Sinclair(Bally's Sport) nearing a deal for NBA streaming rights for direct to consumer offering

$73/month. No Bally. No MLB Network. What makes YouTube TV so beloved by some?
I’ve tried a few streaming services, YouTubeTV’s DVR operation is the best one out there in my opinion. Most services allow you to record a TV series, but I really like that YouTubeTV has is the ability for me to direct it to record all PGA and LPGA golf events and it does. I also have it set up to record every college football game and it does automatically. And since the DVR space is unlimited, you don’t need to delete programs. And it automatically extends sports programing that go into overtime.
 
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I’ve tried a few streaming services, YouTubeTV’s DVR operation is the best one out there in my opinion. Most services allow you to record a TV series, but I really like that YouTubeTV has is the ability for me to direct it to record all PGA and LPGA golf events and it does. I also have it set up to record every college football game and it does automatically. And since the DVR space is unlimited, you don’t need to delete programs. And it automatically extends sports programing that go into overtime.
And the quality of the streaming is really good. Granted I haven't tried a lot, but we've really never had issues with YTTV. It's really just that the price has crept up and up and up.

One time I tried, what was at that time branded as DirecTV Now, and it was a joke in comparison.
 

And the quality of the streaming is really good. Granted I haven't tried a lot, but we've really never had issues with YTTV. It's really just that the price has crept up and up and up.

One time I tried, what was at that time branded as DirecTV Now, and it was a joke in comparison.
I think it was the Gophers game at Colorado in 2022 where I had to sign up for Fubo TV to watch it and the set up was not nearly as good as YTTV.
 

add another team to the list of "where's my money?"

Diamond has reportedly missed a payment to the Reds. There is a grace period that runs into early May.

But the Reds' situation is different than the Twins, because the Reds own a stake in Bally Sports Ohio, which puts them into a different category for the bankruptcy proceedings.

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and, on another site, (Sportico - a sports business site) I found a little more detail on the May 31st bankruptcy court hearing involving the Twins, Cleveland and Arizona:

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez will preside over a key hearing on May 31 during which Major League Baseball’s attorneys, teams and other parties will debate whether Diamond should continue to broadcast MLB games without making timely payments.

The evidentiary hearing will provide an opportunity for Judge Lopez to directly question the parties and permit them to offer sworn testimony and evidence, such as financial documents and asset and liability projections. He will weigh the rights conferred to Diamond as a consequence of filing for bankruptcy with its continued obligations to MLB and its teams.

If persuaded by MLB, Judge Lopez could lift the stay, which would permit teams that have not been paid to provide notices of default to Bally. If Bally then doesn’t pay within a cure period, teams could terminate their agreements and seek new broadcasting partners. Alternatively, the judge could reason that Diamond is acting consistent with rights conferred by the bankruptcy filing.


and this note about viewership for RSN's: (down by 1/3 in last 4 years...)

Since Sinclair Broadcasting acquired the Fox-branded RSNs from Disney in 2019 in a blockbuster $9.6 billion deal, the number of subscribers to the traditional pay-TV bundle has plummeted. At the time of the transaction, the RSNs reached north of 60 million households; per Diamond’s March 15 cleansing materials, that base has been whittled down to 40.6 million homes.
 

add another team to the list of "where's my money?"

Diamond has reportedly missed a payment to the Reds. There is a grace period that runs into early May.

But the Reds' situation is different than the Twins, because the Reds own a stake in Bally Sports Ohio, which puts them into a different category for the bankruptcy proceedings.

------------------------------

and, on another site, (Sportico - a sports business site) I found a little more detail on the May 31st bankruptcy court hearing involving the Twins, Cleveland and Arizona:

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez will preside over a key hearing on May 31 during which Major League Baseball’s attorneys, teams and other parties will debate whether Diamond should continue to broadcast MLB games without making timely payments.

The evidentiary hearing will provide an opportunity for Judge Lopez to directly question the parties and permit them to offer sworn testimony and evidence, such as financial documents and asset and liability projections. He will weigh the rights conferred to Diamond as a consequence of filing for bankruptcy with its continued obligations to MLB and its teams.

