Tired of paying more to watch your favorite local sports teams on TV?

If you've been eagerly anticipating this year's Seattle Mariners season, you may need to prepare yourself for the shock of a bigger price tag. Fans who watch their favorite teams at home via Xfinity may have heard that the cost of Root Sports subscription is nearly doubling. Root Sports has local media rights for not only the Mariners, but also the Portland Trailblazers.

For many fans, accessing local games at home can seem unnecessarily complicated, frustrating, and expensive, especially if you feel tied to cable bundles that offer less, then charge more for "premium" sports channels — that used to be included in your original package. Plus, recently the Seattle Kraken announced they were leaving ROOT Sports for both streaming and broadcast options, giving local sports fans one more reason to consider cutting the cord.

What's a Northwest sports fan to do?

For anyone who has gotten used to the convenience of one cable service that you think gives you everything you want, the idea of changing by "cutting the cord" and opting for multiple streaming services instead can seem daunting. You probably think that paying for over 200 channels in a premium tier bundle is the only way you can get the half-dozen channels that air the games you really care about.

But increasingly higher prices for the same (or fewer) channels, especially when it comes to the local sports teams and entertainment you love the most, may give you enough motivation to make that change.

Fortunately, there are options out there, and it may be a lot easier than you think to get all the sports you’re looking for, along with more internet speed and reliability all at a lower cost.

One option to help you cut the cord

Thanks to recent technological innovations from companies like Ziply Fiber, fans can cut the cord with cable and still watch their favorite teams on TV.

With the MyBundle personalization tool available through Ziply Fiber, you can build a customized streaming TV package with your favorite sports channels, local news and any other channels you watch regularly, including Hallmark, PBS, Food Network, HGTV and more.

Whether you're a fan of the Mariners, Seahawks, Storm, Seawolves, Pac-12, Big Ten, Big Sky or anyone else, Northwest sports and national networks can all be part of your package. With multiple streaming service plans to choose from, like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DIRECTV and fuboTV, you can pair fast, reliable internet with personalized streaming services and get everything you want without the premium cable bundle price tag.

Ziply makes the process simple: Just add details about what you like to watch, subscriptions you already have (like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.) and the MyBundle tool available through Ziply Fiber will create a personally tailored package that's just right for you.

Cord cutting continues to grow

Sports fans everywhere are starting to realize they can now get the best of both worlds by cutting the cord — saving money and hassles so they can watch favorite teams. In 2023, over 4.9 million people cut the cord with their cable provider and switched to streaming.

Just as ballclubs do with their rosters during spring training, now is the perfect time to take a close look at your channel package and subscriptions to make sure you're getting the most out of them. MyBundle with Ziply Fiber can show you a better option to watch all the sports you love, and better internet — while also saving you money.

Learn more about how to design your own personalized streaming package at ZiplyFiber.com/Services/Streaming-tv.