MLB forms economic group as regional TV in peril

[Don in CT]

The business model for OTA local sports and for streaming local sports are different from RSNs. With OTA TV, the station has to make all its money just from the commercials, more or less. Yes, there is retransmission consent extortion, but how much is a CW affiliate going to get? CW is pretty worthless. With streaming, which is an unprofitable industry generally, the price, to cover the costs, is unaffordable. Bally's wants $20/month for just the NBA and NHL (both of which are far less popular than MLB in the RSN context) and this is literally a fire sale price of a bankrupt company, and it is losing money on every sale. If you do the math, and every single person that watches the local sports teams bought in, to get the same money as they are getting in the linear bundle, its like $100/month.

No question. Baseball's persecution of Rose was always wrong, but since the Supreme Court's ruling, totally hypocritical as well. Bet MGM has a sports book INSIDE the Reds' ballpark.

The problem with Pete Rose is that he bet on his own team. And then lied about it.

 

[Juan]

The problem with Pete Rose is that he bet on his own team. And then lied about it.

He bet on his own team to LOSE

 

[Mochuf]

He bet on his own team to LOSE

Everything I read about it is that he bet on his own team to win.

 

[Juan]

Everything I read about it is that he bet on his own team to win.

Nobody really knows but the severity of the ban is as bad as the blacksox scandal but since they let the spitball guy into the hall of fame..he should be in there

 

[harshness]

The business model for OTA local sports and for streaming local sports are different from RSNs.

In my case, there is no longer much broadcast sports coverage. The NBA (Trailblazers) team moved from Comcast who shared a few games with the NBC affiliate to ROOT SPORTS Northwest. The remaining D1 coverage that we get OTA is for one of the small private colleges (University of Portland) and the "big" college games (Oregon State and University of Oregon) are usually on Pac-12 or a cable channel. I don't recall the last time the JHL team (Portland Winterhawks) was on TV. The MLS team (Portland Timbers) occasionally shows up on broadcast TV but not very often.

For the most part, the Portland Oregon stations continue to duke it out for "News" supremacy and have largely forsaken local sports programming. I foresee a time in the not-too-distant future where OTA becomes mostly a looping of local news and weather outside of a two-hour primetime and late night talk shows.

 

[SamCdbs]

AT&T SportsNet reportedly falls short in payment to Pirates, could be in distress

The television home of the Pirates and Penguins appears to be in some trouble. Sportico reported Tuesday that Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company...

www.post-gazette.com

While still labeled AT&T it is now part of the Warner Bros. Discovery company. Has right to Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver, and Las Vegas teams. Also in a joint venture with the Mariners for their RSN.

 

[Radioguy41]

Looks like MLB may have to take over broadcasting the games itself. An interesting tidbit is the blurb about ending blackouts, something that was meant to protect local attendance and is now twisted around and used to protect TV broadcasts. Time to end it. Sinclair owned Diamond missed a $140M interest payment on Wednesday. Guess maybe Sinclair misread the market on this one.

MLB Commissioner says league is prepared to step in to broadcast games — and maybe even end blackouts — as Bally Sports heads toward bankruptcy

 

[Don in CT]

The blackouts need to end. They should not be allowed to charge you for content and they block you from seeing it.

 

[SamCdbs]

The blackouts need to end. They should not be allowed to charge you for content and they block you from seeing it.

They do not charge you for content they block you from seeing. The out-of-market packages clearly state that they ONLY contain out-of-market content.

If there was a package containing all the games, it would cost far more.

 

[Don in CT]

They do not charge you for content they block you from seeing. The out-of-market packages clearly state that they ONLY contain out-of-market content.

If there was a package containing all the games, it would cost far more.

Why would I want out of market content though. I only care about local teams. Don’t sell me a package of things I won’t use.

 

[SamCdbs]

Why would I want out of market content though. I only care about local teams. Don’t sell me a package of things I won’t use.

No one is forcing you too. Call up DirecTV, your local cable provider or Fubo and they will have you up and running in a few minutes.

 

[Don in CT]

No one is forcing you too. Call up DirecTV, your local cable provider or Fubo and they will have you up and running in a few minutes.

That’s the problem. If you don’t have a cable package you can’t stream local in market games.

 

[SamCdbs]

That’s the problem. If you don’t have a cable package you can’t stream local in market games.

Yep. That is how it works. One reason why linear TV remains so very profitable.

 

[Don in CT]

Yep. That is how it works. One reason why linear TV remains so very profitable.

Well not for RSNs it appears.

 

[Bruce]

Why would I want out of market content though. I only care about local teams. Don’t sell me a package of things I won’t use.

I do for the Tigers, Red Wings and Lions since I now live in Florida, hence why I get MLB, ESPN+ and soon ST.

 

[Juan]

Why would I want out of market content though. I only care about local teams. Don’t sell me a package of things I won’t use.

Invest in a VPN

 

[Don in CT]

Invest in a VPN

Why should I need a VPN to fix a broken system.

 

[Juan]

Why should I need a VPN to fix a broken system.

To " move"

 

[Don in CT]

To " move"

Again, why should I need to do that.

 

[harshness]

Again, why should I need to do that.

Because the current model, as established in long-term contracts, isn't in alignment with your desires.

Given that the various sports leagues don't exist solely for your personal viewing pleasure, it may not be reasonable assume that the current model is likely to be paradigm shifted to something more compatible immediately.