AT&T Getting out of the Sports Broadcasting Biz

[BusinessGoose]

18-20 would be perfect.

*like most football leagues in europe.

I am not to fond of the ever expanding clubs and diminishing overall talent on teams.

There needs be an NHL2

And I don't mean AHL

We need to relegate teams sometimes

 

[BigEezyE22]

We haven't had cable for years. Sort of. Not the old time $250 a month cable.

I stuck with Comcast and a basic package with maybe 60 channels that I pretty much never watch through their app, and cable for something like $85 a month when all fees are added in. Then a bunch of streaming services which is the problem that we are discussing here.

YoutubeTV, Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime with four other minor services like Starz and Masterpiece, Disney+ package with Hulu, AppleTV, Peacock comes free through my phone company. You get the idea. It has become so fragmented that people have to make choices on what to keep and not, and only have so many watching hours in a day.

It makes it better that I let my girlfriend and father watch all of those but services are cracking down on that now.

You see the problem though. Adding the Pens for $300 a year, Pirates for another $300 a year, Steelers if it comes to it for another $300 a year, basketball, soccer, competitive card play and whatever else all wanting a cut. Yeah, some can and will do it but how many?

The golden days for sports teams just hoovering in unlimited money is over.

If the Pens want to charge $300 a year they can go get f***ed.

 

[Night Shift]

18-20 would be perfect.

*like most football leagues in europe.

I am not to fond of the ever expanding clubs and diminishing overall talent on teams.

I had 26 in mind but what ever the case, unless FSG sells I think we're safe.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

If the Pens want to charge $300 a year they can go get f***ed.

And you like hockey.

You are making my point.

If even most people who like hockey will not pay a couple hundred a year or so then revenues have to go way down.

 

[BigEezyE22]

And you like hockey.

You are making my point.

If even most people who like hockey will not pay a couple hundred a year or so then revenues have to go way down.

Considering length of season, you're talking $35 per month. That is dumb.

 

[Slick Arnold]

1. Three quarters or more of people who do not even like hockey paid for it and every other sport in their cable packages that they were forced to buy in their entirety. That is never coming back, nor are the dollars that come with that.

2. There are so many streaming and other services competing for your dollar that people now have to pick and choose. And more come every day. In a time of a recession coming to boot. And those companies who got into the game and have spent big are reassessing big time. Disney is the latest who regrets at least some of the big spending as there is no possible return on it close to what was spent. You have seen the bankruptcies with companies tring to ditch their sports contracts.

This is not going back. It is set out in the article. And it will get a lot worse before it stabilizes.

Is my stab in the dark guess at where the fall ends right? Who knows? But I suspect that it is close.

Warner Looks to Offload ‘Orphan’ AT&T SportsNet Channels as Broader RSN Industry Faces Not an ‘Implosion,’ but Certainly a Major Reset

No, regional sports networks aren't going away anytime soon, analyst tells Next TV, but the coming months will see some big changes

www.nexttv.com

Yes, the RSN model is broken and has been dying a slow death for the better part of 15 years. That doesn't necessarily mean that live sports rights are any less valuable. Distribution may certainly look different though.

Neither Bally/Sinclair or Warner have filed and both are using the threat of bankruptcy to negotiate with their creditors. Bally/Sinclair wants equity in a Ch 11 restructuring and Warner is threatening Ch 7 if teams don't 'take their rights back' whatever that means lol.

In bankruptcy, the contracts can be assumed and assigned to a buyer or otherwise sold as part of an auction. The contracts will be some of the most valuable assets of the estates. RSNs are no longer the best fit for the rights but there is a large swath of companies that are now better positioned to deliver the content.

 

[Night Shift]

Yes, the RSN model is broken and has been dying a slow death for the better part of 15 years. That doesn't necessarily mean that live sports rights are any less valuable. Distribution may certainly look different though.

Neither Bally/Sinclair or Warner have filed and both are using the threat of bankruptcy to negotiate with their creditors. Bally/Sinclair wants equity in a Ch 11 restructuring and Warner is threatening Ch 7 if teams don't 'take their rights back' whatever that means lol.

