Should this happen, those RSN games would be included with a Prime membership.
Which, compared to what Bally's is right now would be like going from the outhouse to the penthouse
Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest in the bankrupt RSN operator Diamond Sports Group.DSG carries games through its Bally Sports channels for more than 40 teams — and a deal with Amazon would eventually put those broadcasts on Prime Video.MORE » https://t.co/LI2y2zGCd0 pic.twitter.com/eYTERfZntt— Front Office Sports (@FOS) December 18, 2023
Also, would have Amazon as a surprising entry into the sports broadcasting/streaming wars. Potentially something to keep an eye on as far as the ACC is concerned.
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Now, amazon buying ESPN from Disney would just be *chefs kiss*. But I'll take incremental steps up in exposure and availability to even watch the game!
I will be pissed if I have to give my money to that cold corporate machine. I want Tech to get a better deal, but this would not do that since they would by the existing contract. This would just add a layer of grime to my game watching experience.
This would be a drastic improvement to my game watching experience. First and foremost, I'd actually be able to get the game instead of dealing with blackouts all the time. Second, Amazon production would be significantly better than Bally Sports.
Idk how familiar you are with Sinclair Broadcast Group (Diamond Sports Group is a subsidiary), but there is already plenty of grime in your game watching experience if you have been watching Bally Sports.
Bold of you to assume Bally was able to actually provide you the content and not be in some kind of national streaming outage at the time.
If it helps make more games available for me to view, then...
This is a really well put take that never occurred to me (despite being someone who reads a lot about this stuff). Thanks for sharing.
I mean if you're in VA it's bundled with your electric bill since residential pays at a higher rate than amazon.
I prefer supporting ACC sports over supporting SEC sports. So if that's the case, count me in.
It's definitely an interesting point. Makes me wonder if Amazon's reach is at, or even better than, that of cable TV at its peak.
Could Amazon conceivably be able to generate more revenue than cable companies ever could? If so, how much of that would filter out to the sports organizations through media deals? Is it possible Amazon could topple Disney and Fox?
What if Amazon undercuts espn, forcing them to make tough decisions (like selling off one of their assets *cough ACC cough*) and swoops in to invest in the acc (buying the league on the cheap) and putting it at least in a financially competitive position with the P2?
Hey, a guy can dream, right?
This is a scenario I would love for the ACC leadership to be pushing right now. Reintroduce competition into the marketplace and utterly bone ESPN. You want to suck at the SEC teat, then we'll buy the ACC rights off of you and you can go in whole hog.
The pac 12 tried this and they no longer exist anymore.
Pac10 deal would vary based on subscribers. P10 presidents were not okay with that, even if it meant they had a higher ceiling.
I think the apple deal was also for "new" subscribers. So if you had apple tv and wanted to watch P12 games, great, but no extra money for the conference because you were already on their platform.
It was a new package (just like the MLS package)... so yea, everyone would've been a new subscriber. It wasn't going to be a part of appletv+ or any existing subscription service
At the same time there are a shit load of bullshit shovelware channels that would have no hope of existing without being subsidized by being bundled with sports, so I'm not sure anyone wants to play that game.
There are very few truly in demand sources of content that are subsidizing the entire industry right now, and sports is just one of them.
But on the flip side, there are vehicles for niche content (patreon, substack, youtube, etc)
C'mon Virginia Tech, invent the future again and move all your content to discord and twitch.
/s, but I could actually get into that.
Maybe a platform that is Only for Fans? Fans of VT, of course....
I don't think I could afford their rates for... VT content...
Every bullshit show imaginable has its own channel available for free on your smart tv.
As a new PHX resident and wanting to watch Diamondbacks games, this would be a welcome change. They were on Ballys- which you tube TV doesn't carry- even with the local sports package. Then later in the year, that deal folded and MLB network took over their broadcast rights. They allowed local access on the MLB app- for a fee of course. I am not used to being able not to see local MLB broadcasts. Sucks.
I was really hoping to see MLB claw back those Bally streaming rights (and others over time) and put a whole product out for sale, but Amazon jumping in the mix puts a damper on that dream. /sigh
I think I know what you mean, but Bally (I dont think) wasn't streaming - just cable broadcasts. The stream aspect was owned entirely by MLB's media company and was solely distributed on MLB.tv (as a way out of town Twins fan who's broadcast rights were owned by Bally I feel like I have a semi-informed take). If this goes through you can only assume that the production quality would improve significantly, although for my viewing needs I thought the Bally broadcasts were fine (not great, but fine). Where I start to have questions is how the content gets delivered, and how this changes the cost of Prime membership. Does this get included as part of Prime and eventually everyone will see an uptick in their bill, continuing the same theme of subsidized channels that most dont want in order to deliver to the relative few that do? Does this become an a la carte option that could conceivably compete with MLB.tv? Or, does this become a localized offering only with requirements to maintain the cable broadcast in parallel with streaming in some form?
Lots of questions. All I know is that Amazon has money and could easily save (i.e., buyout all their assets) Diamond from this mess.
Bally held the streaming rights for the local area, and were bundling them with other local teams through their app, which sucked and was expensive. MLB.tv blacked out local streaming, as a result. When Bally dumped San Diego, they picked up their rights and not only produced cable shows, but streamed locally for the first time.
What I think Amazon is going to get out of it is not so much an uptick of the cost of Prime, but more subscribers to Prime, as baseball fans who weren't Prime members before subscribe.