If persuaded by MLB, Judge Lopez could lift the stay, which would permit teams that have not been paid to provide notices of default to Bally. If Bally then doesn’t pay within a cure period, teams could terminate their agreements and seek new broadcasting partners. Alternatively, the judge could reason that Diamond is acting consistent with rights conferred by the bankruptcy filing.


and this note about viewership for RSN's: (down by 1/3 in last 4 years...)

Since Sinclair Broadcasting acquired the Fox-branded RSNs from Disney in 2019 in a blockbuster $9.6 billion deal, the number of subscribers to the traditional pay-TV bundle has plummeted. At the time of the transaction, the RSNs reached north of 60 million households; per Diamond’s March 15 cleansing materials, that base has been whittled down to 40.6 million homes.
I believe Manfred has said, or at least implied, that MLB will help keep the clubs impacted whole with regards to their revenue for this season while this plays out. For the Twins sake, I hope that's true...
 




a little context on the above tweets/posts:

(note - this does Not include the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team).

A new kind of local rights deal is emerging in Arizona, where the NBA’s Suns and WNBA’s Mercury announced plans to have a local broadcast channel and streaming service carry their games. Per the deal, Gray Television, which owns three stations in the Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma markets, will carry each one of the team’s games either on its CBS affiliate KPHO, or one of its independent stations (KTVK and KPHE). Kiswe will live stream the games, which will be made available via the Suns and Mercury websites and team-branded apps. Mercury games will be made available for free when the WNBA season kicks off next month. The Suns have not determined how much it will charge for its games.

Suns games had been on Bally Sports Arizona, a Diamond Sports-owned RSN that currently is in bankruptcy protection. Bally Sports Arizona is believed to have back-end rights to the Suns that would allow it to match any offer that is worth less than the potential deal the team last proposed to Diamond. Sources said that Diamond expects to have the opportunity to go through the process to determine if those matching rights kick in. Specific financials for the Gray Television/Kiswe deal are not known. The Suns deal runs five years; the Mercury is two.

In a release that was sent out this morning, the Suns said their games “will be available to nearly 2.8 million households in Arizona“ as part of its new deal, “more than tripling the current number of homes the Suns and Mercury can reach.” Per the release, the Suns will have at least 70 games on broadcast, with at least 40 games on KTVK and the rest on KPHE.
 

$73/month. No Bally. No MLB Network. What makes YouTube TV so beloved by some?
YTTV encompasses about 90% of what I watch. I’ve been on this streamer since July 2022. Having no Ballys is a setback, I basically haven’t watched Wild/TWolves/Twins since then. Funny thing is I don’t really miss it. Ballys could have the greatest streaming app on the planet, but for $20/mon I’d never go back now.
 



Stand alone apps are never going to work for sports.

You need everyone to subsidize everything. Otherwise, it costs too damn much for one sport. Only the very hardcore will pay it and it all falls apart.
 

One of the first dominoes falls for sports networks and sports programming next season.

VGK and Scripps Strike Local Deal As RSN Fades

The Golden Knights games are going to free TV next season after owner Bill Foley signed a deal with Scripps Sports. The games will be on free, over-the-air TV in Nevada and within the Golden Knights broadcast area.

The agreement allows The E.W. Scripps Company to televise all non-nationally exclusive Golden Knights games with full distribution on cable, satellite, and over-the-air television. Scripps will air Golden Knights games on its local station KMCC, Channel 34, which currently airs programming from ION Network.

No clue what fans outside of the southern NV "over-the-air" market are going to do about games just yet?
 

in not-shocking news - Diamond Sports Group (owner of the Bally RSN's) is going to court to try and prevent the Phoenix Suns from moving their games to over-the-air TV and a streaming service.

Suns games had been shown on Bally Sports Arizona, a Diamond Sports-owned RSN that is currently in bankruptcy protection. Bally Sports Arizona claims that it has the right to match any offer that would provide lower revenue to the team. Sources said that Diamond expects to have the opportunity to go through the process to determine if those matching rights kick in.

watching the RSNs fight to stay in business is like watching the Dodo Bird fight against extinction.

