Fox Sports Go began streaming Fox Sports channels beginning in October 2013, two months after Fox Sports 1 and 2 launched. However, except for a free preview for Super Bowl XLVIII, DirecTV subscribers had been locked out from accessing the app. That has been the case, until now.
Starting today, DirecTV subscribers can access Fox Sports Go by signing in with their login names and passwords. Here’s the access screen through the iPad app.
DirecTV joins other major providers such as AT&T U-Verse, Bright House, Cablevision’s Optimum, Charter, Comcast’s Xfinity, Cox and Time Warner Cable plus other smaller providers. Dish has yet to sign an agreement for Fox Sports Go at this time.
The announcement for this wasn’t made by a press release either by DirecTV or Fox, but by a tweet from Fox Sports’ digital guru Pete Vlastelica, the man who founded Yardbarker:
Hey, look at that! I'm authenticated on FOX Sports GO via my @DIRECTV account! @cpiercejr pic.twitter.com/GMPMO1p2JX
— Pete Vlastelica (@PeteVlastelica) February 17, 2015
The channels that can be accessed by DirecTV subscribers are Fox Sports events that are aired on your local Fox affiliate, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, the Big East Digital Network which includes conference events aired on TV and streamed online, and Fox Sports Go Extras which is various content from local Fox Sports Net channels. The Fox College Sports channels which are periodically available on DirecTV, are not available to subscribers.
NBA games from local Fox Sports Net regional sports networks will also be available to subscribers in participating markets.
On my iPad, the picture quality of Fox Sports 1 is good. The video did cut out a few times, but the picture has remained for the most part without losing any of the action. Fox Sports 2 is another story. The video has cut out and there’s been a lot of buffering, but that could be my wifi connection.
DirecTV subscribers had been waiting for a long time for Fox Sports Go, but they no longer have to wait to watch Fox Sports events online. Now all that is left is WatchESPN, but that is expected to be aded to DirecTV either at the end of February or in early March.