one they're on this year). I suspect if you live in or near Philly, the Flyers games will not be blacked out when they are on your local sports channel. However, without CI, you are out of luck for watching the rest of the NHL.

OP said it was his home market.

So far I've been able to see all the PENS games in High Def on channel 95 or HDNET. No blackouts so far (in central PA).

 

[Bosco10021]

Try putting in your zipcode on this site. It lists what regional teams you should receive.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPageIF.jsp?assetId=P3000004

 

[nhl66pens]

OP said it was his home market.

Actually he said "I live near Philadelphia.". If he lives near Philly, there is no way his Regional Sports team is Pittsburgh.

 

[soad]

Hey guys, I just got Direct yesterday, I live in the Pittsburgh market...from reading this tread, I am assuming that I will not be able to view baseball games (come the spring) on other channels such as YES and NESN...is this correct? I will however be able to watch my lovable losers the Pirates?

I also was surfing through NESN today, they blacked out a Red Sox replay from 1990!!!!!! Why in the heck did that happen????

 

[jcd148]

Last year, I got every Penguins game on FSN Pittsburgh. The Pens were my local hockey team, even though I live near Philadelphia. True, I was unable to get Pirates games, but I didn't care about that. Somethinig has changed from last season to this season. I researched this before getting DTV last February. I can't remember what site it was, but it listed Pittsburgh Penguins as my home market hockey team, but I had no other pro teams for my local teams. I guess I will just cancel the sports pack and get CI to watch the Pens.

 

[jcd148]

Forgot to mention in last post, thanks to all those who responded to my intial post. Strangely enough, I saw the Red Wings vs. Pens on FSN, which was the second game of this season, but no other games so far. Why would I have got that game, but no others?

 

[Digital Dude]

Center Ice free preview.