Updated: Bally Sports App Suffers Outage; Subs Can’t Watch Games

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman
More than 30 years of experience covering TV technology.

What Happened to the Bally Sports App?

Bally Sports Plus, the standalone service for the Bally Sports regional sports networks, last night suffered a “widespread outage” that prevented subscribers from watching NBA and NHL games. The streamer posted a notice at its X page (formerly Twitter) that informed subscribers of the technical difficulties. “Our service provider experienced a widespread outage that impacted multiple partners. As it comes back online, signing into Bally Sports will be impacted,” Bally Sports wrote. “We are currently working with our service provider on resolving this issue. We apologize and thank you for your patience.” The outage also affected viewers who use their pay TV user name and password to watch the games on the app.

Is the Bally Sports Outage Over?

As of 4 a.m. ET today (October 31), Bally Sports had not followed up with a statement saying the issues had been resolved. At 12:31 a.m. ET this morning, the streamer’s customer service team urged subscribers to keep trying to log in if they have issues: “We apologize for this issue that you are experiencing. We are currently working with our service provider to resolve the log in issue. We advise to keep trying to login a few times as we figure a solution. Thank you for your patience.”

Update, 3:25 p.m. ET: Bally Sports says the issue has been resolved. “We apologize for this issue you experienced last night. We experienced an outage from one of our service partners which has since been resolved.,” the streamer says on its X page.

What Are Bally Sports Subs Saying?

Bally Sports Plus, which costs $19.99 a month or $189.99 a year, normally allows fans to watch the games of 5 MLB teams and more than two dozen NBA and NHL clubs without having to subscribe to a pay TV service. The login issue last night prompted numerous complaints from Bally Sports Plus subscribers on social media.

Thank god I was still under the 7 day free trial for Bally+. The plus should stand for extra BS. I’ll just stream it another way. You lost a potential subscriber with this move. Congratulation.

— Big_Sports_Guy (@Kuzmin__) October 30, 2023

Really cool that I decided to finally get Bally Sport Plus for the Wings this year and it just straight up is down rn. That’s tight, guys.

— Friendly Neighborhood Chad (@ThtsNachoCheese) October 31, 2023

Bally sports is a fuckin disgrace. Can’t even watch after I’ve paid 100 plus bucks so i could see the hornets . App says to update then when you do it’ll just load and load and load. Wtf @HornetsOnBally

— Jimson Boatwright (@SheedStack1994) October 30, 2023

The Bally Sports outage is the latest headache for Diamond Sports, the owner of the Bally Sports regional sports networks. The company declared bankruptcy last March and is attempting to reorganize as a profitable unit. However, Diamond Sports’ effort has been slowed by opposition from MLB and multiple lawsuits involving creditors and its parent company, Sinclair Broadcasting.

Update: Bally Sports App Crashes Again

What Does This Mean For Live Streaming?

The outage is also another black eye for the live streaming industry. YouTube on Sunday suffered numerous glitches and buffering during its presentation for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Despite improvements, live streaming continues to have technical issues, particularly during high-profile events.

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.

— Phillip Swann