MLB forms economic group as regional TV in peril

[Howard Simmons]

Well I am one of those that will be affected come May 6th (Bally Sports OHIO) Reds. I hope that I don't have to pay MLB.tv to see the Reds play. I already contacted my cable company about this and of course they didn't know anything about it. I can watch it on cable and the Bally sports app for now.

 

[SamCdbs]

Sinclair's main mistake was it blinked, first with DISH, and then with the linear streamers. You want the rights to the local stations Sinclair owns? (At the time the largest set of stations in the country, including many (illegal) dupoplies.) Well, that package includes the RSN. Period. Not negotiable. Full stop. When it blinked with DISH, it sealed the fate of the company.

MLB's failure was greed. MLBEI was a good product, because it was supplemental. 99% of those that had it via cable or DBS had already paid their fair share for local baseball, as that was included the "basic cable" bundle. mlb.tv is not a good product, as it allows easier and cheaper access to other people's teams without first paying for your own. Suicide for a highly regional sport. And now the greed has caught up to them. As the RSNs go away, so does the material that mlb.tv uses. And, most importantly, the billions of dollars paid by local fans for local games. All to make a relative pittance selling Twins games in Rhode Island, and Rockies games in Louisiana, etc.

 

[Bruce]

Another payment/rights issue has been going on between the Generals and MASN-

The New York State Court of Appeals ruled 6-0 (a shutout!) that MASN must pay past rights fees to the Washington Nationals which could total as much as $100 million. The two sides have been fighting over the fees for roughly a decade and perhaps even longer than that when you consider the Orioles and MASN were not enamored with the Montreal Expos relocating to Washington, D.C. in 2005 and becoming the Nationals.

Despite multiple rulings in favor of the Nationals by MLB arbitrators, and court judges, MASN has kept the case alive over the years with appeal after appeal. But yesterday’s ruling seems to finally put a ninth inning to the legal question of whether MASN owes the money to the Nationals. It does, and at some point, it has to pay up.

MASN and the Nationals must now negotiate a final settlement and that could wind up before yet another arbitrator. MASN and the Nationals, which own a 33 percent stake in the channel, are hardly cordial partners so this could take awhile. Then, if MASN doesn’t like the result, it’s not inconceivable that the channel declares bankruptcy, Diamond Sports style, to avoid the full payment. Like other RSNs, MASN has been losing subscribers over the last several years due to declining cable and satellite subscriptions.

The Regional Sports Network Crisis: MASN Loses Nats Payment Appeal - Now What? - The TV Answer Man!

By Phillip Swann The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman TV Answer Man, I see that an appeals court ruled against MASN in the Washington Nationals court battle. Does this mean the case is over and MASN has to pay the Nationals now? — Justin, Reisterstown, Maryland. Justin, is it over? Of course not...

tvanswerman.com

 

[SamCdbs]

This saga has gone on for decades, since Expos move in 2004. The decision, at least the history part of it, is worth reading. The short version is that the Orioles owner is a POS. When the Expos moved to Washington, Bud "Light" (Kennesaw Molehill) Selig granted Baltimore "compensation" in the form of a complex deal relative to the RSN, MASN. The Orioles were supposed to negotiate "in good faith" with the Nationals over the value of the Nationals rights. Which, of course, they did not do and Angelos has had it tied up in court all this time. And it is still not over. When he (or his son, who is also a POS) is finally out of options, he will almost certainly just bankrupt MASN and never pay the Nationals what he owes. It is how this character operates. The shame of it is that Angelos' character flaws and illegal activities (he got rich as a trial lawyer by presenting falsified medical reports) were well known when MLB owners let him buy the team.

Anyway, the lessons here for sport business are two:

- Washington, the 8th largest TV market in the country, with 2.1% of the TV homes, and, with legitimate claims to several not small markets as part of their region, could not afford to keep its World Champion team together, because it made so little money from the RSN deal. Well, what happens if all the RSNs go away? What replaces it yield WAY LESS MONEY. Suddenly every team is, is you buy into this "no blackouts" nonsense, NFLesque equal in revenue.

