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

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quick update - the proposed deal between Amazon and Diamond Sports is getting a lot of play around the country. multiple outlets are picking up the story, with many giving it a local spin.

now, it's fair to point out that Diamond and Bally Sports only have the streaming rights to 5 MLB teams. So I suspect a deal with Amazon would hinge to some extent on Amazon being able to acquire streaming rights to more of the teams currently covered by Bally.

and as of today (Dec 19), still crickets on the Twins' new (or old) TV home. But - if this Amazon deal with Diamond goes through, then Diamond might be in a financial situation where it could offer the Twins enough $$ to make the Twins consider re-upping with Bally for at least one more season.
 

Saw in the STrib the other day that Bally's is still in the running to broadcast Twins for 2024.

Cory Provus was quoted as basically saying it is starting to be a practical issue. Not enough time to develop a contract and iron everything out with someone new, at this point.
 

MplsGopher said:
Saw in the STrib the other day that Bally's is still in the running to broadcast Twins for 2024.

Cory Provus was quoted as basically saying it is starting to be a practical issue. Not enough time to develop a contract and iron everything out with someone new, at this point.
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Provus also said there would be no blackouts in 2024.

So IF the Twins do sign with Bally, there has to be some provision that would allow the Twins to establish a separate deal for streaming that would not be subject to any blackouts. if the Twins go back with Bally without a streaming deal, the fan backlash will be nasty.

sounds like the January 10th hearing in Bankruptcy court is going to be very important in determining what happens going forward with the Twins and other MLB teams.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
if the Twins go back with Bally without a streaming deal, the fan backlash will be nasty.
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Guaranteed this is what will happen.

Twins don't give a S about fans being able to watch games on TV. They just want money to sign players.
 

MplsGopher said:
Guaranteed this is what will happen.

Twins don't give a S about fans being able to watch games on TV. They just want money to sign players.
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You're wrong. The issue is that the previous deal from 2011 didn't include streaming. Any deal they make now will. Either Bally will pay for the streaming rights to sell via their app as they do the Wolves /Wild or it will allow the Twins to do so via MLB.com. I'm hoping the later since the Bally app is trash.
 


"Streaming" is not a valid universal answer. It's a fine answer for people who choose not to have any live TV (beyond antenna).

No person should ever have to pay for a package of live channels AND THEN pay even more per month for a separate streaming service.

Bulls___t.


If you pay for cable, satellite, or equivalent (YouTubeTV), you should automatically have free access to any such "streaming" platform.
 

howeda7 said:
You're wrong. The issue is that the previous deal from 2011 didn't include streaming. Any deal they make now will. Either Bally will pay for the streaming rights to sell via their app as they do the Wolves /Wild or it will allow the Twins to do so via MLB.com. I'm hoping the later since the Bally app is trash.
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You would think with the amount of money on the line that some of these groups/franchises would be able to produce better apps. It's ridiculous.

The Golden Knights have their own app, Knighttime +, and it's a piece of shit for the most part. They DID make the VGK games available, free, over the air locally with an antenna, but that's not an awesome option either.

Frustrating for the consumer, to say the least
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
You would think with the amount of money on the line that some of these groups/franchises would be able to produce better apps. It's ridiculous.

The Golden Knights have their own app, Knighttime +, and it's a piece of shit for the most part. They DID make the VGK games available, free, over the air locally with an antenna, but that's not an awesome option either.

Frustrating for the consumer, to say the least
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A company going through bankruptcy proceedings (such as Bally's) perhaps does not have the resources nor incentive to make their App optimal for the consumer.
 
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MplsGopher said:
"Streaming" is not a valid universal answer. It's a fine answer for people who choose not to have any live TV (beyond antenna).

No person should ever have to pay for a package of live channels AND THEN pay even more per month for a separate streaming service.

Bulls___t.


If you pay for cable, satellite, or equivalent (YouTubeTV), you should automatically have free access to any such "streaming" platform.
Click to expand...

with all due respect, that is just not realistic in the current media landscape. you're asking companies to give away their product for nothing. that's not going to happen. customers - whether they like it or not - have to choose what they want to watch - how they want to watch it - and how much they are willing to pay.

saw this in Cord Cutters News recently

The steady decline of cable TV continues as the number of people watching cable networks dropped to a new low in 2023. This comes as cable TV viewing now dropped below 30% of all TV viewing.

According to Nielsen, cable TV network viewing now accounts for just 28.3% of all TV viewing. Streaming accounts for 36.1% of viewing, and broadcast TV accounts for 24.9%. Other viewing is now 10.7% of all TV viewing.
 



Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
You would think with the amount of money on the line that some of these groups/franchises would be able to produce better apps. It's ridiculous.

The Golden Knights have their own app, Knighttime +, and it's a piece of shit for the most part. They DID make the VGK games available, free, over the air locally with an antenna, but that's not an awesome option either.

Frustrating for the consumer, to say the least
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MLB TV streaming has long been the best and already happens. All they have to do is lift the existing blackout restrictions.

Bally's App is hot garbage that doesn't work half the time. Since they're going bankrupt in a few months, they're not going to do anything to fix it.

Shouldn't be a hard choice.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
customers - whether they like it or not - have to choose what they want to watch - how they want to watch it - and how much they are willing to pay.
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Sure, I choose how it has always worked just fine and how it continues to work just fine: I want to pay one bill to one company for a bundle of live channels that gives me access to everything, regardless which app I have to pull up and sign-in with my credentials in order to access it.

