MSG: Rangers, Isles, Devils, Sabres
NBC Sports: Flyers, Caps, Blackhawks, Sharks
NESN: Bruins
Altitude: Avs
Collapse of Regional Sports Networks (Diamond Sports Group files bankruptcy, Warner-Discovery looking to leave business, Xfinity drops Bally)
- Thread starter Headshot77
- Start date
MSG: Rangers, Isles, Devils, Sabres
NBC Sports: Flyers, Caps, Blackhawks, Sharks
NESN: Bruins
Altitude: Avs
Should note NBC/Comcast now longer owns NBC Sports Washington. It was sold to Leonsis in earlier this year and is in the process of being rebranded. Although given the team’s ownership owns the RSN outright that is likely a stable situation.
Golden_Jet
Registered User
- Sep 21, 2005
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rsteen
Registered User
- Oct 1, 2022
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Root Sports is 60% owned by the Mariners. I wonder if the Kraken goes in with them to buy out the remaining 40%.
Yukon Joe
Registered User
Wow - I never even contemplated that those RSNs could just be liquidated.
I figured there's always money in tv, and it was just a matter of trying to restructure debt.
Not a lot of options for the teams involved. They can sue for breach of contract and get piled in on the list of creditors for the RSNs, but if it comes to liquidation I'm not sure how much in assets those RSNs have.
I figured there's always money in tv, and it was just a matter of trying to restructure debt.
Not a lot of options for the teams involved. They can sue for breach of contract and get piled in on the list of creditors for the RSNs, but if it comes to liquidation I'm not sure how much in assets those RSNs have.
Headshot77
We saw him heading straight for the mountains
The collapse of the RSN is going to wreck this league. If roughly 20% of revenue comes from them, that will throw a ton of teams into the red. Suddenly an NHL franchise isn't as sure of an investment vehicle anymore and we could see the bubble that is major sports team values also pop along with the RSNs.
I don't think there's gonna be a solution to this that isn't both incredibly messy and loses each team a ton of money in lost RSN revenue. It would make the most sense to me for the NHL and each franchise collaborate to step in and produce all of their own games, and have digital "RSN channels" on a streaming service that you can buy ala carte. That content could then be sold to cable companies as a SECONDARY source of revenue. This would be a major upheaval in the system.
I don't think there's gonna be a solution to this that isn't both incredibly messy and loses each team a ton of money in lost RSN revenue. It would make the most sense to me for the NHL and each franchise collaborate to step in and produce all of their own games, and have digital "RSN channels" on a streaming service that you can buy ala carte. That content could then be sold to cable companies as a SECONDARY source of revenue. This would be a major upheaval in the system.
problem is the 1 channel per team per league on a cable provider won't exactly do well on its own especially. Not enough content to be a stand alone tv network.
GKJ
Global Moderator
- Feb 27, 2002
- 193,089
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Wasn’t AT&T trying to get the penguins too?
Was is going on that this has gone sideways so quickly.
Headshot77
We saw him heading straight for the mountains
This is so f***ing wild. Teams got a roughly 5 week notice that their games won't be televised anymore. With this and Bally that's 15 teams that just lost 20% of their revenue just like that. You will see a lot more teams operating in the red. And this could also pop the sports franchise value bubble too if everyone wakes up and realizes owning a sports team is no longer a guaranteed money maker.
The safest teams are those that own their own network. Like Boston with NESN or the New York teams with MSG. That's where the future is gonna go in the near term. Teams will buy back their distribution rights from ATT or Bally, and out of necessity go into the RSN business themselves. Which sucks ass for them. It's so easy to just cash a $300million check and have some dumbass film your games for you. Teams are gonna have to put in a lot more work now, and for less money than before.
The safest teams are those that own their own network. Like Boston with NESN or the New York teams with MSG. That's where the future is gonna go in the near term. Teams will buy back their distribution rights from ATT or Bally, and out of necessity go into the RSN business themselves. Which sucks ass for them. It's so easy to just cash a $300million check and have some dumbass film your games for you. Teams are gonna have to put in a lot more work now, and for less money than before.
Golden_Jet
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- Sep 21, 2005
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Djp
Registered User
Djp
Registered User
thsts why baseball and hockey work well and then you have a supplemental ststion in case of conflict.
baseball season is April-September and hockey is october-April. In April baseball does more day games. After first round,nhl playoffs sre 100% national tv.
in DC they have a second station that goes on if there is a wizards-Capitals game conflict . No conflict, the station is off Or it’s airline other sports like high school and local college.
orioles/Senators are on a different network Mid-Atlantic sports network
Byrddog
Lifer
- Nov 23, 2007
- 7,534
- 845
This looks like the future, but many teams can not afford this. Not only losing the guaranteed TV revenue. They will incur start up cost of broadcasting which will be huge. Then they are going to have to sell advertising which is a tall task when you consider fewer and fewer companies advertise on TV. Think about the commercials you see now. It is dominated by insurance companies followed big pharmaceutical companies peddling the newest medications. We no longer see the product companies much. Pepsi, Coke, Budweiser and the like. Some companies still support select cities like Budweiser in St Louis or Coors in Denver but not nationally. When was the last time we saw a Lablatt commercial in the states? Yeah a few in markets close to the border. When’s the last time we saw grocery chain commercials in the league? The advertising dollar for regional TV is very limited and it will be a tall task for most markets to sell enough air time to compensate the effort. How is it going to happen? If Bally has revenue issues how can 20 or so smaller Ballies pull it off much less prosper.
