Sinclair Aiming for $23/Month Streaming Plan for Bally Sports in 2022

[HobbyTalk]

Sinclair Aiming for $23/Month Streaming Plan for Bally Sports in 2022 | Cord Cutters News

Since Sinclair and Bally’s announced an agreement that would result in the branding of Sinclair’s regional sports networks to Bally Sports channels, there has been talk of bringing those channels direct to consumer. This has always been the plan for Sinclair and now we have some more details...

www.cordcuttersnews.com

 

[comfortably_numb]

Seems like a good deal, if you get all of their RSN's and there are no blackouts.

 

[Howard Simmons]

Seems like a good deal, if you get all of their RSN's and there are no blackouts.

There's another thread on the Dish forum about the same thing if anyone wants to read more about this.

 

[Bilbo1]

Seems like a good deal, if you get all of their RSN's and there are no blackouts.

That’s not happening. That would be a replacement for out of market MLB, NHL, and NBA packages. You could get pregame and postgame shows, but not the actual game.

Heck, depending on the agreement for local streaming rights, this type of a package might not even provide the home team’s game. Our local MLS team is broadcast OTA, but streamed locally by the team (last year it was FloFC at $20 per month). Long story short, I can’t stream the game on the OTA channel using YouTube TV.

I can’t see this being a popular service at that price.


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[Foxbat]

Is this the same Bally that made the Bally Arcade back in the late 1970s?

Bally Astrocade - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Mochuf]

I saw this a few days ago. I still can't stop laughing. Okay, maybe I'm now just giggling.

 

[Juan]

That’s not happening. That would be a replacement for out of market MLB, NHL, and NBA packages. You could get pregame and postgame shows, but not the actual game.

Heck, depending on the agreement for local streaming rights, this type of a package might not even provide the home team’s game. Our local MLS team is broadcast OTA, but streamed locally by the team (last year it was FloFC at $20 per month). Long story short, I can’t stream the game on the OTA channel using YouTube TV.

I can’t see this being a popular service at that price.


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Depends on the rights sinclair has

 

[Zookster]

For me to subscribe at that price, it would have to include my RSN, select games from other regions (I don't expect full access to over a dozen Sinclair markets), all Tennis Channel content (including TC+), and an unlimited cloud DVR function with no FF restrictions. No way I pay for any service that doesn't allow me to start a game late and FF through commercials.

 

[Yespage]

And a la carte design for sports fails in this example. People paid less for sports, when all people paid for sports. I've got to wonder how many people will pay around $25 a month... to stream.

Sinclair is also dropping the ball via the, 'waiting way too long' plan. The last thing you want sports fans to do is get used to not having access to something. They are looking at launching maybe before the 2022 MLB season?! People will acclimate to a media world that provides a lot of alternatives in that time.

Worst off is that the remaining savings from going IPTV begin going away when you introduce something like this. So for people that just sub to sports, this is a great deal. For everyone else? $23 a month for local sports, in addition to their already increasing entertainment subscriptions, where sports coverage is fracturing across varying platforms? Good luck Sinclair.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I generally only follow one MLB team and I can sub for a whole season for $109.99. That's cheaper than subbing to this $23 Sinclair plan for 6 months.

 

[Bilbo1]

And a la carte design for sports fails in this example. People paid less for sports, when all people paid for sports. I've got to wonder how many people will pay around $25 a month... to stream.

I don’t know. I guess if I could get ESPN cable channels through the ESPN+ app for somewhere around $10 a month (instead of the $5 it costs now without them), that would go a long way towards pushing me away from YouTube TV.


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[NashGuy]

That’s not happening. That would be a replacement for out of market MLB, NHL, and NBA packages. You could get pregame and postgame shows, but not the actual game.

Right. Sinclair only has in-market broadcast and streaming rights, and obviously only for the teams covered by their specific channels, e.g. Bally Sports Midwest has the St. Louis Cardinals (MLB) and St. Louis Blues (NHL) games; Marquee Sports Network has only the Chicago Cubs (MLB) games.

So if you sign up for this proposed $23/mo streaming service, you're only going to get the games that they're cleared to carry in your zip code. As you say, you might get their out-of-market pregame and postgame shows, or other news/talk/highlight shows featuring out-of-market teams, but you're not going to get those out-of-market teams' actual games. For that, you must subscribe to MLB Extra Innings/MLB.tv, or to NBA League Pass, or to ESPN+ (for out-of-market MLS and, starting next season, NHL games).

