Collapse of Regional Sports Networks (Diamond Sports Group files bankruptcy, Warner-Discovery looking to leave business, Xfinity drops Bally)

[joelef]

I was saying the national stuff.

There's SEVEN different subscriptions you need to watch ALL the sports on the streaming services, right? That's like $1300 a year, but still doesn't get you Fox Sports which requires a cable login!

(And maybe this is my ignorance if something like Fubo has this accomplished).

What percentage of people are buying all seven? People are making their decisions based on their budgets and adding additional services to get more sports just isn't happening because of the price.

But let's say the 7 of them come together (after Fox does a DTC stream subscription) and they cut a deal for a clean trade of streaming rights: You can use mine, I can use yours and we put it all as an "add-on" to each service at the same price.

So it's now $15 MORE a month to get the Disney/Hulu/ESPN bundle with "Total Sports Add-On" that now it has ALL the Fox/Max/Apple/Peacock/Paramount sports, too. And Max offers the same Total Sports Add On for same price.

What sports fan with ONE service isn't tacking on the extra $15 a month when subscribing to ALL services is $1300?

It's extra money they're not currently getting (from families that can't afford multiple services).

No on sims force you to buy all those subscriptions

 

[varsaku]

It all depends on a person’s preferences. I know a lot of folks saying we’re coming to a tipping point of picking what sport(s) you are a fan of and want to watch, but I’d wager most folks are there already. There aren’t too many fans of *everything*.

I’m in the middle of cord cutting right now, and am just waiting to see how things shake out with WBD selling AT&T Pittsburgh for which path I go down.

My preferences are hockey (Penguins), college football (Penn State), with the NFL, golf, and soccer a distant third and counting. I’ve got to a Plan A and B right now, waiting as long as I can to pull the trigger before Week 0 for football.

I currently have ESPN+ from Verizon and Prime thanks to my wife’s love of one day shipping, so I am not counting those here.

Plan A: Fubo + Max. Fubo has everything for me covered, except TNT for hockey. Sounds like that is being done by the time the season rolls around, with Max adding Turner’s live sports by October. ($74.99 + $15.99 [or more])

Plan B: Sling + antenna (already purchased) + FSG’s Pittsburgh version of NESN360 — IF that’s what happens. ($55 + $20??)

Obviously, I’d prefer Plan B for pricing. But even adding Peacock and Apple TV+ to either option for more sports still has my monthly bill lower than what I paid Comcast last month for cable and internet.

Couldn't a VPN just get you around blackouts and not need cable.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Couldn't a VPN just get you around blackouts and not need cable.

Used to , they’re getting smarter with the software, eg.what address did you sign up with,
Geo locating, is GPS on device,
And other gotchas.
Depends on provider.

 

[Spydey629]

Couldn't a VPN just get you around blackouts and not need cable.

I am not that technical enough to know how to do all that. Just figuring out the best path to save some money, and not be complicated when I have to get my in-laws on the same set-up.

 

[bossram]

It sounds a lot easier to watch sports in Canada. Generally if you are a sports fan, a cable package with SN + TSN (or standalone streaming packages from them) will get you most major nationally broadcast sports, and all regional games for your local teams.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

@tarheelhockey I found this QT interesting, do you believe that Canes will go to local OTA if the Bally agreement has to end?

 

[tarheelhockey]

@tarheelhockey I found this QT interesting, do you believe that Canes will go to local OTA if the Bally agreement has to end?

I’m not in a great position to read the tea leaves on this one. @Blueline Bomber might know more scuttlebutt on what the options are.

FWIW, Joe Ovies is a radio guy with Canes connections but is not the kind of journalist whose sources go all the way to the top. Until recently he was employed by 99.9 The Fan, which is part of Capitol Broadcasting Company. CBC is the major player in local media, dominating sports radio as well as OTA television with WRAL. They are a long term, strategically-aligned partner to the Hurricanes, and would be the obvious candidate to make a bid for Canes broadcast rights.

I would guess that Ovies doesn’t know a whole lot more than what he’s already said here — Dundon is aware of the potential for an OTA bid — and that he got his info from his CBC connections.

 

[Spydey629]

I’m not in a great position to read the tea leaves on this one. @Blueline Bomber might know more scuttlebutt on what the options area.

