How do RSNs and sports broadcasting rights work?
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A regional sports network will make a contract with an individual team in MLB, NHL, or NBA to have exclusive rights to show all non-network games to a designated geographical area. In some cases depending on the sport a nationally televised game is allowed to co-exist with an RSN broadcast. For example, baseball games on ESPN are exclusive and cannot be shown by an RSN, while TBS games are not exclusive and can be shown by an RSN.
The “designated geographical area” part is the major reason why you see blackouts, as the RSN takes priority over any streaming service for the right to show the game in the designated area. The designated areas are different for each league. For example, while the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars have the rights to broadcast in Oklahoma via Bally Sports Southwest, the Mavericks are not broadcast in Oklahoma because that is the territory of the Thunder.
Some regions may be “claimed” by multiple teams. The most infamous example is Iowa, where six different teams claim Iowa as their territory even though not one cable company carries all six channels for the claiming teams. If you have satellite or a streaming service that carries RSNs, you do have access to both. However, [MLB.TV](http://MLB.TV) subscribers in Iowa cannot see *any* game involving the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Royals, and Cardinals.
For playoffs, baseball is only available nationally, there are no RSN games. For NHL and NBA, first round playoff games coexist with the national broadcaster, but all other rounds are exclusive to the network.
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