I think MLB.tv is a long way from being able to show every game in every market. What they do now is to stream the produced product to out-of-market fans. But they do substitute some of their own commercials (and put in Baseball Zen moments, which are awesome, when they don't have commercials to fill). Could MLB.tv start to show the full local production, including commercials, streaming to locals, so that the rightsholder gets some of the money from that? That might be a start towards getting an all-inclusive product. I don't know how those things work, though, so I'm sure I'm missing something.
I'm in a similar boat - Braves fan in CLT and I have to subscribe to DirecTV Stream to get Bally which is ~$30 more than every other streamer, but me and my 13YO daughter watch at least 100 games every year. This would let me move to YTTV.
Buy mlb.tv with just the Braves. Problem solved
Unfortunately MLB considers my zip code a Braves home market so they are blacked out
I know I'm a month late, but I just want to say how much I fucking hate blackouts.
You are a business. Make it easy for me to give you money. I am willing to pay lots of dollars to watch Hokie Football. Do not limit my viewing to some cable bundle.
And make sure you join the MLBPA before you do. $25 for a fan membership, and you get a 50% off MLB.tv subscription. Knocked that $150/yr down to $100/yr total.
https://www.mlb.com/mlbpaa/membership/fans
(MLB.tv discount not listed, but it works. Trust me.)
Breaking: The sale is being finalized, and all Bally Sports games will soon be available on Prime Video
Amazing! Definitely a win for sports viewers.
This is awesome, potentially. Depends upon how Amazon chooses to monetize this.
It would be great if they would make the local channels available free (to Prime members) and not require an additional subscription..not sure I see that happening.
Would be cool as well if they would offer an all-RSN bundle subscription.
I think the big news here is that this represents Amazon stepping up to the plate as a major player in the sports streaming/broadcasting world.
There's potential there for this to play out pretty well for the ACC if they play their cards right.
lol, who am I kidding, the ACC playing their cards right? Hilarious
ACC is going to turn down Amazon to go straight to peacock or some shit.
Nah. Peacock is at least attached to a media brand.
Maybe Tubi, with free subscriptions, but therefore, no tv revenue for the conference.
ACCN will be available only to AOL subscribers.
live AIM chatrooms during the games
Damn, I'm still on ICQ
I recognize all those acronyms and used 2 of them.
I was about to eviscerate this statement and then I read on
yes, exactly. The ACC would somehow find a way to turn a golden opportunity into a steaming pile of crap
Amazon is getting a little pushback over they are increasing subscription rates $2 per month to keep commercial free. They have already dumped a bunch of their content over to Freevee which has commercials. These stream providers are forgetting people switched to them to get away from commercials.
i don't think they're forgetting it at all -- it's a bait and switch. get people to sign up with no commercials. get them hooked with content they love. reintroduce commercials to double dip on revenue from a single viewer.
For those over 50 (maybe older), the original premise of cable TV was a subscription service with no ads (at least for the channels not broadcasting over the air). That didn't last long.
yup, and you quite possibly continued paying for cable tv. millions of others did!
It's the classic "big tech" disruption model. Come in and offer everyone a better product for lower price at a loss. Push out the existing competition. Then raise prices/add commercials/whatever when you have all the market share so you can make money.
It's bullshit.
I use Freevee ads to Keyplay harder. Just have to maximize not watching ads.
it's annoying. I stream to have control over what goes on my screen. There is content on Freevee that I'd like to show my kids, but then it has commercials that I can't curate.
Yeah and it doesn't take much for streaming and online ads to get overrun with shady and explicit content, because these tech companies have streamlined/automated their ad selling departments while not having any oversight whatsoever because, unlike TV, there are no regulations on hand for what can be shown.
Yeah, looking at you, Twitter/X. Holy hell that place is a cesspool for some of the worst ads out there right now.
firefox and ublock origin takes care of all of that, other than the Twitter issue which would need more than an adblocker. Until ads are regulated and not an attack vector for malicious code then I will follow the FBI's advice and use an adblocker while I browse the internet. I haven't seen ads online in close to 20 years, other than ESPN streams who surprisingly figured out how to show ads in the stream while not breaking the webpage with ublock origin.
You mean like the generic Viagra commercials with skimpy bikini clad women lusting over the camera lens? Not a problem with adults, but my toddlers...
Per The Athletic, they only have streaming rights to five teams (not sure which ones), and broadcast rights to eleven.
And with MLB wanting to expand the reach of MLB.tv, I doubt that Bally will be able to acquire those streaming rights.
So not sure how big of an impact this will make. It seems to be more on the NBA/NHL side. And they still haven't said whether content will be free for Prime members, or another subscription via Prime. Right now it just looks to be an investment from Amazon for a percent stake in the new company.
A 1342% increase in revenue in three years? By the rest of what you cited, don't see where that level of additional revenue is coming from although this moves them from RSN to Global in terms of advertisement so I guess it's theoretically possible.
Anybody else wondering if Disney does actually outsource ESPN do they sell to the NFL (supposedly interested in buying a share of ESPN) or outright sell to Amazon?
Guess I'll finally get to watch all the Canes games if this happens
Assuming and hoping you mean the Carolina Hurricanes and not the Miami variant.
I think we're good.
LOL that was a quickly produced map.
I first looked at the Ohio teams, they flipped Cleveland and Columbus/Cincinnati. (All 4 teams are indeed on Bally Sports)!
I love Bally Sports' naming conventions. Some are towns, some are states, and some are regions with the southwest just being Texas lol.
"SUN?"
I'm insulted that you even questioned that