FWIW, Joe Ovies is a radio guy with Canes connections but is not the kind of journalist whose sources go all the way to the top. Until recently he was employed by 99.9 The Fan, which is part of Capitol Broadcasting Company. CBC is the major player in local media, dominating sports radio as well as OTA television with WRAL. They are a long term, strategically-aligned partner to the Hurricanes, and would be the obvious candidate to make a bid for Canes broadcast rights.

I would guess that Ovies doesn’t know a whole lot more than what he’s already said here — Dundon is aware of the potential for an OTA bid — and that he got his info from his CBC connections.

I'd be curious to see how all the different every day teams line out for contract length. MLS made all of their franchises all wind their locals deals up the same year, to make a national pitch for the league, winding up with the Apple deal.

Seeing the NFL make NFL+ a complete streaming channel for all things NFL today, I am wondering how long it would take MLB, the NHL, and the NBA to get all of their ducks in a row to do the same thing. Baseball was angling for it already, I'm not sure about rights for the winter sports.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I’m not in a great position to read the tea leaves on this one. @Blueline Bomber might know more scuttlebutt on what the options area.

FWIW, Joe Ovies is a radio guy with Canes connections but is not the kind of journalist whose sources go all the way to the top. Until recently he was employed by 99.9 The Fan, which is part of Capitol Broadcasting Company. CBC is the major player in local media, dominating sports radio as well as OTA television with WRAL. They are a long term, strategically-aligned partner to the Hurricanes, and would be the obvious candidate to make a bid for Canes broadcast rights.

I would guess that Ovies doesn’t know a whole lot more than what he’s already said here — Dundon is aware of the potential for an OTA bid — and that he got his info from his CBC connections.

Right now all I can tell you is that the league is focused on the RSN situation, which you know…you’d hope so. Give me a week or two and I’ll have a much clearer answer. Of course, there’s a chance everyone will know something in a week or two, so that’s not saying much.

 

[TheLegend]

Today during a bankruptcy hearing for Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of Bally Sports, the judge granted them an extra 80 days to finish their go-forward plan. This plan is meant to show the court how Bally Sports will keep operating in the future. Now the NHL has warned the court that while they have had talks with Bally Sports, they may come back to the court soon and “ask for relief on short notice.” This comes according to a report from Sportico.

Bally Sports May Lose NHL TV Rights If a Deal Is Not Reached Soon | Cord Cutters News

Once again, Bally Sports is facing the real risk of losing TV rights to sports teams if a deal is not reached soon with the NHL. This summer, Bally Sports lost rights to two MLB teams, with the Padres and Diamondbacks both not being paid. They have also lost to the NBA Phoenix Suns recently […]

cordcuttersnews.com

The Sportico article.....

Diamond Sports Bankruptcy Extended as NHL, NBA Seasons Near

The 2023-24 NHL and NBA seasons are approaching fast as a federal judge grants Diamond Sports Group more time to address its bankruptcy issues.

www.sportico.com

 

[TheLegend]

MORE….

NHL tells bankruptcy court it may ask for emergency relief from Diamond Sports Group contracts​

NHL tells bankruptcy court it may ask for emergency relief from Diamond Sports Group contracts

The National Hockey League told a bankruptcy court Friday morning that it may ask for emergency relief from Diamond Sports Group contracts.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Spydey629]

Oh good grief. I’m glad I just fall under the “What network is the game going to move to??” category, rather than this telenovela…

Sinclair accused of "milking" $1.5 billion from Diamond Sports in lawsuit

A lawsuit filed last month by Diamond Sports accuses Sinclair of "milking" over a billion dollars from the company.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Spydey629]

I think we’ve hit Energizer Bunny levels of stupidity on this one…

DSG Legal Fight Expands With New Lawsuit Against JPMorgan Chase

The legal drama keeps ramping up for the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group. Having already made a $1.5 billion fraud claim against corporate parent Sinclair Inc, DSG has now filed a second lawsuit alleging Sinclair didn’t act alone.

frontofficesports.com

 

[TheLegend]

Oh good grief. I’m glad I just fall under the “What network is the game going to move to??” category, rather than this telenovela…

Sinclair accused of "milking" $1.5 billion from Diamond Sports in lawsuit

A lawsuit filed last month by Diamond Sports accuses Sinclair of "milking" over a billion dollars from the company.

awfulannouncing.com

If I had to sum it up with a headline…..

“Red headed step child sues foster parents for stealing allowance….. film at 11.”

