From the New York Post: MLB, NBA and NHL unlikely to save struggling TV regional sports networks
TL;DR:
- Bally Sports (which frequently blacks out VT games from streaming) is in debt.
- The owner of the networks (Diamond Group/Sinclair) are trying to sell the network to three pro sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB), but the leagues aren't interested
- This means that bankruptcy might be the next best option
Some (cherry picked) relevant quotes:
Diamond Sports Group — which operates 21 Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, or RSNs, that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country — has been in talks this fall to sell itself to the sports leagues for as much as $3 billion including debt.
But Diamond — a unit of Sinclair Broadcast Group — surprised investors on Nov. 28 by slashing its outlook for this year's profitability in half as cord-cutting continues to dog the industry. Accordingly, the leagues no longer are willing to pay a premium in a buyout — and creditors are instead bracing to take their chances in bankruptcy court in the first half of next year, according to sources close to the talks.
a Diamond bankruptcy could open the doors for new level of dealmaking — and some insiders hope it will change the way people consume sports for the better. Many younger fans can't watch games now because they don't have cable, and some cable providers don't even carry sports, the MLB owner griped.
Blackouts and carriage could be a risk and many team owners also could lose lucrative revenues, warns Greg Bouris, director of Adelphi University's Sports Management Program and a former communications director for the MLB Players Association.
I hate Bally Sports TV with a fiery passion (I hate their ownership - Sinclair Broadcasting - as well, for other reasons). I despise blackouts. I'll pay to watch VT. Just make it accessible. Which isn't that hard in 2022.
Hard to see a downside of Bally falling.
As always, please read the whole piece, as there is likely context I failed to capture above.
Comments
I forgot about Sinclair Broadcasting, I'm going to have to add to my Mount Rushmore of Hate.
I don't know what our deal is with them, or how this works, but I have to imagine their bankruptcy is somehow good for me.
Like others here, I'll gladly pay to see VT games, and do, yet they block me from some games, for no apparent reason.
ESPN has sublicensed a certain number of ACC games out to the RSN, in a deal that I'm pretty sure was conceived/signed off on by Swofford, because somehow his son benefited.
Now, I'm all for getting rid of the RSN deal. But a lot of the confusion among fans are ESPN's own doing. If they didn't brand the games as "ESPN3" in listings, fewer fans would be confused and upset when they go to stream and find the blackout.
Or....ESPN could have negotiated to keep the streaming rights. So you can watch the game on Bally or MASN or whatever TV channel, but if you want a streaming option, it's on ESPN's app. But the main drawbacks there are probably that the deal was made before streaming was a big thing, and also they would have a pissing match over authentication.
I wish we could somehow reach through these deals and grab Swofford's son by the balls and squeeze 'till they gave back every penny he made off these deals.
The penalty for self dealing should be very, very high. See Sam Bankman-Fried.
I'll defend ESPN on this one...
Sort of... Based on a lot of googling, this is the best explanation I can find for why ACC games are broadcasted on RSNs:
Before the ACCN existed, we had this deal with a production company called Raycom sports (which, if I recall correctly, Swofford's son ran), which aired their broadcasts on local RSNs. In order to get the ACCN up and running, we had to break a contract with Raycom. Part of the terms of that contract is that they would get broadcast rights to games that ESPN didn't want.
This isn't really ESPN actively choosing to bring RSNs into the fold, or even Swofford pushing for it; it was more of a necessary evil to get out of our old contract and get the ACCN live.
No way RSNs would have agreed to this. It would literally incentivize cable providers to stop carrying their network.
This is likely a technical challenge (but also part marketing ploy) - ESPN needs to check your location to see if the game is blacked out in your area. Their code probably don't check the location until you start the stream (just like when they check your cable log-in credentials). They probably could find an alternative solution, but it's not worth the time/effort.
Besides, I have a hard time blaming ESPN for Sinclair Broadcasting's aversion to supporting streaming.