I was predicting that this Bally streaming service would come to market for $19.99 or less per month. So $23 sounds a bit high to me. But I can see it making sense for some fans looking to cut their TV expenses if they really don't care about much on cable TV other than their local team(s). The only streaming cable TV package right now that features RSNs is AT&T TV's Choice package, which is $85/mo. And that's pretty close to the incremental amount you'd pay to add Comcast's standard cable TV package that includes RSNs to their standalone broadband service. So let's assume $85/mo is the standard price for a cable channel package that includes your Bally Sports RSN.

If you could use an OTA antenna to reliably pull in your major local broadcast stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.) for free, then you might replace your $85/mo cable TV package with Bally's $23/mo service, saving you $62 a month! Not bad. If you still needed a major national sports channel, you could pick up either Sling Orange (ESPN/2/3, TBS, TNT) or Sling Blue (FS1, USA, NFL Network, TBS, TNT) for $35/mo. If you wanted both that's $50/mo, which, when added to Bally's $23/mo, puts you at $73 total, in which case you may as well stick with a regular full cable TV package and not fool with an antenna and multiple apps.

 

[Zookster]

As much as I don't like the service (compared to YTTV), AT&T TV will probably still best meet my needs, assuming the monthly price doesn't skyrocket next spring when the Bally standalone service launches. I also need ESPN, Fox Sports, and CBS Sports channels to watch my hometown college football and basketball teams, so going without any live TV service is out of the question.

 

[tigerfan33]

I’m glad my thirst for professional sports has mostly dried up.
Good riddance!

 

[larry55]

price to high.

 

[chuckster_dude]

$23 a month is high on the surface. But.....BUT.....if it's MLB, you're paying maybe $1 per game per month to watch your in market team. For NHL or NBA, maybe it's around $2 per game per month.

So, NOW does it sound like a bad deal? I guess if you're a big sports fan, it might not seem like a bad deal in those terms. Maybe?

 

[Bilbo1]

$23 a month is high on the surface. But.....BUT.....if it's MLB, you're paying maybe $1 per game per month to watch your in market team. For NHL or NBA, maybe it's around $2 per game per month.

So, NOW does it sound like a bad deal? I guess if you're a big sports fan, it might not seem like a bad deal in those terms. Maybe?

Very much this. It’s a solid option to cable/satellite for in market access to your local RSN to watch in-market sports, assuming that this is pretty much all you watch on cable. Somewhere out there on the internet are local cable systems rating showing that the RSN is typically the most watched channel on the cable system… something like 10 percent in some markets (St Louis comes to mind).

It’s not a replacement for out-of-market packages. Never will be.


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[NashGuy]

Very much this. It’s a solid option to cable/satellite for in market access to your local RSN to watch in-market sports, assuming that this is pretty much all you watch on cable. Somewhere out there on the internet are local cable systems rating showing that the RSN is typically the most watched channel on the cable system… something like 10 percent in some markets (St Louis comes to mind).

It’s not a replacement for out-of-market packages. Never will be.

Yeah, this proposed Bally Sports streaming service will just offer in-market games like their cable channels do. For out-of-market games, you need MLB.tv, NBA League Pass, or ESPN+ (NHL and MLS). And for out-of-market NFL, NFL Sunday Ticket (although RSNs don't even carry in-market NFL games).

I'm sure that if Bally comes out with the planned streaming app, it will encourage yet more folks to bail on cable TV. But I have to wonder just how many. Because if you care about your local RSN(s), you probably want some of the other cable sports channels too like ESPN, FS1, maybe college conference channels like SEC Network or Big 10 Network. And then there are the major networks carried on local stations for NFL and major games/playoffs from other sports. If you drop cable, you have to bother with an antenna for that (although you can get your live local CBS streamed via Paramount+ for $10/mo).

For folks who are really only into one pro sport and team, and who don't mind using an OTA antenna for locals, I could see them dropping cable and just picking up the Bally app during that team's season. That would save a lot of money. But I think most sports fans will still find that they need to keep a full cable channel package to be satisfied.