Tag: streaming

Notes: MLB discussing national streaming package, Athletes Unlimited Softball, WNBA TV deal

MLB is working on national streaming, Athletes Unlimited brings a new model to our attention, and the WNBA is close to a record TV deal.

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It’s felt, for some time, like MLB was moving toward having some kind of national streaming package in place as a replacement for the regional sports network model. It just hadn’t been explicitly said by anyone in a position of power with the league yet: instead, it’s been a lot of putting pieces together and projecting from there, something I’ve been doing in this space and at Baseball Prospectus for some time now.

Now, though, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has outright said this is something they’re considering, due to what he describes as the “deteriorating” of the RSN business: “We know the future is going to be streaming. What we’re hearing from the streamers is they want a more national product, and we need to be responsive to what people want to buy.”

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Diamond is probably going away, but broadcasting should remain

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There sure seems to be trouble in regional sports network land, and the question of the day is how it will end up impacting Major League Baseball and the payments owed to them by various RSNs. There’s the well-publicized issue of what’s going on with Diamond Sports Group, which runs Bally Sports, as they announced they’re skipping a $140 million interest payment, which now gives them a 30-day grace period to figure out if they’re going to make said payment or file for bankruptcy instead. Alongside that, though, is AT&T Sports, which is run by Warner Media, and has possibly already missed out on its first slate of payments for broadcasting games. Possibly, because there have already been denials from AT&T Sports, on the matter, but we can at least treat that as a potential where there’s smoke there’s fire situation until things are known for sure one way or the other. [2/20/2023 note: This article originally linked to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story here, but the Post-Gazette staff is on strike. Apologies for the oversight; the link has been removed.]

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