In bankruptcy, the contracts can be assumed and assigned to a buyer or otherwise sold as part of an auction. The contracts will be some of the most valuable assets of the estates. RSNs are no longer the best fit for the rights but there is a large swath of companies that are now better positioned to deliver the content.

Maybe it'll sort of go back to the way it was like in the 80s and 90s when you had multiple (local) channels carrying a certain % of teams games.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

It's not rocket surgery.

The simple salient question is this:

Now that people who don't care for sports are no longer subsidizing the sports watching of those who do love ait, how many will pay? And how much will they pay?

The answer is less than most here think.

 

[metalan2]

It's not rocket surgery.

The simple salient question is this:

Now that people who don't care for sports are no longer subsidizing the sports watching of those who do love ait, how many will pay? And how much will they pay?

The answer is less than most here think.

Same goes for cable news networks. No one really pays.

 

[LOGiK]

Same goes for cable news networks. No one really pays.

Well, how many supporters / followers / watevers.... does each team have?
20-50 thousand penguins supporters? 100 thousand? 300 thousand? A MILLION!?

Why don't they just do fund a team. People pay for the team, then share the revenue back with the funders.
Be like gambling.... and supporters can vote on coaching chances / fo changes / broadcaster choices (mears is out =]) it'd be a completely new way of running a sports club.

 

[SomeDude]

Well, how many supporters / followers / watevers.... does each team have?
20-50 thousand penguins supporters? 100 thousand? 300 thousand? A MILLION!?

Why don't they just do fund a team. People pay for the team, then share the revenue back with the funders.
Be like gambling.... and supporters can vote on coaching chances / fo changes / broadcaster choices (mears is out =]) it'd be a completely new way of running a sports club.

Isn’t that pretty much how the Green Bay Packers work? They have “share holders” like it’s a stock.

 

[LOGiK]

In the long-run I'm quite okay with players getting lower salaries because "Debbie the 70 year old retiree who hates hockey" isn't subsidizing them anymore.

There will be some pain in the meantime with caps/salaries, but oh well.

Athletes should not be clearing hundreds of millions of dollars.
ADMISSION should not be hundreds of dollars.

I've never agreed with that. I've always gotten into arguments with my ... well... long ago old friends over that.
They'd argue so the league or team or ceo or owner or whoever keeps all the money!?
I'd say NO... it shouldn't ever cost that much to begin with.
AHL'ers make a reasonable income. Pro should be double.... getting to multi-million is ridiculous.
Athletes will still be athletes. Even without millions of dollars.
eh.

Isn’t that pretty much how the Green Bay Packers work? They have “share holders” like it’s a stock.

Is it? I don't follow the nfl...
I mean it's not a novel idea surely?
Has to be a better way of funding.

How expensive is it to broadcast games? Anyone know that angle? To stream them online or what not? Have a site, or whatever and live-feed / watch later stuff.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Athletes should not be clearing hundreds of millions of dollars.
ADMISSION should not be hundreds of dollars.

I've never agreed with that. I've always gotten into arguments with my ... well... long ago old friends over that.
They'd argue so the league or team or ceo or owner or whoever keeps all the money!?
I'd say NO... it shouldn't ever cost that much to begin with.
AHL'ers make a reasonable income. Pro should be double.... getting to multi-million is ridiculous.
Athletes will still be athletes. Even without millions of dollars.
eh.

I don't have an issue with athlete pay per se, but I'm also not going to act like it's a social bad thing that a 70 year old Grandma who doesn't care about hockey is overcharged by $10/month for her cable, $4 of which goes to ATTSN, $4 of which goes to John Henry and $.20 of which goes to Sidney Crosby.

 

[Night Shift]

I don't have an issue with athlete pay per se, but I'm also not going to act like it's a social bad thing that a 70 year old Grandma who doesn't care about hockey is overcharged by $10/month for her cable, $4 of which goes to ATTSN, $4 of which goes to John Henry and $.20 of which goes to Sidney Crosby.

That $.20 is a weeks worth of Sweet and Low packets

 

[ChaosAgent]

That $.20 is a weeks worth of Sweet and Low packets

True. Sorry, I misspoke.