 

[SirJW]

Disney and Amazon in talks about ESPN

 

[mouser]

Oh good grief. I’m glad I just fall under the “What network is the game going to move to??” category, rather than this telenovela…

Sinclair accused of "milking" $1.5 billion from Diamond Sports in lawsuit

A lawsuit filed last month by Diamond Sports accuses Sinclair of "milking" over a billion dollars from the company.

awfulannouncing.com

I think we’ve hit Energizer Bunny levels of stupidity on this one…

DSG Legal Fight Expands With New Lawsuit Against JPMorgan Chase

The legal drama keeps ramping up for the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group. Having already made a $1.5 billion fraud claim against corporate parent Sinclair Inc, DSG has now filed a second lawsuit alleging Sinclair didn’t act alone.

frontofficesports.com

Both suits by Diamond Sports make perfect sense to me. It's not at all unusual for big corporate entities (Sinclair) to extract as much value as they can from their subordinate entities (Diamond Sports) before placing that sub org into bankruptcy. If JPMorgan Chase was advising both Diamond Sports and Sinclair at the same time that opens up potential conflict of interest problems for JP Morgan Chase.

How much can the Diamond Sports creditors extract from Sinclair and JP Morgan Chase? We'll find out.

 

[Whalers Fan]

For today’s history lesson Ohio and Michigan once went to war over Toledo:

Toledo War - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Toledo ultimately ended up in Ohio, but to this day historians continue to debate whether or not that was a victory for Ohio.

We got the better end of the deal here in Michigan -- the Upper Peninsula.

 

[Spydey629]

Sport Business Journal reporting that the AT&T deals are all but done.

FSG is buying AT&T Pittsburgh. The Pens are covered. Pirates are TBD. They are debating signing with FSG, or reverting to MLB like the Padres did.

The Astros and Rockets are buying AT&T Houston.

Rocky Mountain is just shutting down, with the Rockies going to Altitude or MLB. It sounds like Altitude would love to get the Rockies, to help break their stalemate with Comcast for distribution.

Edit: Adding the Awful Announcing link. I didn’t think the SBJ paywall was going to play nice…

WBD Sports set to turn over AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh to Fenway Sports Group, close AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain

As per Sports Business Journal, WBD Sports has struck a deal for AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, but will close AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[LadyStanley]

NBA prepared to broadcast where Diamond Sports Group can't

As of now, there is an expectation that games will air on the Bally Sports regional sports networks when the season begins.

theathletic.com

NBA headaches. Only news to me is the suit against Sinclair about taking $1B out of BSN RSNs putting them in financial troubles.

NBA prepared to produce upcoming season for affected teams.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

The ACC RSN package landed on The CW as you all are aware.

Paramount Network could have been another good landing spot, which could have given CBS Sports another P5 league even if it wasn't on the broadcast network and CBS themselves weren't producing it fully, only letting Raycom use the CBS CFB graphics and theme (like Fox and Bally's let them use their graphics and themes).

 

[wildthing202]

Disney vs Charter could end up killing the RSN model faster especially if Charter drops out of the cable game. If Charter wins, Disney is going to lose a lot of revenue considering they'll have to give all Charter customers some version of Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ which will be part of future negotiations with the networks as CBS will have to include Paramount+ and Comcast/NBC will have to include Peacock. If Disney wins then the status quo is held for a little while longer if Charter doesn't drop out of the cable game completely, if Charter does drop out, then a lot of markets are blacked out and even if someone new comes in there will be a considerable drop in the number of customers which will be a bigger loss in revenues for the RSNs affected as people will adjust to not having cable TV in the interim

 

[wildthing202]

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain shutting down, leaving Rockies broadcasts in limbo for 2024, sources say

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain gave notice to its employees that the regional sports network is shutting down, according to multiple sources.

www.denverpost.com

Rockies RSN is shutting down on Oct. 6th

 

[LadyStanley]

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain shutting down, leaving Rockies broadcasts in limbo for 2024, sources say

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain gave notice to its employees that the regional sports network is shutting down, according to multiple sources.

www.denverpost.com

Rockies RSN is shutting down on Oct. 6th

VGK has their stand alone ready to go.




Bally currently negotiating with Xfinity and DirecTV.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain shutting down, leaving Rockies broadcasts in limbo for 2024, sources say

AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain gave notice to its employees that the regional sports network is shutting down, according to multiple sources.

www.denverpost.com

Rockies RSN is shutting down on Oct. 6th

I am guessing they make a deal with Altitude.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

I am guessing they make a deal with Altitude.

I'm sure that's what Altitude wants to get a deal again with Comcast