Phillies

In-Market, Ala Carte Streaming of Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers Games has Finally Arrived, and it’s Pricey

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 18th, 2025 · 11:46 AM EDT

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After years of scuttlebutt on this front, NBC Sports Philadelphia is finally available as an in-market ala carte streaming option. Press release:

PHILDELPHIA (sic) – March 18, 2025 – Peacock today launched in-market streaming of NBC Sports Philadelphia, allowing Peacock subscribers to subscribe directly to stream the network’s live games featuring the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies, NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, and comprehensive coverage of Philadelphia’s teams, athletes and sports.

The new option enables Peacock Premium or Premium Plus subscribers located in NBC Sports Philadelphia’s television territory to purchase a monthly add-on subscription in addition to their Peacock subscription to receive the 24/7 stream of the network’s programming, including: 

NBC Sports Philadelphia’s live Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia 76ers, and Philadelphia Flyers games, which are surrounded by comprehensive pregame and postgame coverage, and extensive Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) programming, highlighted by live gameday and daily in-season shows. NBC Sports Philadelphia also provides sports news, analysis and commentary programming, such as ‘SportsNet Central,’ and live coverage of other teams, including college basketball and football.

NBC Sports Philadelphia’s MLB, NBA and NHL game schedules include non-nationally exclusive regular season and postseason games, as well as select preseason matchups. Live games programmed on the network’s ‘plus’ channel will be available to subscribers as live-event streams outside the 24/7 channel. In-market blackouts may apply to certain teams’ games (including blackouts of all games for certain teams in particular zip codes) based on user location consistent with television availability and league policies.

The price for the add-on subscription for NBC Sports Philadelphia is $24.95/mo. Users with a direct-billed Peacock Premium ($7.99/mo.) or Premium Plus ($13.99/mo.) Plan can purchase an add-on subscription. To learn more and to subscribe, users can visit NBC Sports Philadelphia.

People are complaining about the price. $25 for NBCSP on top of the required Peacock subscription amounts to $33 to $39 a month. That does not seem like the greatest of deals.

But you have to think about the target customer, which is the person currently paying for cable or YouTube TV who only watches local sports and doesn’t care about the 7,000 other channels they get. They do not need Dancing with the Stars. They just want to watch the Phils, Flyers, and Sixers, so for them, it’s a better deal than what they’re currently paying.

The real question is how many of these customers actually exist inside of the market. And what do they look like? Is it the grumpy baseball boomer who just wants to sit in the recliner and watch the game without being bothered? Is it a collection of college kids in the dorms? Is it single men in their 20s? You would think the typical family probably isn’t going for this because it does not satisfy your wife’s need for trash television, unless streaming Bravo through the regular Peacock subscription suffices. In a situation like that, you’d pay less than $40 a month and everyone gets their fill of garbage, be it the Sixers, Flyers, or Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Beyond that, the problem with cutting the cord in 2025, or even getting off YouTube TV, is that the ala carte options are numerous. By the time you have Peacock, the ESPN/Hulu/Disney bundle, and Netflix or Apple TV, you’re talking $50 a month right there. Packaging various services together is oftentimes no more cost-effective than one big service, but the sticking point is that you can build out your setup to your liking, whereas 25 years ago we were stuck with a clunky cable box and didn’t have many options at all.