Grandma took her $10 back from the network, owners and players.

So did Aiden the millennial with $50K of student loan debt who doesn't even like the "sportsball."

It's not a bad thing.

 

[Night Shift]

What's funny is (just) regular cable (coming with all the Espns and RSN) and dial up internet combined in the mid 90s went on average $40 a month.

So, Even if you made minimum wage back then and living on your own that was very do able.

Minimum wage today for cable or internet? Forget it.

Simpler times they were.

 

[Factorial]

How the arrangement would work practically is an interesting question. Because all four teams could, theoretically, play their games at the same exact same times during the spring, it’s hard to imagine four broadcasts woking through one channel beamed through two cities.

The most obvious solution would be for NESN to simply acquire the existing AT&T SportsNet operation and rebrand it. Some back-office jobs might disappear where there are redundancies with NESN. But the public-facing product could be pretty similar to what we fans are getting from AT&T SportsNet currently.

In a perk for younger fans, games could become more available via streaming, as well. NESN is one of the few RSNs nationwide that has a direct-to-consumer streaming option that bypasses the cable bundle.

The price is hefty — $329.99 for a year or $29.99 per month. But it’s more consumer friendly than the teams’ current deals with AT&T SportsNet, which force fans to pay for unwanted channels within the cable bundle to be able to watch their teams.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pir ... 2303140131

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Isn’t that pretty much how the Green Bay Packers work? They have “share holders” like it’s a stock.

Not really.

Green Bay is really small. They did sell shares in the team but if I remember it is more akin to a seat license. I don't think that those who bought became millionaires as NFL franchise worth skyrocketed.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Not really.

Green Bay is really small. They did sell shares in the team but if I remember it is more akin to a seat license. I don't think that those who bought became millionaires as NFL franchise worth skyrocketed.

"In this case however, Packers fans are not really buying a normal piece of stock, like Apple or Tesla; Packers shares don't increase or decrease in value, are not allowed to be sold, and do not give any voting power either."

Basically, it's a direct donation of funds to upgrade Lambeau Field.

But a number of soccer teams have more traditional stock options https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ig...ow-to-buy-shares-in-football-clubs-191021.amp

 

[GregR]

The Pirates and Penguins may not be without a regional sports network in the coming years after all. It just might be a very different arrangement than fans are used to.

The Athletic’s Daniel Kaplan citing a source close to MLB reported Tuesday that joining up with the Boston area’s New England Sports Network, or NESN, could be an option for the teams if and when Warner Bros. Discovery walks away from its AT&T SportsNet RSNs as it reportedly plans to.

The reason? Common ownership with the Penguins via Fenway Sports Group, which holds an 80% stake in the channel.

Penguins, Pirates reportedly may find new TV home with Boston teams via Fenway Sports Group-owned NESN

The Pirates and Penguins may not be without a regional sports network in the coming years after all. It just might be a very different arrangement than...

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Headshot77]

Penguins, Pirates reportedly may find new TV home with Boston teams via Fenway Sports Group-owned NESN

The Pirates and Penguins may not be without a regional sports network in the coming years after all. It just might be a very different arrangement than...

www.post-gazette.com

Everyone saw that coming a mile away

 

[BusinessGoose]

Great.... FSG is gonna move more PITT stuff to bawstin

 

[Coastal Kev]

Great.... FSG is gonna move more PITT stuff to bawstin

Hartford.........bank on it

 

[FlightlessBird]

Like mentioned above, everybody saw this coming. And it does make sense. I have Fios, and already have NESN. However, it’s only in standard def, so that would need to change. Just make a NESN2 and show everything ATT already shows.

Plus, maybe we’ll FINALLY be rid of Potash!

 

[Factorial]

Like mentioned above, everybody saw this coming. And it does make sense. I have Fios, and already have NESN. However, it’s only in standard def, so that would need to change. Just make a NESN2 and show everything ATT already shows.

Plus, maybe we’ll FINALLY be rid of Potash!

What do you pay for NESN2?

Direct streaming of NESN is $30/month or $330/year.