I'm just talking about the part where everyone gets all pissed at ESPN because they look at the schedule all week and see "ESPN3", so they assume they'll be able to stream it, only to find out at the last minute that they're blacked out. ESPN needs to be more clear about the games that they produce themselves for ESPN3, and those that they redistribute.
It won't necessarily help with people being able to see the games, but it would decrease the brand confusion. (Although, I'm honestly surprised at how much this still comes up at TKP every time we're on RSN.)
Granted, ESPN could probably solve all of this by just cutting a big enough check to buy out the RSN deal. But due to the quality of most of the games in question, it's wouldn't be cost effective as they would still have to pay for production on top of that.
Sinclair is a horrible business with a horrible business structure and culture.
As a VT fan and a baseball fan, the regional sports network rights deals are the worst. I'm paying way more than I want to for a cable package that has lots of channels I don't want so I can get access to ACCN, ESPNU, Bally Sports and the Golf Channel. It's like the cable providers know this and pull these channels from the lowest priced packages. I was a big fan of YouTube TV when it first launched because it gave us access to those channels. Then Sinclair demanded an insane carriage fee and YouTube TV dropped Bally Sports. The most frustrating thing is MLB. I'm a Braves fan. I would gladly pay MLB to stream Braves games on their app. Braves games are blacked out in here NC because we theoretically have access to Bally Sports. But you only have access to Bally Sports if you subscribe to cable or satellite and pay for the premium package that includes the channels. The regions for Bally also don't make sense. In the Triad, we get both Bally Sports South and Southeast. The Triangle area only gets Bally Sports South which means they miss out on some Braves programming. It's very odd. I would love to see these networks go away, but I fear it's going to mean having to pick up another streaming subscription to try to get all the programming I want to view. We shall see.
Preach. The idea of a blackout is just infuriating. Why make it impossible for me to watch something I want to watch?
I WILL GIVE YOU MY MONEY. WHY ARE YOU MAKING IT SO HARD FOR ME TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY!?!?!
Honestly the entire concept of blackouts in this, the year of our lord 2022 (soon to be 2023) is just completely obsolete. Back in 1985, fine, I get it. But it's an outdated and infuriating practice that needs to stop
...that's exactly what's happening lol
To be fair, this is how the ACC makes money. ACCN charges a fee to every home that has the ACCN, even if you don't watch it. If the cable bundle were to be eliminated, it would complete change the dynamic of college sports.
I hear ya. As everyone is saying, we will gladly give our money up to watch the teams we root for. When the whole change to Bally happened from Fox Sports on Direct TV my wife and I couldn't justify the bill we paid to not even get the Braves on many nights (not to mention the contract negotiations that had them off TV for awhile). I've had a decent time finding places to watch the games in the Metro Atlanta area, but sometimes I just have to go with the ESPN Gamecast deal and watch the condensed game later.
It has been a complete S show in Dallas, since they for some reason have never been able to get a deal done with Spectrum cable here. I have AT&T so I do get Bally, but Spectrum has half the market really, and they don't have a deal with Bally. That means that half the people in the area can't watch a good portion of the Rangers, Mavericks, or Stars games. Not that big a deal for the Rangers (LOL) but to not be able to watch the Stars or Mavs is a pretty big deal bc those teams are actually pretty good, and the Mavs have a superstar in Luca.
Doesn't Bally also charge like an insane monthly fee if you want to subscribe to their app/streaming too? Like $20 a month? Never seemed like a sustainable business model
Hope Ms. Agar lands on her feet if Bally can'y pay her.
I guess there is that one bright spot.
Just based on my personal sports watching habits the only time I run into a Bally feed is when I'm watching out of market baseball. Hypothetically if they do have a sell-off, this could potentially impact other regional sports networks like MASN. I wouldn't be surprised if MASN and others collected some of the pieces, but what I dont want is for them to increase their bundle and raise prices for the cable providers. I'm hoping for the opposite - de-bundling of services, and more a la carte selections from subscribers.
