Xfinity removes ROOT SPORTS from many customers' plans as Seattle Kraken season gets underway
(Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SEATTLE - Many Xfinity customers are finding out that they no longer have access to ROOT SPORTS, home of the Seattle Mariners, Kraken and Portland Trail Blazers, and will have to upgrade their package to get it back.
Xfinity made the announcement to customers in an email on Tuesday, stating "We regularly review our channel lineups and adjust them, as needed, to ensure our entertainment packages provide customers with the best choices and most value. We pay programmers in order to offer their content to our customers, and the costs for sports programming continue to rise."
To keep ROOT SPORTS, customers on the Popular TV plan would have to pay about $20 more per month to upgrade to the Ultimate TV plan.
At the same time, Xfinity said it would reduce the cost of the Popular plan by $8 a month.
The announcement was sent to customers on Kraken opening day. The first Kraken game on ROOT airs Thursday night.
"We are disappointed that Xfinity has moved ROOT SPORTS to the Ultimate package," ROOT said in a statement. "The timing is less than ideal."
The Mariners said in a statement said the organization was disappointed that the network was moved to a package "less accessible" to fans.
Xfinity told The Seattlle Times that it planned to launch a $5 per month promotional deal for six months for those wanting to watch ROOT SPORTS NW.
Read the full email to Xfinity customers:
"ROOT SPORTS has moved to a different TV package.
"We regularly review our channel lineups and adjust them, as needed, to ensure our entertainment packages provide customers with the best choices and most value. We pay programmers in order to offer their content to our customers, and the costs for sports programming continue to rise.
"Because Regional Sports Networks (RSN), like ROOT SPORTS, drive significant expense for our customers, we’ve removed this channel from your current TV package and will be reducing your RSN fee. Until this fee reduction goes into effect, you’ll soon see a $7.95 credit in your monthly bill.
"Of course, ROOT SPORTS is still available from Xfinity as part of a higher tier package for those who are interested in this programming. If you’d like to add it back to your channel lineup, you can upgrade to the Ultimate package by calling 1-800-xfinity or visiting xfinity.com.
"We’ll continue to find ways to provide you with more choice in your entertainment options and more opportunities for savings.
"Thank you for being an Xfinity customer."
Where else can you watch ROOT SPORTS?
Regional Sports Networks like ROOT are not available on most streaming cable services like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live.
ROOT is available on fuboTV which starts at $74.99 per month, plus a $10.99 per month fee for Regional Sports Networks.
It's also available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, CenturyLink and Astound Broadband.
Other providers of ROOT SPORTS can be found here.