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

[howeda7]

Again, if you aren’t on YTTV then you have failed. Legacy Sat/cable are trash.

In any of those cases though, absolutely absurd to expect anyone to pay even $60/mo (let alone more) and then expect them to be willing to pay extra, additional to access mainstream sports like MLB, NBA, and NHL. Just beyond absurd.

The only reason to pay for a live TV channel bundle is sports!!! So it G-D better well already include all mainstream sports.

Maybe if you like handball or ping-pong, you’ll have to pay extra. But not friggin MLB. Gtfo

Does YTTV have any regional sports networks? If not, it seems they've chosen not to be a good choice for sports fans. You act like the Twins are obligated to give away their games to YouTube for free.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Does YTTV have any regional sports networks?

checking the YTTV website, I see these sports-related channels listed:
ACC Network
B1G Network
CBS Sports Network
ESPN - ESPN2 - ESPNEWS - ESPN U
FS1 - FS2
Golf Network
NBA TV
NFL Network
SEC Network

from what I can see, it looks like Fubo TV carries BSN and some other sports channels.

 

[MplsGopher]

YTTV has every sports channel included. Ball-less Sports have failed by not being included in modern live TV.

Legacy sat/cable are trash.

 

[gophersfan]

Bally Sports North will keep televising Timberwolves games for now, but Twins' TV future still up in the air

A federal bankruptcy judge's ruling keeps the Wolves games on TV this season, and likely those of the Wild. But the Twins could face a financial hit.

www.startribune.com

 

[short ornery norwegian]

In the article linked above, a lawyer for Sinclair - the company that purchased the RSN's and set up Diamond Sports to run the channels - predicted that Diamond and Bally will go out of business after the current season.

"Let's be clear what's going on here: This is a liquidation of the business," David Seligman, attorney for Sinclair Inc., which purchased 19 regional sports networks including BSN in 2019. "This is going to be in operation for another year, and then it's going to be shutting down the business."

an attorney for Diamond disputed Seligman's conclusion.

the article also notes that Diamond has reached agreements with the NBA and NHL teams it carries to broadcast games this season, but does not have similar agreements with the MLB teams it has contracts with.

 

[MplsGopher]

Isn't that just because Diamond is suing Sinclair? Probably their (Diamond's) execs are just hoping to squeeze a bigger severance for themselves.

Stick a fork in the b___ard. Good riddance.


Twins will be on TV again, some where, some way. They won't just not put games on some kind of platform for fans to watch.

 

[saintpauljeff]

I simply quit watching Twins/Wild/TWolves when I switched to YTTV 1.5 years ago. Thought about paying separately for the app but just heard too many bad things with it. I guess I just learned to live without those 3 sports. And the funny thing is, my willingness for attendance on those 3 sports is also down to nothing. (of course some of the attendance hesitation is my lack of desire to go into downtown Mpls). For me it’s been a trickle down effect, but I guess I’m saving a bunch of money by not subscribing nor attending in person.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

somewhat off-topic, but it appears that ESPN is moving ahead with plans to offer a DTC (direct-to-consumer) or streaming option for ESPN by 2025.

a lot of questions still about pricing - and how this would impact the deals ESPN has with all of the cable and satellite providers. I have seen estimates - or guesses - that a stand-alone ESPN streaming service could go for $30 a month.

 

[MplsGopher]

Yeah I still don’t get that. Why would you not get YTTV and get all the sports, and news.

Those are the two things you need live.

No point in any other channel being live anymore

 

[forever a gopher]

I simply quit watching Twins/Wild/TWolves when I switched to YTTV 1.5 years ago. Thought about paying separately for the app but just heard too many bad things with it. I guess I just learned to live without those 3 sports. And the funny thing is, my willingness for attendance on those 3 sports is also down to nothing. (of course some of the attendance hesitation is my lack of desire to go into downtown Mpls). For me it’s been a trickle down effect, but I guess I’m saving a bunch of money by not subscribing nor attending in person.

I've hammered this many times before, but it seems beyond short-sighted that all of the pro sports teams don't have some package of games on OTA TV. There are quite a few people that don't get BallySports, but everybody can get OTA if you have an antenna (and I think they all offer online streaming as well). Sure, you may take a small hit in your immediate TV revenue, but it's just a price you have to pay to maintain/grow your fanbase, which in turns buys your merch, pays for tickets, etc.

I'm in the same boat in that I more or less stopped caring about the Wolves and Wild due to not ever being able to see them. The Twins I listen to on the radio, so I still follow them. I was complaining about this a while back, and my wife had a very good point - when we agree to give hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to build them their facilities, it should be written in the contract that some percent of their games appear on OTA TV (maybe 10% at a minimum) as a sort of public service as a "thank you" for the obscene amounts of money gifted to these organizations.

 

[howeda7]

I was complaining about this a while back, and my wife had a very good point - when we agree to give hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to build them their facilities, it should be written in the contract that some percent of their games appear on OTA TV (maybe 10% at a minimum) as a sort of public service as a "thank you" for the obscene amounts of money gifted to these organizations.

