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

[IU Hawks fan]

MSG, YES, Spectrum for Dodgers/Lakers since I think as soon as he can Cohen takes the Mets off SNY, Marquee and the new Chicago sports network, both Fenway owned and what else¿? Bally, Comcast and the AT&T or whatever their names are the ones I'm taking about ending.

Marquee is part owned by Sinclair. They're in trouble, too, despite it not being reported.

 

[sena]

They don’t have ads because there aren’t enough people watching to advertisers to buy what an ad would cost.

Ad sales are a drop in the bucket in terms of revenues. The money is fees they get from providers. RSN selling subscriptions directly will not be able to make up the difference.

meh the same people that own the channels own the networks and own the companies that advertise anyway.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

meh the same people that own the channels own the networks and own the companies that advertise anyway.

As someone who has spent my entire career in the ad industry:

Huh?

 

[sena]

As someone who has spent my entire career in the ad industry:

Huh?

Most companies are bought up and owned but larger corporations, these guys own so many products and are large shareholders in almost everything, other then super small local ads the rest is owned by some company that is owned by some other company that is owned by some massive corporation.

 

[patnyrnyg]

MSG, YES, Spectrum for Dodgers/Lakers since I think as soon as he can Cohen takes the Mets off SNY, Marquee and the new Chicago sports network, both Fenway owned and what else¿? Bally, Comcast and the AT&T or whatever their names are the ones I'm taking about ending.

I would have to find it, but I believe there is not too many years left on the SNY contract for the Mets. Hence why Cohen was not interested in buying it when he bought the team even though it was also owned by Wilpon.

edit: When he first bought the team it was reported the deal was only through 2026. Now, found some that said it is through 2030 one that says 2035. So who knows?

 

[patnyrnyg]

RSN as a cable (or streaming TV) add-on type thing? Yeah. I think the viability of RSNs in this way are coming to an end, though maybe not in 2025. The trend we're seeing now, where teams are negotiating with streaming companies and local affiliates is the right idea. Rather than sports teams being an avenue to drive cable subscriptions, we'll see more people watching more games over-the-air/streaming.

Part of me thinks it is just re-arranging the furniture. While RSN's are keeping companies like Spectrum in the tv business, they will just jack up the price for internet. When I bought my house 10 years ago, it was cheaper with Spectrum to do the Triple Play (tv, internet, home phone) than just tv and internet with the same channels and internet speeds. Same will happen as more people drop tv subscriptions. Plus, for everything my family and I want, Spectrum is still the cheapest option.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Let's say NBA and MLB do a similar move to MLS with Apple TV and put most of the local tv inventory under Amazon for example could the NHL then expand their deal with ESPN+? Not sure if they could do it but it seems that if the NHL if left alone kind of holding Bally/Comcast/AT&T networks they would need to move fast from there.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Most companies are bought up and owned but larger corporations, these guys own so many products and are large shareholders in almost everything, other then super small local ads the rest is owned by some company that is owned by some other company that is owned by some massive corporation.

There are cases where a subsidiary company advertises on a related subsidiary’s network (for example, a Dreamworks movie being advertised during a Flyers game which is broadcast on Peacock, all three entities ultimately owned by Comcast) but:

a) That doesn’t mean Comcast is actively running all three of those companies. They each independently have their own revenue and expenses, their own leadership, decision making, etc. Comcast is just a group of investors with a leash on the CEO and an organizing force to make sure the subsidiaries are partnered to create efficiencies.

b) The great majority of ads don’t come from Comcast entities. For example Comcast doesn’t make beer, or restaurants, or cars.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

News: Blazers, Pac-12, Virk, CBS-Big 12

The Portland Trail Blazers announce their new local distribution plans; the Pac-12 raids the Mountain West; Adnan Virk has a new gig.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Portland Trail Blazers games will be distributed locally through over-the-air affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and a new team-owned direct-to-subscriber streaming service, it was announced Monday, marking the team just the latest to move from cable RSNs to a combination of over-the-air and streaming. Branded the “Rip City Television Network,” the over-the-air component will be available on Sinclair-owned KATU- and KUNP- in Portland , KUNS- in Seattle, and several other local affiliates in the Pacific Northwest. The streaming service, named “BlazerVision,” will be available through the NBA app and NBA.com for $20/month or $120 per season. Blazers games previously aired on ROOT Sports.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