- The precedent of paying Baltimore "compensation" will be used over and over again. Remember that every square inch of this country (and of Canada as well) is claimed by at least one, and in some places up to six, team as "home territory". All the talk about teams in Charlotte, or Nashville, or other places, runs into this problem. Someone, generally the Braves, will want huge cash.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

Sinclair's main mistake was it blinked, first with DISH, and then with the linear streamers. You want the rights to the local stations Sinclair owns? (At the time the largest set of stations in the country, including many (illegal) dupoplies.) Well, that package includes the RSN. Period. Not negotiable. Full stop. When it blinked with DISH, it sealed the fate of the company.

MLB's failure was greed. MLBEI was a good product, because it was supplemental. 99% of those that had it via cable or DBS had already paid their fair share for local baseball, as that was included the "basic cable" bundle. mlb.tv is not a good product, as it allows easier and cheaper access to other people's teams without first paying for your own.

really I think that by law the cables co's must let you BUY MLBEI with an limmted basic pacakge or any base package even ones with out the local RSN's.
They where forced to offer that back in the 90's so you where able to get limmted basic and add HBO to that.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

This saga has gone on for decades, since Expos move in 2004. The decision, at least the history part of it, is worth reading. The short version is that the Orioles owner is a POS. When the Expos moved to Washington, Bud "Light" (Kennesaw Molehill) Selig granted Baltimore "compensation" in the form of a complex deal relative to the RSN, MASN. The Orioles were supposed to negotiate "in good faith" with the Nationals over the value of the Nationals rights. Which, of course, they did not do and Angelos has had it tied up in court all this time. And it is still not over. When he (or his son, who is also a POS) is finally out of options, he will almost certainly just bankrupt MASN and never pay the Nationals what he owes. It is how this character operates. The shame of it is that Angelos' character flaws and illegal activities (he got rich as a trial lawyer by presenting falsified medical reports) were well known when MLB owners let him buy the team.

Anyway, the lessons here for sport business are two:

- Washington, the 8th largest TV market in the country, with 2.1% of the TV homes, and, with legitimate claims to several not small markets as part of their region, could not afford to keep its World Champion team together, because it made so little money from the RSN deal. Well, what happens if all the RSNs go away? What replaces it yield WAY LESS MONEY. Suddenly every team is, is you buy into this "no blackouts" nonsense, NFLesque equal in revenue.

- The precedent of paying Baltimore "compensation" will be used over and over again. Remember that every square inch of this country (and of Canada as well) is claimed by at least one, and in some places up to six, team as "home territory". All the talk about teams in Charlotte, or Nashville, or other places, runs into this problem. Someone, generally the Braves, will want huge cash.

why does Alaska, Hawaii, Guam? have MLB back outs?
But from the in demand MLBEI list there are systems / areas
Curacao, Netherlands/Antilles NONE
But the Bahamas has NONE
Puerto Rico has NONE
TORONTO DISASTER RECOVERY-Richmond Hill has NONE (rogers cable)
Georgetown, Grand Cayman NONE
Jamaica NONE
MLB International / Venezuela NONE
MLB International / Panama NONE
Netherlands/Antilles NONE
Grand Cayman NONE

 

[Bruce]

Reds Ready To Go It Alone Sans Bally Sports Starting Saturday​

On Monday, Next TV confirmed an earlier report that the Reds have handshake agreements with pay TV distributors Charter Communications and DirecTV to deploy the team local TV rights on a new channel, starting Saturday, when the Reds take on the Chicago White Sox.

The Reds currently have a local broadcast TV deal with Sinclair's bankrupt Diamond Sports Group, reportedly valued at $50 million-$60 million a season, to show the club's non-nationally televised games on regional sports network channel Bally Sports Ohio.

