Technical issues hamper Bally Sports Kansas City’s coverage of Royals’ season opener
Not only players sometimes struggle in their debut.
Bally Sports Kansas City’s first Royals broadcast was Thursday’s season opener and technical issues left fans searching for the game on their cable networks.
Viewers watching on Google Fiber and Cox Communications had separate issues on the network, which was known as Fox Sports Kansas City before rebranding earlier this week as Bally Sports.
Fans also reported audio issues on Spectrum in Lincoln, Nebraska, and not seeing the game at all on Consolidated Communications in Kansas City. Some took to social media to express their frustration.
For Google Fiber viewers, it was simply a matter of the game airing on channel 206 instead of channel 205 as scheduled. That issue was rectified midway through the game when it was airing on both channels.
Cox Communications viewers in Kansas were seeing a blank screen for an unknown reason. That also was fixed halfway through the game.
Bally said Consolidated Communications viewers missed just 60 seconds of the game.
“We apologize to Google Fiber and Cox subscribers who missed the beginning of yesterday’s Opening Day Royals game,” Bally Sports Kansas City said in a statement. “We’ve identified the technical issues and are working with our provider partners to remedy the situations.”
There also was a bit of confusion among some cable viewers who were hoping to stream the game. While a Bally Sports Kansas City app is nearly ready to be released, it’s not out yet.
In the meantime, Bally plans to continue to stream Royals games on the Fox Sports Go app, but those games are only viewable on the app if you have a login for a plan that includes the Bally Sports KC channel. That was the case on Thursday.
The ongoing frustration among fans who have limited streaming options to watch Royals games (AT&T TV is available without cable, but the Bally regional sports networks do not have a contract with YouTube TV and Hulu Live) again was brought up on social media on Thursday.
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 9:12 AM.