Couldn't happen to a nicer (parent) company. Hopefully the outcome of this results in me being able to watch Braves games again.
offer me a streaming service for my teams. I would gladly pay $6 month and only be able to access the Reds games and another $6 for ACCN. I still don't know why NFL Sunday ticket doesn't offer a streaming team-specific package right now. If my Browns are not on, I just don't watch the NFL, never going to pay several hundred bucks for a whole package when I only care about 3% of the content. They are leaving money in advertising and subscription on the table every month.
NFL sunday ticket is ~$300/season
You're offering your price point at $6/mo. Start in august, end in January -- $36 bucks for a season. If you keep it all year round bc you're lazy, it's $72 for a season.
That means that the broadcaster needs to find somewhere between 3-7 new subscribers to cover the reduced revenue from each person who is currently buying Sunday Ticket but would drop from the full Sunday Ticket to the proposed "Just My Team" package.
Major professional sports leagues in the US are effectively legal monopolies (this comes up during every CBA negotiation ever) and the leagues and the owners know it and squeeze the fans for every nickel they can. (It's a whole can of worms, but that's why i never understand it when fans turn on players in CBA negotiations or contract talks etc.)
We turn on the players because a lot of them make money that is ludicrous to most of the fans. They are complaining they need more money when a 2-3 year contract could have them set for the rest of their lives if they are responsible with the money.
Yes, the sports they play do have the chance of injury even death. So do coal miners, police, fire fighters, etc.
I get that players are making insane money, but at the same time, the owners that are paying them making a great deal more by several orders of magnitude. And without the players, there is no team, so the two sides need each other. I don't blame players for negotiating with the leverage they have against the owners.
Wasn't trying to "side with the billionaires", but I also recommend reading the financial report for the Packers some time. As a publicly owned organization they are required to release their statement (the rest of the NFL HATES IT) because it does break down salary, costs, expenses, revenues, etc.
The NFL has the worse player salaries to revenue of the 4 major leagues.
It has the lowest minimum salary, lowest median salary (the NFL median salary is below the NBA minimum, and just above nhl and mlb minimums).
The NFL players haven't helped themselves with their collective bargaining agreements cause they let 5 or so players on each team run away with the money.
Over half of all players make the league minimum I'm the NFL. With the average playing career being 3 years there is no way the numbers work that any of those players can realistically retire unless their goal is to die by age 50. And then they have to move to very cheap cost of living and the never spend money. The next quarter of the roster doesn't do much better either, unless you're in the top 25% of money, the NFL isn't you career, it's just a nice boost in your savings.
Not to mention nonguaranteed contracts unless negotiated otherwise
It appears that in all leagues, players get between 47% and 49% of the revenue. It's just that there's significantly more NFL players than NBA players or MLB players.
NBA get 49-51% depending on revenue.
Also there is significantly more revenue in the NFL. The NFL is almost double everyone else MLB is 2nd ($17bil to $9.7bil, NBA 3rd at $7Bil
If the concern is "greedy rich person wants more money" its bonkers to side with the billionaires who sit back and let the millionaires generate money for them.
Players in collective bargaining aren't "complaining" they need more money individually. Players in collective bargaining are suggesting that their collective worth is greater because they're the ones generating increasing billions in revenue for the owners.
The debate is evergreen and goes nowhere.
The difference is that there are millions of people in America who could be coal miners, police, fire fighters, etc. There are about 1600 people in America who can be NFL players in any given year.
Yes, but right now they are generating $0 from me, so find the middle ground and price it. $10/mo, $20 maybe. My guess is the venn diagram of people that want all the games and those currently subscribing to Sunday ticket looks like Anthony Davis' eyebrow.I don't think many current subscribers would drop to team only.
Guess we'll find out if YTTV + Sunday Ticket is any cheaper than it was on DISH
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35304457/nfl-sunday-ticket-headed-yo...
They want me to pay $25 per month to watch one local team, 2 if you count the Hornets. Fuck that shit, I don't care that I'm a season ticket holder, it ain't worth $300 per year to watch 35 away games.
I can't wait for the day they go under and all the leagues are able to buy back those regional rights to add to their overall streaming plans. Blackouts are the absolute worst.
