NESN


New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN, is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the network is primarily carried on cable providers throughout New England. NESN is also distributed nationally on satellite providers DirecTV and as NESN National via select cable providers.
NESN is the primary broadcaster of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins – serving as the exclusive home for all games that are not televised by a national network. NESN also carries minor league baseball games, regional college sports events, various outdoor and sports talk shows. The network has become synonymous with local sports in New England, and is considered a local institution.

History

The New England Sports Network launched on April 4, 1984, originally operating as a joint-venture of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, and Storer Communications. The new service which featured 90 Red Sox and 40 Bruins games during its first year was sold as a premium channel with prices ranging from $7.50 to $10 per month. A number of these games were previously aired on WSBK.
In 1996, NESN became the New England affiliate of Fox Sports Net, carrying the network's national sports and magazine programs; this lasted until 1999. In January 1998, then-FSN parent News Corporation acquired partial ownership of Cablevision-owned SportsChannel New England, turning it into Fox Sports Net New England. However, despite the name change Fox Sports New England was blocked from carrying any FSN programming due to NESN's existing affiliation agreement. Fox had hoped to negotiate an early termination of that agreement, but had to wait until it expired on December 31, 1999.
NESN converted into a basic cable service in 2001, a model that has since been copied by other companies through their respective launches of new regional sports networks as well as similar conversions of those that began as pay services. Afterwards, until early 2006, NESN carried simulcasts of ESPNews during the afternoon and overnight hours. NESN has carried regional Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball games since Boston College joined the conference, including games distributed for national broadcast for and by Fox Sports Networks.
In September 2003, NESN began producing Red Sox games in high definition. In April 2006, NESN launched a full-time HD feed, after having re-located its operations from Fenway Park to a newly built studio in Watertown with expanded production capabilities.
In 2013, NESN placed a bid to acquire the New England Media Group from The New York Times Company, which would have placed it under the common ownership of The Boston Globe; Fenway dropped out of the bidding in July.
On August 30, 2014, the network became a charter cable affiliate of the American Sports Network, a sports syndication service founded by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, with its first ASN broadcast being a college football game between the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Hampton Pirates. NESN and NESN National also agreed to carry certain games from the inaugural season of the Fall Experimental Football League in October and November 2014.
On June 1, 2022, NESN became the first U.S. regional sports network to offer its content on a direct-to-consumer basis.
On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery, owners of AT&T SportsNet, announced that it would leave the RSN business. This included AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, the broadcasting home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, which were purchased by FSG in late 2021. In August 2023, in a move predicted by sportswriters after the initial announcement, the Penguins announced that they would acquire the channel and relaunch it as SportsNet Pittsburgh in October 2023, with NESN operating the channel as a sister network.

Sports coverage

Boston Red Sox

NESN has provided coverage of the Boston Red Sox's Major League Baseball games since the network's initial spring training game broadcast upon its March 21, 1984, launch. NESN now carries full coverage of Red Sox games as well as in-depth pre-game and post-game shows. For its first two decades, NESN split coverage with broadcast television stations in the team's market territory, with an increasing number of games moving to NESN. Since 2006, NESN is the exclusive home of all Red Sox games that are not nationally televised, using the slogan "One Nation, One Network" to signify this. In 2006, NESN became the first regional sports network to broadcast all Major League Baseball games in high definition, through the launch of its simulcast feed NESN HD.
On August 25, 2015, NESN announced that Don Orsillo, a Red Sox announcer since 2001, would not return following the 2015 season, and that his replacement would be Dave O'Brien, who had been a Red Sox Radio Network voice since 2007. NESN's decision to replace Orsillo, a fan-favorite and Massachusetts native, was met with considerable outrage and disappointment by Red Sox fans. Orsillo's broadcast partner, the late Jerry Remy, was emotional following the announcement, calling the previous 15 years "an absolute pleasure I've been very fortunate because I've worked with a lot of good people, and he's right at the top of the list." Fox Sports San Diego subsequently announced that Orsillo had been hired as the new play-by-play voice of the San Diego Padres, succeeding Dick Enberg.
For Red Sox game broadcasts, Dave O'Brien currently serves as play-by-play announcer, with Kevin Youkilis as his primary color commentator, and Jahmai Webster serving as the field reporter. Other former Red Sox players such as Lou Merloni, Will Middlebrooks, and Kevin Millar also contribute as color commentators.
In 2021, NESN produced all Red Sox home games in 4K with HDR, making it the second team, and first U.S. team, to produce their home games in 4K.

