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Oct 21, 2023

How to watch Orlando City games without cable

Orlando City supporters have faced a new challenge this season — figuring out

Orlando City supporters have faced a new challenge this season — figuring out how to watch the team without a cable box.

All but one of the Lions’ six Phase One MLS matches will be broadcast on local Fox affiliate WRBW-Channel 65. The matches are blacked out in Central Florida on streaming services and ESPN+, which has left fans in the Orlando area struggling to figure out how to watch the team.

Here is an option for those trying to watch the game:

All fans who have a cable subscription should be able to catch Orlando City matches on WRBW-Channel 65.

However, the channel is not an option for fans who use streaming services like Sling or Hulu, and the stream on ESPN+ is blacked out in a 100-mile radius around Orlando.

There's a simple solution for most fans within the blackout area — buying an antenna.

An antenna can be purchased at Walmart and a variety of other stores.

I picked one up to watch Saturday's match and it provided a clear, uninterrupted view despite thunderstorms in the area.

I went with an RCA indoor flat HDTV antenna with a 40-mile range, which cost a little more than $20 with tax.

This doesn't look like a typical rabbit ears antenna — it's a flat, plastic device that mounted on the wall behind my TV discreetly. There are longer-range options for fans located in more rural areas.

There also are cheaper versions available that cost about $10 and higher end options priced upward of $100 that offer a clearer picture and more reliable range.

A few fans have reported difficulties getting WRBW-65 on their antenna, but the the RCA antenna involved simple set-up and worked steadily in Seminole County Saturday.

Why are games blacked out?

Streaming rights and broadcast rights are two separate entities. WRBW-65 — also called Fox 35-Plus — holds the local broadcasting rights, with some games getting picked up for national broadcasts on channels such as ESPN, FS1 and Fox.

However, local streaming or over-the-top (OTT) rights are separate, and they’re controlled by the league. Although the ESPN+ broadcast offers streaming options for anyone outside of a 100-mile radius of Orlando, it's blocked out locally to provide an option for a local stream. That in-market streaming service, however, doesn't currently exist.

MLS holds the rights to all in-market streaming for each individual team in the league, and teams must pay a fee before they can manage their own streaming rights. According to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer last year, that fee is $100,000 per year.

Cord-cutting Lion fans used to be able to stream Orlando City matches through a partnership with YoutubeTV, which Orlando City held along with the Seattle Sounders and LAFC. But the Lions agreement with YoutubeTV ended midway through the 2019 season as the streaming service pivoted away from live sports, eventually dropping all of its MLS partnerships.

Orlando City is actively pursuing a new local streaming deal, according to a club source.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at [email protected].

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