Last February, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced plans to launch a National League. … [+]
Over the past month, Diamond Sports Group, the country's largest regional sports network and in financial crisis, has been actively negotiating to renew its retransmission agreement with Comcast, a trio of pay-TV distribution companies. .
comcast
according to sportico, the three MVPDs account for 81% of all affiliate revenue and collectively reach 38 million household subscribers. Additionally, the three MVPDs account for approximately 69% of all traditional pay TV households.
charter: In a multi-year agreement announced in early April, Diamond Sports and Charter Communications have renewed their distribution packages. Under the new deal, subscribers to Charter's Spectrum TV Select Plus package will have access to Diamond's channels and will be able to stream content on Bally's sports app. His previous contract expired at the end of February, and RSN remained on the air throughout renewal negotiations. Charter is the second largest pay TV distribution company in the United States with 13.5 million customers.
DirecTV: A month later, Diamond Sports Group reached a renewal agreement with DirecTV, the No. 3 pay TV distribution company. The deal allows DirecTV customers with access to the Choice, Ultimate, or Premier tiers to continue to have access to RSNs. Additionally, Bally Sports content can be streamed via the app. Additionally, DirecTV or DirecTV STREAM subscribers who do not have access to Diamond Sports can purchase Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) products.
Additionally, in early May, Diamond Sports reached a multi-year renewal agreement with Cox Communications, a small pay-TV distribution company.
Comcast: Days before DirecTV's announcement, renewal negotiations between Diamond Sports and Comcast stalled, resulting in RSN being removed from the nation's largest pat-TV distribution company. The agreement was due to expire last fall, but the parties agreed to a six-month extension without any resolution. In addition to cost, another negotiation issue is where to place the RSN channel. Comcast wants to make the channel a premium tier with a high monthly fee, but has faced pushback from Diamond Sports. NBA and NHL playoff games currently only affect MLB games.
Amazon
Amazon
front office sports For the Amazon deal to take effect, Diamond Sports must revoke local media rights for NBA and NHL franchises that it returned to local teams, according to reports. The return of local media rights to the team was made with the expectation that Diamond Sports would cease operations after the 2023-24 season. Therefore, it is unclear what local sports will be available on Amazon if the restructuring strategy is approved. There are also reports that Diamond Sports has proposed adjustments toward a long-term contract that includes “modification of rights fees'' and digital rights.
according to The Athletic, Diamond Sports' reorganization could impact MLB's direct-to-consumer strategy if it successfully emerges from bankruptcy with a streaming plan. In February, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced plans to launch an in-market streaming service that would require about half of MLB's 30 teams to be successful. His planned DTC service will be available nationwide. A successful launch is predicated on the assumption that Diamond Sports will not successfully emerge from bankruptcy protection.
As of now, MLB has already launched streaming services with nine teams and could launch as early as 2025. There are already three teams whose games are being produced by MLB in 2024. Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres. This decision affected three more teams as Warner Bros. Discovery shut down his RSN business. Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners. Three of the other teams are in the final year of their contracts with Diamond Sports. Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers.
If Diamond Sports' restructuring plan is approved, there will not be enough teams for MLB to launch a viable domestic direct-to-consumer strategy until at least 2025. At this time, a month before the hearing, most observers expect the bankruptcy court to approve Diamond Sports' reorganization plan.