News: Zach Lowe, Avs & Nuggets, Mountain West

A combined 40 Colorado Avalanche and Nuggets games will air on TEGNA-owned local affiliates KUSA (NBC) and KTVD (MyNetworkTV) in Denver this season, it was announced Thursday. Each team will play 20 games over-the-air, with those split evenly among the stations. The remaining games will continue to air on Altitude, the local RSN that has been mired in carriage disputes for years. In addition, Altitude is set to launch a new direct-to-subscriber option called Altitude+ in October, which will cost $20 per month.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

News: WNBA-Brennan, Rangers RSN, Netflix-NFL, Dish-DIRECTV

The Texas Rangers will explore the possibility of creating their own regional sports network after this season, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning-News and Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. The possibility of a Rangers-owned RSN is one of several options that include ceding rights to Major League Baseball or reaching a new deal with the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group, operator of the Bally Sports RSNs. Per Friend, the Rangers have already rejected an offer from Diamond Sports. The Rangers-owned RSN would not be a 24-hour channel, only going live for games and surrounding programming. Texas is one of only three teams left on the Diamond-owned Bally Sports Southwest, following the departures of the Stars and Mavericks. (The Spurs and Thunder also air their games on the RSN.)

 

[joelef]

A little side tangent but I believe the creation of fs1 and fs2 was the beginning of the end of regional sport networks . Streaming just accelerated it

 

[IU Hawks fan]

A little side tangent but I believe the creation of fs1 and fs2 was the beginning of the end of regional sport networks . Streaming just accelerated it

What do FS1/2 have to do with regional rights?

They were started to give FOX Sports a national cable presence to better compete with ESPN and consolidate their various sports rights by moving away from dedicated sport channels (Fox Soccer, Speed, Fuel).

 

[varsaku]

AT&T sells stake in DirecTV to TPG for $7.6 billion

Looks like AT&T is getting out of the Dish business

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Bally ditching all of their MLB teams except the Braves.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841498474979684491

(Affected teams: Angels, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins)

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Bally ditching all of their MLB teams except the Braves.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841498474979684491

(Affected teams: Angels, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins)

Well, shit.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Bally ditching all of their MLB teams except the Braves.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1841498474979684491

(Affected teams: Angels, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins)

Seems like MLB will get to put most of the local right in a national packcage.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[Lt Dan]

As a Gen-Xer I grew up with an irrational fear of quicksand. I have never actually seen quicksand in real life nor do I know anyone who has experienced it, but Bally's is in some f***ing quicksand

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[sneakytitz]

As a Gen-Xer I grew up with an irrational fear of quicksand. I have never actually seen quicksand in real life nor do I know anyone who has experienced it, but Bally's is in some f***ing quicksand

I remember the CEO of Liberty Media (Braves "owner") basically saying a few months back that the Braves were by far the biggest money maker for Diamond/Bally. At this point, and unless their entire portfolio, or most of it, was profitable, I don't think Diamond/Bally will be a thing in 5 years. I think this is the final attempt to reduce losses and maximize gains before the jig is up.

 

[Lt Dan]

I remember the CEO of Liberty Media (Braves "owner") basically saying a few months back that the Braves were by far the biggest money maker for Diamond/Bally. At this point, and unless their entire portfolio, or most of it, was profitable, I don't think Diamond/Bally will be a thing in 5 years. I think this is the final attempt to reduce losses and maximize gains before the jig is up.

oh I am sure.

Reading this part. I am surprised that the Cards are in this group

I can only guess that the deal was negotiated when they were dominating baseball and now diamond wants to renegotiate

 

[joelef]

The nba and nhl are most likely really sweating now

 

[varsaku]

The nba and nhl are most likely really sweating now

Ya, not sure how Bally would survive now without one of their largest summer content. Can't imagine regular season NBA and NHL games drawing enough revenue to make ends meet.