I find it interesting that the Suns and now the Knights are opting for over-the-air TV deals with a streaming option/backup. Could that be the eventual fate for the Twins, TWolves and Wild?

Reminder that the Twins situation will be part of a bankruptcy court hearing scheduled for May 31.
 

Maybe FOX can buy the rights and put them all on FOX+ (Channel 29).
 



Maybe FOX can buy the rights and put them all on FOX+ (Channel 29).
Twins games likely get higher ratings than much of what is on Fox9, CW23 etc. The question is how much are they willing to pay? And do the Twins go get stations in Fargo/Duluth/Sioux Falls etc. or does the MSP station buy the full rights and then sublease them out as they do with Vikings preseason games?
 


As we clearly all know, Over-the-air (OTA) stations can and do get their signals picked up and carried as part of channel bundles in both traditional cable/satellite as well as modern streaming packages (YouTubeTV). And they actually get paid a nice per subscriber fee for that, just like cable channels get.

The laws only allow people living in the official "market" to be able to get that channel as part of their bundle. Otherwise, if say KSTP were able to be included in subscriber bundles for people who live in Fargo, Duluth, Rochester, etc., that would be what is legally known as a "superstation" and is now against the law to do.
 

As we clearly all know, Over-the-air (OTA) stations can and do get their signals picked up and carried as part of channel bundles in both traditional cable/satellite as well as modern streaming packages (YouTubeTV). And they actually get paid a nice per subscriber fee for that, just like cable channels get.

The laws only allow people living in the official "market" to be able to get that channel as part of their bundle. Otherwise, if say KSTP were able to be included in subscriber bundles for people who live in Fargo, Duluth, Rochester, etc., that would be what is legally known as a "superstation" and is now against the law to do.
Getting/keeping re-trans fees is why the local stations want these teams games.

For the outlying markets, they will either get on a local channel or or the team will just offer packages directly to the cable/satellite/streaming provider. This was already done back when the Twins used to have Sunday games on channel 29 etc but it was just shown directly on Fox Sports North outside of MSP.
 

Getting/keeping re-trans fees is why the local stations want these teams games.

For the outlying markets, they will either get on a local channel or or the team will just offer packages directly to the cable/satellite/streaming provider. This was already done back when the Twins used to have Sunday games on channel 29 etc but it was just shown directly on Fox Sports North outside of MSP.
Right. You do a hokey thing like this, and like what the above posts are describing, or you make your own legit cable channel (like the Yankees have) and then anyone, anywhere can get it as part of their bundle if their providers chooses to provide or (or offers the option to add it on).

Silly games, because of silly laws.
 

If the Twins wind up on an over-the-air TV Station, they have to bring back the Hamm's Bear ads. those commercials are part of my childhood.

"From the land of Sky-blue waters......."
Do you know how many apartment complex garbage dumpsters I jumped into to try and complete my Hamm's beer outdoor scene can collection? They were right up there with my unopened can of Billy Beer.
 

bump for a quick reminder - hearing on Wednesday, May 31 in bankruptcy court. the Judge will hear presentations from MLB and from Diamond Sports Group (owner of Bally Sports North).

Diamond contends that it maintains the right to show Twins games during the bankruptcy proceedings - even though it has not been making payments to the Twins.

MLB contends that Diamond - by not making payments - is in breach of contract and the rights should revert to the Twins. In that case, MLB is expected to make arrangements for Twins games to be shown on some version of over-the-air, cable TV or streaming.

disclaimer - no way to know when the judge will issue a decision. In a previous situation, the judge took a couple of weeks to issue a decision. so I doubt there will be a final resolution next week.
Michael Rand actually has a decent summary of the current situation in the Strib on Saturday.
 

disclaimer - no way to know when the judge will issue a decision. In a previous situation, the judge took a couple of weeks to issue a decision. so I doubt there will be a final resolution next week.
Michael Rand actually has a decent summary of the current situation in the Strib on Saturday.

Just remember all the cable & satellite haters who promised everybody how much easier and cheaper it would be to watch sports online? Yeah, they were mostly wrong.

 

That the judge already sided with Diamond to get this nice long extension to even have the hearing, means they've bought and paid for the decision they want.

