why is the pacers game blacked out

The Pacers game is blacked out because of regional sports network rights and NBA blackout policies. Bally Sports Indiana holds exclusive local broadcast rights for Pacers games, which means that even if the game is broadcast on NBA TV or available via streaming platforms, it gets blacked out in the Indiana market to protect those local rights. This blackout prevents fans in the local region from watching the game on other channels or streaming services that do not have the local broadcast rights. Additionally, there is an ongoing dispute between Sinclair Broadcast Group (which owns Bally Sports) and some streaming platforms, leading to many popular streaming services like YouTube TV and Hulu not being able to offer Bally Sports Indiana, further restricting access for some fans. Blackouts also occur because NBA League Pass respects these local broadcast rights by blocking live games in the home market, providing access only to on-demand archives hours or days after the games. So, the blackout is due to local exclusive broadcast rights and service disputes that limit the availability of live Pacers games on certain platforms in Indiana.