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

[Reaser]

Yeah in Canada is way more harder than in the US to change this

Yankees, Dodgers, etc..

People always overlook *why* MLS was able to put the entire league on Apple -- because only a couple teams got paid anything (and it was peanuts) for regional rights. Coupled with being offered peanuts for national rights. You can then go with a single bidder for worldwide rights.

The Dodgers alone make more per annum for regional broadcasts than MLS (the entire league) does for its worldwide rights.

MLB is going to have to become a lot less popular, as in FOX, ESPN, TBS, etc. offer nothing for national rights and teams that own their own RSN's start losing millions and then can't find anyone willing to pay them for their regional rights.

Cut total attendance by 85% league-wide. Have national viewership on FOX & ESPN decline by at-least 70% average viewership. Have less than 2 million people in the entire world be willing to pay to stream your product, and then they would be in position to "pull a MLS."

 

[timekeep]

Someone who is mid 40s in 2024 is alot more tech savy than someone in their mid 40s in 2004. They had to learn about this stuff in HS and beyond.

I was referring more to preferring his phone over a tv.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

Yankees, Dodgers, etc..

And therein lies the rub. The Jays are just the most ready example that *most* people on this forum will get, in that they control the entire pipeline, and will not give up that free money unless absolutely needed. And even if the overdue RSN apocalypse comes into Canada like I keep saying it will, ultimately, it won't be enough for Rogers to divest unless a new leadership group decides that they want to divest from sports and media entirely, and return to being strictly a telco.

But the Dodgers, Yankees, hell even others like the Giants are well primed to be the last people standing. In fact, if Ted Leonsis does the actual deed and buys the Nationals outright, he's simply flipping MASN (and therefore, killing the ever present tension between the Nats and the Orioles) and bringing both teams under the Monumental roof.

And that's what is the real stumbling block of any other league going completely under one roof like MLS did. Moreover...

People always overlook *why* MLS was able to put the entire league on Apple -- because only a couple teams got paid anything (and it was peanuts) for regional rights. Coupled with being offered peanuts for national rights. You can then go with a single bidder for worldwide rights.

It should be readily apparent that Lionel Messi, the man, is the one that ultimately benefits the most from the Apple TV deal. And goes to show that the MLS deal is ultimately an outlier, and not the future, of sports broadcasting in North America.

 

[yada]

lol, someone in their mid 40’s can figure out how to watch on a phone, like other poster, no idea why you would want to watch on a phone, when I can watch in 4K on a big screen.

Sadly i am watching mlb on my phone. For some reason i cant get my tablet to only skip 10 seconds ahead instead of 30. I watch a lot of sports on my tablet but thats because i can watch at work on my lunch break (i watch 0 sports live unless im at the game)

OK.

not sure how I am supposed to know why another person in their mid 40s would prefer to watch a game on a phone instead of a tv with a reason you will buy.

Id rather watch on a larger screen but my god damn phone wont chromecast the mlb app for some reason.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[TheLegend]

Gives Scripps Vegas, Utah and now Florida.

 

[wildthing202]

Celtics look like they're set through 2038 and they also own 20% of the network.

New deal to give Celtics stake in RSN

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Kinda insane that the Lakers got $200 mil a year back in 2011

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Truly wonder if they even finish that deal since the Celtics are broadcasted by NBC Sports Boston my bet would be no and Boston ends up in NESN before 2030

 

[Spydey629]

Truly wonder if they even finish that deal since the Celtics are broadcasted by NBC Sports Boston my bet would be no and Boston ends up in NESN before 2030

I saw somewhere that wondered if FSG would kick the tires there, and drop the Las Vegas expansion team idea.

If that were the case, it certainly would make NBC Sports Boston irrevelent. Or rebranded as NESN2??

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/07/espn-cfp-tnt-sublicense-paramount-skydance-bally-rsns-optimum-nbc-olympic-schedule/

The Bally Sports RSNs have gone dark on another cable system, this time Altice USA’s Optimum, per Sportico on Monday. Optimum is the ninth largest multichannel video service provider in the country with over 2-million subscribers. The cable operator carried 12 of the Bally Sports RSNs across 21 states.

The blackout comes amid larger issues with Bally parent company Diamond Sports Group, who continues its trudge through bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier this year, Diamond was able to secure carriage agreements with its two largest distributors — Charter and DirecTV — before failing to reach a similar deal with Comcast, its third largest distributor. Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing the bankruptcy case, has not yet opined on whether an agreement with Comcast (and now Optimum) would be necessary for Diamond to emerge from bankruptcy.

 

[jkrdevil]

I saw somewhere that wondered if FSG would kick the tires there, and drop the Las Vegas expansion team idea.

If that were the case, it certainly would make NBC Sports Boston irrevelent. Or rebranded as NESN2??

I would have to imagine the Jacobs family would have to be in the lead to buy the Celtics to head off any new ownership group wanting to build their own building. Though from a TV perspective they own half of NESN as well.

 

[Cynicaps]

I would have to imagine the Jacobs family would have to be in the lead to buy the Celtics to head off any new ownership group wanting to build their own building. Though from a TV perspective they own half of NESN as well.

The first foray the Jacobs family had in pro sports was their ownership in the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings which they sold to buy the Bruins from Storer Broadcasting. Everything comes somewhat full circle.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Are the Jacobs really 'buy an NBA team today' wealthy?

And they only own 20% of NESN.

 

[dj4aces]

lol, someone in their mid 40’s can figure out how to watch on a phone, like other poster, no idea why you would want to watch on a phone, when I can watch in 4K on a big screen.

Personally speaking, I only watch on a mobile device if I'm away from my desktop/not at home. There's also service outages to consider, which would otherwise make it impossible to watch on a 4K TV or computer monitor.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Personally speaking, I only watch on a mobile device if I'm away from my desktop/not at home. There's also service outages to consider, which would otherwise make it impossible to watch on a 4K TV or computer monitor.

Service outages? That might happen once a year, probably only happened once a decade during a game.

 

[dj4aces]

Service outages? That might happen once a year, probably only happened once a decade during a game.

It's situational, but it's an answer to the question of why, is it not?

There are also people out there (I know a few), who don't have computers or TVs because they can do everything on their phone. While I certainly wouldn't choose a phone as my primary method of viewing anything, there are definitely people who do. Just sayin'.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It's situational, but it's an answer to the question of why, is it not?

Sure I guess, if you count once a decade.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Only nine teams left with Bally... out of 25 in the NHL the league might as well start to taking over production at this rate

 

[Golden_Jet]

Only nine teams left with Bally... out of 25 in the NHL the league might as well start to taking over production at this rate

Are these new deals less money, than old deals
Could affect how much cap rises

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Are these new deals less money, than old deals
Could affect how much cap rises

Not sure if for example the Panthers deal they just made has the terms out there. I'm saying no since I haven't seen them.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

I hope the MLB dies I like WNBA and Lacrosse. Those players should have their contracts voided.

 

[ElGuapo]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1810290285940756893

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Wow. So Stars games only available on that app from what I am gathering. Not even available on any kind of TV station (aside from the national TNT, ESPN and ABC games).