They get to keep showing Twins and get out of having to make some of the payments.

Just get through this season and tell them to go to hell.
 

The little guy continues to get screwed in these situations, while the wealthy continue to laugh at the little guy.
 

The little guy continues to get screwed in these situations, while the wealthy continue to laugh at the little guy.
Who's the "wealthy" laughing in this case? The Twins aren't getting paid and Diamond is bankrupt. Diamond is certainly getting what they deserve but they're not laughing.
 

Who's the "wealthy" laughing in this case? The Twins aren't getting paid and Diamond is bankrupt. Diamond is certainly getting what they deserve but they're not laughing.
They’re not? They’re a separate entity of Sinclair meant for explicitly this purpose- make money for Sinclair when the going is good and be a goat when it isn’t. Diamond goes bankrupt, but Sinclair is untouchable. Twins lose, fans lose, Sinclair is losing media rights. But if they weren’t making money on them anyway, not too sure they want them anymore anyway. So in effect they lose nothing. All the while they are getting to air Twins games for free, pretty sure the Sinclair execs are laughing their asses off.
 

They’re not? They’re a separate entity of Sinclair meant for explicitly this purpose- make money for Sinclair when the going is good and be a goat when it isn’t. Diamond goes bankrupt, but Sinclair is untouchable. Twins lose, fans lose, Sinclair is losing media rights. But if they weren’t making money on them anyway, not too sure they want them anymore anyway. So in effect they lose nothing. All the while they are getting to air Twins games for free, pretty sure the Sinclair execs are laughing their asses off.
Sinclair still lost their @ss on the FSN acquisition. I doubt they're high-fiving each other in the Executive Suite over how that turned out.
 

in a vaguely related note - the owner of the Chicago White Sox & Bulls has purchased full control of a media company, with speculation that he will start his own RSN. It's related because the seller in this case was......Sinclair. also speculation that Sinclair was willing to sell because of the issues with Diamond.

details from Front Office Sports:

Jerry Reinsdorf, the Chicago White Sox and Bulls owner, has taken majority control of Stadium, the multiplatform sports network he helped create in 2017.

Industry sources have confirmed to Front Office Sports that Reinsdorf’s Silver Chalice sports media entity recently acquired a controlling stake in Stadium previously held by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The equity move was precipitated in part by Sinclair’s own corporate issues, sources said. The company’s Diamond Sports Group, which owns and operates the Bally Sports regional sports networks, filed for bankruptcy protection in March and is continuing reorganization efforts.

But sources indicated further, large-scale moves are expected by Stadium in the new Reinsdorf-led structure. Those moves will be closely watched against the backdrop of the October 2024 expiration of the regional rights contract for the Bulls, White Sox, and Chicago Blackhawks with NBC Sports Chicago.

Reinsdorf has previously explored starting his own network to varying degrees.
 


was just reading the SBJ article.

bullet points:
--the Padres have an ownership stake in the local Bally's RSN, so San Diego is NOT part of the larger bankruptcy filing.
--Diamond decided it would not provide any more payments toward the joint venture and the Padres informed Diamond they would be taking the rights back.
--Diamond's deal with the Padres was for $1.2-billion over 20 years, and Diamond has been losing money on that deal. (duh.....)
--MLB will produce the Padres' game at Miami on Wednesday with the regular announcers - who are employed by the team, along with many of the same producers, directors, camera operators, etc.
--MLB will stream the Padres' games for free through Sunday. MLB also plans to make games available on outlets such as Fubo, DirecTV, Cox and Charter, with details to be released.
--in a statement, Diamond blamed MLB for part of its problems because MLB has not reached agreements with Diamond for streaming rights for more teams.
 

Reusse and Rand discussed the Twins/BSN issue on the Strib podcast this week. One downstream impact I had not thought of if MLB takes control of the inventory is whether or not this will alter each team having their own Broadcast production including the announcers.

I would think it would cut such costs nearly in half. I don't know if it really drives ratings one way or another to have their dedicated crew.

They mentioned that MLS does this currently, same broadcast goes out to the Home and Away market.
 




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