SportsNet Pittsburgh Set to Remain Home of Pittsburgh Pirates; NESN Will Continue Running Daily Ops for RSN

The Pirates will jointly own the network with the Pittsburgh Penguins

SportsNet Pittsburgh will remain home of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball for all regionally televised games. The Pirates announced Wednesday they have entered into an agreement to jointly own the network with the Pittsburgh Penguins beginning Jan. 1, 2024. Daily operations of SportsNet Pittsburgh will continue to be managed by New England Sports Network (NESN). Fans will be able to continue watching games seamlessly on their cable, satellite or streaming provider, according to the announcement.

“Above all else, this was the right thing to do for our fans,” Pirates president Travis Williams says. “From the outset of this process, the most important thing to us was to ensure that our fans have the same level of access to Pirates game telecasts and the same high-quality production that they enjoy today. This agreement accomplishes that and more as we enable Pittsburgh sports fans to continue to enjoy a two-team, 24/7 sports channel.”

Fenway Sports Group holds a controlling interest in NESN, which also serves as home to the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. Fenway Sports Group also owns the Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, who’s games are carried on SportsNet Pittsburgh.

“We are thrilled that the Pirates are joining the SportsNet Pittsburgh partnership,” NESN president and CEO Sean McGrail says. “Over 150 Pirates games in addition to the Penguins telecasts makes SportsNet Pittsburgh a must-have sports destination for Pittsburgh fans.”

The Penguins announced the acquisition of SportsNet Pittsburgh, then called AT&T Sports, in August and rebranded the RSN when it was formally acquired from Warner Bros. Discovery in October. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the network won’t leave the North Shore studios that have housed AT&T SportsNet (and Root Sports and FSN Pittsburgh before that) and the on-air talent is expected to remain the samewith play-by-play men Greg Brown and Joe Block, as well as the rotating cast of color commentators around them. The Post-Gazette also reports that a a direct-to-consumer streaming option is likely on the horizon in partnership with NESN.