The players association is fed up with escrow and I’m pretty certain that there will be a stoppage at some point if the escrow is pushed. The CB league has maybe a dozen healthy markets that can endure what’s coming. A fan base that has been decreasing for a number of years with teams kept on life support by local businesses buying large chunks support. You have Honda, Staples, Bridgestone and a number of others buying naming rights of the facilities already. Markets needing updated facilities paid for by public support and regions hawking at paying for them Arizona is but one.
This is going to be a rough road for survival of many teams. While the league will survive it is going to change . There are going to be a number of teams fold over the next 10 years. The teams are now overvalued . As a the NHL is struggling to keep revenue level much less grow while having some B of the most expensive ticket cost in sports. Is the day coming that pay per view is the future. Look at a CB PPV cost for boxing, UFC or even WWE. This CB is the cost of loss of advertising for entertainment. Look at the cost of commercials for ghe Super Bowl. What type of programming can be put together to make the games available and affordable to the masses? If that lightning can be caught in a bottle the the league can proceed , if not the slow death of what we have now has started.
Headshot77
We saw him heading straight for the mountains
Well. The teams wouldn't have to buy the rights to their own content. That is why RSNs are failing. The rights deals in the hundreds of millions of dollars aren't sustainable.
I agree I said it before the point where the RSNs where likely healthy enough to pay these over valued RSN rights were likely 15 yrs ago.
I never understood the how most teams avg 20,000- 40,000 local viewers some less some more but end up getting $20m RSN deals.
In the end it's because it didn't make sense or add up. It was a run away bubble fueled by the expectation of that money been there for the long term and something they wouldn't have to worry about for at least a decade and they could still end up just kicking the can down the road on.
I see no way even with teams taking their rights that these teams won't lose at least $10-15m in money that largely went to salary. No OTT service is gonna cover that lost revenue. Yet alone the money to run that venture. It's just a sucky situation all around.
mouser
Business of Hockey
Still researching, but my immediate impression from the Discovery/ATT notice is not for the teams to buy back rights. Looks more like Discovery asking the teams to agree to terminate the contracts peacefully and not sue Discovery/ATT over the contract termination.
edit name correction
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Headshot77
We saw him heading straight for the mountains
LadyStanley
Registered User
Warner Bros. Discovery tells teams it wants to exit RSN business
Teams received a letter Friday from AT&T SportsNet president Patrick Crumb, according to the Wall Street Journal.
theathletic.com
Athletic article on WBD issues based on WSJ article.
Apply this to NHL. All 3 leagues have been told to expect cuts of as much as 70%
NBA teams reportedly aren't concerned with Diamond Sports' potential bankruptcy filing
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Terry Lefton reported that teams in those three leagues “have been told to expect their local media rights fees to be cut by as much as 70% over the next several years.” That’s a massive drop for something that’s a sizable portion of annual revenue for teams. Regardless, NBA teams aren’t panicking. At least not yet.
MLB, NHL, and NBA teams have a conundrum on their hands. A partnership with an RSN is more lucrative but has limited distribution. That distribution is getting more and more limited due to cord-cutting. Working out a deal with a local affiliate or streamer would result in wider distribution, but result in less money coming to the team. SBJ revealed that an NBA team president said that revenue would drop “from the mid-$30 million range per year to around $8 million” if games move from an RSN to a DTC service.
Given the future of the RSN market, at some point, the limited distribution and the expected drop in RSN rights fees will eventually bring about some sort of change in local rights.
NBA teams reportedly aren't concerned with Diamond Sports' potential bankruptcy filing
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and Terry Lefton reported that teams in those three leagues “have been told to expect their local media rights fees to be cut by as much as 70% over the next several years.” That’s a massive drop for something that’s a sizable portion of annual revenue for teams. Regardless, NBA teams aren’t panicking. At least not yet.
MLB, NHL, and NBA teams have a conundrum on their hands. A partnership with an RSN is more lucrative but has limited distribution. That distribution is getting more and more limited due to cord-cutting. Working out a deal with a local affiliate or streamer would result in wider distribution, but result in less money coming to the team. SBJ revealed that an NBA team president said that revenue would drop “from the mid-$30 million range per year to around $8 million” if games move from an RSN to a DTC service.
Given the future of the RSN market, at some point, the limited distribution and the expected drop in RSN rights fees will eventually bring about some sort of change in local rights.
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Night Shift
Registered User
Cable and dish are becoming a thing of the past with their unaffordable prices (especially for sports) on top of internet. Thats why streaming has been the future.
I have to think literally no one but sports fans have cable or a dish anymore. Even as the years have gone by since streaming came out, sports fans are getting smarter and cutting the cord to save a $.
So im thinking (hoping) this is a good thing and hopefully blackouts will also be a thing of the past.
I have to think literally no one but sports fans have cable or a dish anymore. Even as the years have gone by since streaming came out, sports fans are getting smarter and cutting the cord to save a $.
So im thinking (hoping) this is a good thing and hopefully blackouts will also be a thing of the past.