MLB blackouts are the most asinine thing imaginable. Here in Raleigh we are tagged with blackouts for the Braves, Nats, and Orioles, so as a Phillies fan I'm blacked out of half our divisional games, and the kicker is that you can't even get MASN down here. It's absolutely ridiculous.
you probably already know this, but VPN+MLB.tv. It sucks you have to pay to go this route but its at least an avenue to watch. and I'm with you - would love for the regional stuff to stop and have everything under the league's network.
I cut the cord and only use the Chromecast with remote. It's not the easiest to use VPNs with that, at least not that I've yet seen.
If you are using a Chromecast you are halfway there. Watch on computer with VPN, cast to the Chromecast.
I do this with apple TV every time a game is blacked out. Using a VPN and streaming from a computer to the TV is the best way around blackouts.
It's super easy to use VPN on Chromecast. I use expressVPN. It's $99 for the year and you can install it on 5 devices (I think). Works great for those RSN Hokie games.
When solicitors from Spectrum try to get me to switch to their service from DirecTV, I tell them that this is a deal-breaker for me. The salespeople can't believe it, but those 19 ATL-WAS games and however many Hokie FB and BB games they carry each season mean a lot.
Bally Sports has made watching sports inaccessible to most of the country because of their boneheaded decisions. The sooner they fall, the better.
To everyone grumping about blackouts... you know you can get a digital antenna and watch all the local networks for free... right?
That doesn't help when RSNs are cable channels and not over-the-air broadcasts.
Yup, also doesn't work if you are outside of the range of OTA broadcasts.
I don't think you know what an RSN is. You can't pick up Bally Southeast with an Antenna.
I use an antenna. I can confirm that it will not pick up a Hokie game in Blacksburg from NW Georgia.
I just realized that we haven't been on a broadcast over-the-air channel since the 2020 Clemson game.
I'm probably speaking from a different viewpoint, but all the rsn games I've watched over the last couple years were broadcast over air. But, im local. Not saying this applies universally. But, I've literally met local streamers who missed games because they didn't have an antenna and it was otherwise not covered by their stream or blacked out.
I don't know how this is possible. What state/city do you live in? And on what channel are you watching?
I'm in Chesapeake and I feel like I get it on 27.1 which is/was the CW here. WGNT is the station callsign, part of WTKR
The CW isn't an RSN. RSNs are like MASN, Fox Sports South, Bally Sports Southeast, etc. Bally's sports doesn't operate in VA (per the map in the article linked in OP) so you may not have this problem (in which case I'm VERY envious)
MASN is the only one for Virginia that I know about. I used to get the old Raycom production broadcasts on OTA broadcast from the local NBC affiliate in Charlottesville.
I know that the CW isn't a regional sports network, but on Saturdays in the fall I have seen sports coverage of VT football on either 27.1 (CW) or 33.1 (MyTV or whatever)
This is not the same as MASN or other sports only networks.
That was one of the stations that carried the syndicated Raycom ACC Network that was around before the ESPN cable ACCN was created.
It's one of three things:
-Your timeframe is off and you're thinking of the syndicate Raycom ACC Network that existed prior to 2019. (But that still wasn't RSN.)
-You weren't watching an RSN game.
-Someone's managing some sort of pirate broadcast of RSN games onto antenna channels. In which case, we must know more.
I hope they go under - I hate that I have to jump through hoops to watch anything that happens to be on YES network, the local RSN even though I am hundreds of miles from NYC. Only Spectrum cable carries YES locally, and those thieves don't get one cent from me. They even black out when there is a conflict with other YES content and games are broadcast on tape delay.
I pay for a VPN from September-March so that I can spoof my location and watch those RSN games. I'd gladly pay that to a streaming provider so that I could watch those games.
The new ESPN deal with the NHL, and the MLS deal with Apple TV, has cut inventory. What are they gonna air over the summer when baseball isn't playing? Or early January?
Then you got the small colleges, the Olympic sports at colleges, all being funnelled under ESPN+. Now Amazon is getting into the game.
Lost content are lost advertising dollars.