Reds Ready to Go It Alone Sans Bally Sports Starting Saturday

If Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group doesn't pay MLB team by Friday, club is set to broadcast its own games starting Saturday vs. the White Sox on a new channel

www.nexttv.com

 

[Bruce]

The MLB plans have emerged for when the RSNs fail, quite simple really-

From the view of the MLB, they are thinking the Chapter 11 trustee may rescind some or all of the league’s contracts and they could then offer MLB games through its Extra Innings and MLB.TV apps, while at the same time regionalizing the MLB Network (which is now a national service).

So that is it, make the National Cable Channel the local RSN and streaming, that means no more local rights negotiations, it becomes shared revenue, then raise the carriage fees for Providers when the contracts are due along with selling it online.

Will it work, incredibly doubtful with revenue, there is no way they (teams)will get as much they used to get from the local RSNs, hence why they are in so much trouble financially .

But in today’s world where traditional providers are now losing 2 million subs a quarter, most of them used to get the RSNs, not many options for MLB ( along with NBA and NHL).

Diamond Sports Bankruptcy Setback : Phoenix Suns And Mercury Bailing From RSN

Most Chapter 11 Bankruptcy cases are fairly straight forward, with creditors agreeing to take pennies on the dollar or swap debt for equity. Not so with Diamond Sports Group, which is facing pushback from the Phoenix Suns and Mercury.

www.forbes.com

 

[Yespage]

Of course it can work. There isn't anything special about broadcasting. Just who is signing the pay checks and getting commercial revenue. The issue is how much they can get for this. It'll be less. Can the league survive with less? Yes. Times change, and they need to change with it.

The cow is out of the barn. Time to recognize it (and watch Sinclair burn).

 

[SamCdbs]

The real issue is how do you apportion the money? The NFL shares most everything equally.

So, in a "no blackouts" world, where all the teams, including your local team, is on mlb.tv (and other media delivery methods) do the Reds and the Royals get the same cut of sales as the Yankees and Dodgers? Particularly when, while the RSN is doomed, the market size means that the big markets may have a few years left to operate before they collapse.

And, yes, it is FAR less money. NBA and NHL, no issue. Salary cap. Poor players will have to make it on only $50M and not $100M. My heart bleeds. MLB, issue. Outrageous union that refuses to bargain in good faith.

 

[Bruce]

Reds Ready To Go It Alone Sans Bally Sports Starting Saturday​

On Monday, Next TV confirmed an earlier report that the Reds have handshake agreements with pay TV distributors Charter Communications and DirecTV to deploy the team local TV rights on a new channel, starting Saturday, when the Reds take on the Chicago White Sox.

The Reds currently have a local broadcast TV deal with Sinclair's bankrupt Diamond Sports Group, reportedly valued at $50 million-$60 million a season, to show the club's non-nationally televised games on regional sports network channel Bally Sports Ohio.

Reds Ready to Go It Alone Sans Bally Sports Starting Saturday

If Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group doesn't pay MLB team by Friday, club is set to broadcast its own games starting Saturday vs. the White Sox on a new channel

www.nexttv.com

The Reds were paid, looks to be the full amount owed unlike the 50% they were allowed to pay Cleveland and the other teams.

Diamond Sports Group makes rights payment to Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have gotten a rights payment from the Diamond Sports Group, days before the end of a grace period.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Howard Simmons]

The Reds were paid, looks to be the full amount owed unlike the 50% they were allowed to pay Cleveland and the other teams.

Diamond Sports Group makes rights payment to Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have gotten a rights payment from the Diamond Sports Group, days before the end of a grace period.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Yespage]

The Reds were paid, looks to be the full amount owed unlike the 50% they were allowed to pay Cleveland and the other teams.

Diamond Sports Group makes rights payment to Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have gotten a rights payment from the Diamond Sports Group, days before the end of a grace period.

awfulannouncing.com

We can't afford to pay for the rights we purchased due to the debilitating debt we accrued to buy those rights. Please let us pay less, so we can afford to make our debt payments.