They tried to put various things in the stadium bill like that, but usually that "all" games had to be free OTA or MLB had to allow the local news to show highlights of games that were still ongoing etc. Those would have been poison pills designed to kill the bill, as MLB is not going to structure its TV rights to suit the Minnesota legislature.

However, something like 10% as you suggest probably would have been doable and been under the team's control. At the time they did have at least 10% of the games OTA though. And they really shouldn't have gone away from it.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

when I was growing up, I think there were maybe 20 Twins games a season that were shown on free TV. at one point, the owners believed that putting games on TV would hurt attendance. as time passed, more games were shown on TV.

from 1961 to 1982, Twins games were shown on WTCN, WCCO or KMSP. can't find details on how many games were shown per season.

as far as I can tell, the first Cable/Pay per view deal for the Twins was Spectrum Sports from 1983 to 1985. Twins Vision existed in 1987 & 1988. then the Midwest Sports Channel from 1989 to 2001. Fox Sports North in '02 & '03. Victory Sports in 2004. Fox Sports North from 2005 to 2020. BSN from 21-23.

during the cable era, there were a limited number of free over-the-air games on KMSP and WCCO, but that ended in (I think) 2005.

 

[howeda7]

during the cable era, there were a limited number of free over-the-air games on KMSP and WCCO, but that ended in (I think) 2005.

The Twins had over the air games until around 2010 or 2011. Sunday games on WFTC were the last ones. Bert's infamous incident was one such game in 2006 because they only did the Sunday pregame hit live the rest were taped.

 

[Ope3]

when I was growing up, I think there were maybe 20 Twins games a season that were shown on free TV. at one point, the owners believed that putting games on TV would hurt attendance. as time passed, more games were shown on TV.

from 1961 to 1982, Twins games were shown on WTCN, WCCO or KMSP. can't find details on how many games were shown per season.

as far as I can tell, the first Cable/Pay per view deal for the Twins was Spectrum Sports from 1983 to 1985. Twins Vision existed in 1987 & 1988. then the Midwest Sports Channel from 1989 to 2001. Fox Sports North in '02 & '03. Victory Sports in 2004. Fox Sports North from 2005 to 2020. BSN from 21-23.

during the cable era, there were a limited number of free over-the-air games on KMSP and WCCO, but that ended in (I think) 2005.

I think it was generally 25 games in the 1970s when I started to watch. Might have grown to as many as 50 by the mid 80s before Spectrum & WCCO2-MSC-FSN-BSN.

Almost never televised at the Met/Dome during the Griffith regime.

 

[Slim Tubby]

The Twins had over the air games until around 2010 or 2011. Sunday games on WFTC were the last ones. Bert's infamous incident was one such game in 2006 because they only did the Sunday pregame hit live the rest were taped.

What was Bert's incident?

 

[howeda7]

What was Bert's incident?

 

[short ornery norwegian]

got this from my local tele-comm manager: another sports channel bites the dust.

FYI - effective December 31st at 11:59pm ET, Diamond Sports Group will cease operations of Stadium College Sports (fka Fox College Sports).

Stadium College Sports carries a variety of events from various colleges including coaches shows. they also carry high school football.

I've never watched it. it's on a digital tier of channels and I'm too cheap to pay extra for it.

 

[howeda7]

got this from my local tele-comm manager: another sports channel bites the dust.

FYI - effective December 31st at 11:59pm ET, Diamond Sports Group will cease operations of Stadium College Sports (fka Fox College Sports).

Stadium College Sports carries a variety of events from various colleges including coaches shows. they also carry high school football.

I've never watched it. it's on a digital tier of channels and I'm too cheap to pay extra for it.

It seems pretty definitive that Diamond is completely done at the end of the current NBA/NHL season. The Twins might have to cut an over the air deal for a year and then work with the Wolves/Wild on a joint venture. I guess there's nothing stopping them from doing it now, but it's hard to negotiate with providers while they're still paying for Bally's.

 

[MplsGopher]

It's still so good.

.... against .... ah, Jeter ... we gotta do this F'ing thing over again because I just F'ED it up ................ oh we're live?! I didn't know that!

 

[MplsGopher]

For whatever little it's worth (very little I suspect), HBO Max (I will never refer to it as just "Max", f'ing stupid) now offers a sports add-on package that they branded B/R for Bleacher Report, that offers "select" MLB/NBA/NHL games. For an extra $10/mo in addition to your base subscription.

So you might get to see a few Twins/Wolves/Wild games that way.

 

[Ope3]

For whatever little it's worth (very little I suspect), HBO Max (I will never refer to it as just "Max", f'ing stupid) now offers a sports add-on package that they branded B/R for Bleacher Report, that offers "select" MLB/NBA/NHL games. For an extra $10/mo in addition to your base subscription.

So you might get to see a few Twins/Wolves/Wild games that way.

They offer whatever games are on the TBS/TNT platform.

 

[MplsGopher]

There you go, that makes sense I guess.

Yeah again ... I can't ever imagine myself paying a month subscription for access to live sports of just one major platform.

You pay for YTTV, and you get all of them. Well at least the non F'ing stupid ones (like Ball-less Sports).

All these BS little "+" things are not what I'm talking about, but I don't buy those either.