Post-game

Following each game telecast, NESN airs W.B. Mason's Extra Innings and Red Sox Final, in which Tom Caron and one or more of the studio analysts from the pre-game show deliver a wrap-up of that night's game from the studio. The team presents highlights and statistics from the preceding game and often have a team member of the Red Sox on hand to get their take on the game. This hour of coverage also focuses on the game to be played next on the preseason/seasonal game schedule, as well as news from the league. The post-game is usually not covered if the Red Sox play a game held on the west coast; NESN Sports Today immediately follows the game in those instances. Since 2006, NESN has broadcast the postgame show from its Watertown studios; it had previously been broadcast from its Fenway Park studio.

College sports coverage

NESN was a former affiliate of the ACC on Regional Sports Networks package, which included football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sporting events from all 15 ACC schools, including Boston College locally. These games have since been moved to The CW as of 2023. Through the late 2010’s, the network served as an affiliate of Fox Sports Networks and the American Sports Network, giving it access to collegiate sports events from the AHA, American Athletic Conference, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, CAA, Conference USA, ECAC, Pac-12, and Patriot League, among other conferences. Additional collegiate programming formerly carried by NESN includes Southern New Hampshire University athletics, UMass football, and the Coaches vs. Cancer annual basketball event held at TD Garden.

Other sports events

NESN airs several minor league baseball games from the Worcester Red Sox each season, as well as Futures at Fenway, a doubleheader featuring the WooSox and the Portland Sea Dogs. Tom Caron handles the play-by-play with Bob Montgomery as color commentator. Futures at Fenway hasn't been played in 10 years since 2014.
Since 2019, NESN has also aired a package of games involving the Cape Cod Baseball League.
For many years, NESN has aired several minor professional ice hockey games from the Providence Bruins.
From 2008 to 2014, NESN aired the New England Regional of the Little League World Series each August. Coverage ended after ESPN acquired the rights to the entirety of the regional tournaments.
From November 2015 to March 2023, NESN aired the home games of the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League.
In October 2023, NESN showed coverage of the British Basketball League, airing what was to be the final season of that competition.
In December 2023, NESN and Rhode Island FC of the USL Championship announced a multi-year partnership to broadcast select matches starting in 2024.
As of 2024, NESN became the official broadcast partner of the Professional Women's Hockey League.
In 2024, NESN and NESN+ also began televising a package of games involving the Hartford Yard Goats.
In 2025, NESN announced that they would broadcast select home matches of the USL League One soccer team Portland Hearts of Pine.
NESN also airs various soccer and tennis matches.
As of 2025, NESN became the official broadcast partner of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

Programming

Current

  • Bruins Classics – A showcase of vintage Boston Bruins games condensed to fit a one-hour time slot.
  • Celebrity Spotlight
  • Charlie Moore Outdoors – A fishing and outdoors show, hosted by Charlie Moore.
  • Dirty Water TV – A lifestyle show covering the best parties, hottest venues, and coolest destinations in New England nightlife
  • Dining Playbook – A sports-themed look at the New England food and dining scene featuring celebrity chefs and favorite restaurants of local athletes
  • Friday Night Fenway – a half-hour program that airs before the Red Sox pregame show on Friday nights when the Red Sox play a home game. Tom Caron serves as host, along with a rotating group of analysts.
  • Golf Destination
  • NESN Clubhouse – A live Red Sox pregame show aimed at children; airs on Sundays when NESN is scheduled to broadcast a Red Sox game.
  • The Brick's – An awards show showcasing the top moments and players from the first half of the Bruins' season; a postseason edition of the show is also broadcast.
  • Red Sox Classics – A showcase of old Red Sox games that have been deemed classics because of an event of significance that occurred in the game or a player achieving a certain record. Walk Off Sox is essentially identical, but incorporating games that featured a walk-off win by the Red Sox.
  • The Red Sox Report – A Red Sox analysis program hosted by Tom Caron.
  • The Remy's – An awards show showcasing the top moments and players from the first half of the Red Sox's season; a postseason edition is also broadcast. Jonathan Papelbon was named the inaugural "Top Dawg" recipient in 2006.
  • Sox in 2/''Bruins in 2 – A two-hour replay of the previous night's game, usually aired at 12:00 a.m. and on the following day in the early afternoon.
  • The Ultimate Red Sox Show – A weekly show recapping the week in Red Sox Nation.
  • Wicked Bites – A show focusing on some of the more fun and unique food destinations throughout New England.
  • NESN Shuffle -a 30-minute show airing a mix of highlights from NESN's first 4 decades; hosted by Jahmai Webster and Sophia Jurksztowicz on an alternating basis.
  • NESN Rundown -a 30-60 minute show featuring the best segments from NESN-produced podcasts. The show is hosted by a rotating group of NESN personalities.
  • Unobstructed Views'' -a periodic "alt-cast" series on NESN+ for Red Sox games and Bruins games.