 

[SamCdbs]

And Sinclair sells the Stadium channel. Stadium is a netlet given away free OTA in most markets and on FAST services. It is, IMHO, worth what you pay for it. A couple of talk shows that try to be woker and more self-absorbed than ESPN and ball games they can get rights to, which is to say stuff even ESPN+ didn't want. US rugby, Conference USA, DII, summer wood bat college leagues, women's football, etc. Has a deal with MLB for one minor league game per week. Buyer is Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the White Sox and the Bulls.

Sinclair will continue to produce "Live On The Line" and "The Rally", which are shown not only on Stadium, but also as filler on Bally and other RSNs. Sinclair will also provide some tennis content from its Tennis Channel to Bally RSNs.

 

[Bruce]

And Sinclair sells the Stadium channel. Stadium is a netlet given away free OTA in most markets and on FAST services. It is, IMHO, worth what you pay for it. A couple of talk shows that try to be woker and more self-absorbed than ESPN and ball games they can get rights to, which is to say stuff even ESPN+ didn't want. US rugby, Conference USA, DII, summer wood bat college leagues, women's football, etc. Has a deal with MLB for one minor league game per week. Buyer is Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the White Sox and the Bulls.

I wonder if something is up with the NBC RSNs then and needs a home( temporarily maybe) for his teams.

With Diamond’s problems, AT&T probably to shut down at the end of the season, the same issues ( lost of per sub fees, advertising way down and the rights fees being way too high in today’s world) would be affecting NBC’s RSNs also.

Edit, found this-NBC Sports Chicago has the regional rights contract for the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks, with those contracts all set to expire in October, 2024.

Reinsdorf Positions Himself To Create His Own TV Network

Jerry Reinsdorf is purchasing a controlling interest in Stadium from Sinclair Broadcast Group, according to reporting by Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports.

www.forbes.com

So if he does turn Charge into a home for the above teams, NBC Sports Chicago will be gone no matter what.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

So if he does turn Charge into a home for the above teams, NBC Sports Chicago will be gone no matter what.

time for the Blackhawks to team up with cubs to give marquee year round live sports?

Also will jerry reinsdorf try OTA pay tv again this time on ATSC 3.0?

 

[SamCdbs]

I wonder if something is up with the NBC RSNs

The math for Comcast/NBC is really no different than it is for Sinclair or WBD (AT&T). Unbundling has killed this genre of entertainment, the first of many genres to go away.

The RSN will die more slowly in big markets, and Comcast has way less debt, but the direction is the same. Comcast has just big cities, but the direction is still downward. It sold the Washington version last year, it gets renamed before next season. With the A's going to Las Vegas, it just has a full set in San Francisco and Philadelphia, along with the NBA only in Boston.

 

[Bruce]

The math for Comcast/NBC is really no different than it is for Sinclair or WBD (AT&T). Unbundling has killed this genre of entertainment, the first of many genres to go away.

The RSN will die more slowly in big markets, and Comcast has way less debt,

Comcast has about $100 Billion in debt (na lot more then Diamond) with only 5 Billion in cash, they also have been trying to refinance some of it ( not a good time for that) but with everything dried up right now, especially the bonds markets now, not having much luck.

Also spending a lot right now, expanding Wireless and Broadband, plus building a third theme park, which will pay for itself, but still does not open till 2025.

Comcast/Universal was Wall Streets top choice to buy out Warner/Discovery next year, but now has soured on that based on Warners‘ debt of $48 Billion, which exceeds its market cap of 27 Billion.

 

[harshness]

WBD (AT&T)

Warner Bros. Discovery was formed by AT&T spinning off WarnerMedia as a new free-standing corporation. As such, there's no longer any ownership relationship between WBD and AT&T.

 

[SamCdbs]

Warner Bros. Discovery was formed by AT&T spinning off WarnerMedia as a new free-standing corporation. As such, there's no longer any ownership relationship between WBD and AT&T.

WBD brand of RSN is "AT&T Sportsnet". That is all I was referring to. Just as I would say Comcast (NBC Sport Channel) or Sinclair (Bally's).