F___ having 20 bills to 20 companies to watch it all.
F___ that.
Stupid as F___.
 

MplsGopher said:
Sure, I choose how it has always worked just fine and how it continues to work just fine: I want to pay one bill to one company for a bundle of live channels that gives me access to everything, regardless which app I have to pull up and sign-in with my credentials in order to access it.

F___ having 20 bills to 20 companies to watch it all.
F___ that.
Stupid as F___.
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That's on YouTube TV, not the Twins/Bally's. Some linear providers let you run some of your subscriptions through them (Amazon and DirecTV do this) but not for everything. It may get there eventually.
 

howeda7 said:
That's on YouTube TV, not the Twins/Bally's. Some linear providers let you run some of your subscriptions through them (Amazon and DirecTV do this) but not for everything. It may get there eventually.
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Disagree that would be valid as a workaround. They'd show right on the bill separate line items. $50 for the main Comcast service, then $25 for Netflix add-in, $25 for MLB add-in, $20 for this, $15 for that.

Bulls___ !!
 



MplsGopher said:
Disagree that would be valid as a workaround. They'd show right on the bill separate line items. $50 for the main Comcast service, then $25 for Netflix add-in, $25 for MLB add-in, $20 for this, $15 for that.

Bulls___ !!
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It's the new reality. Accept it or be an old man shaking his fist at clouds.
 

howeda7 said:
It's the new reality. Accept it
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Not yet, it isn't.

I pay (split 3x with two other households, so far we're still good, though I have no doubt this will come to an end sooner or later like with Netflix) for YTTV and that gets me access to every kind of content from ESPN/ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, Turner. Only things I have to pay separately for is ESPN+ and BTN+, which of course I refuse. (Other than sometimes for college volleyball.)

Choosing to go with Bally's means they lose my viewership. Will never pay extra for it. Their fault. Their failure.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
with all due respect, that is just not realistic in the current media landscape. you're asking companies to give away their product for nothing. that's not going to happen. customers - whether they like it or not - have to choose what they want to watch - how they want to watch it - and how much they are willing to pay.

saw this in Cord Cutters News recently

The steady decline of cable TV continues as the number of people watching cable networks dropped to a new low in 2023. This comes as cable TV viewing now dropped below 30% of all TV viewing.

According to Nielsen, cable TV network viewing now accounts for just 28.3% of all TV viewing. Streaming accounts for 36.1% of viewing, and broadcast TV accounts for 24.9%. Other viewing is now 10.7% of all TV viewing.
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When you say "cable", do you know if those ratings also include satellite providers like Direct TV and Dish Network or is it just the hard-line providers?
 

Slim Tubby said:
When you say "cable", do you know if those ratings also include satellite providers like Direct TV and Dish Network or is it just the hard-line providers?
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Generally they mean all providers. Everyone watching Fox News, ESPN etc. no matter how received.
 

howeda7 said:
Generally they mean all providers. Everyone watching Fox News, ESPN etc. no matter how received.
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Disagree.

If I tune in ESPN on YouTubeTV, I believe they consider that to be "Streaming TV viewing".

It's a whole convoluted mess.
 

Slim Tubby said:
When you say "cable", do you know if those ratings also include satellite providers like Direct TV and Dish Network or is it just the hard-line providers?
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don't know. the article mentions "other viewing" making up 10.7% of all TV viewing. so I wonder if satellite viewing falls into that category. otherwise I have no idea what "other viewing" would represent. I live in SW MN and there are still a lot of people with satellite dishes around here.

I tried to find some more definitive stats, but a lot of the articles I found lumped 'cable and satellite' together under the label of 'pay TV.'
 

MplsGopher said:
Disagree.

If I tune in ESPN on YouTubeTV, I believe they consider that to be "Streaming TV viewing".

It's a whole convoluted mess.
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The notes almost always note that when they count "YouTube" and "Hulu" for streaming it is not including their live TV service. Nielsen measures what you're watching not how it was delivered to you.
 

howeda7 said:
The notes almost always note that when they count "YouTube" and "Hulu" for streaming it is not including their live TV service. Nielsen measures what you're watching not how it was delivered to you.
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Watching videos on YouTube is not watching TV. That's not TV. No more than TikTok.

Netflix and Hulu on-demand libraries of episodes, is, I agree with that.
 

looks like MLB will take over as producer of TV games for the Colorado Rockies. from 'awful announcing.com'

The Colorado Rockies have been searching for a media home for the last several months following the shutdown of AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain in the fall. However, it seems as if those efforts haven’t provided any fruit, and Rockies games will be produced and distributed by MLB in 2024.

Per the Denver Post, the Rockies are expected to follow the same route as the Padres and Diamondbacks did last season.
Now that AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain will no longer televise Rockies games, Major League Baseball is poised to move in, acquire the broadcast rights, and begin producing games this season. The setup will be similar to what happened in Arizona and San Diego last summer.
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The Post also reports that, as we saw with the Padres and Diamondbacks in 2023, the Rockies’ broadcast talent is expected to remain in place if games are produced and distributed by MLB. This includes play-by-play announcer Drew Goodman, who has been the voice of the Rockies for over two decades.
 

Twins should do exactly the same.

Stupid to do anything else.


MLB should force it upon them, if they can't get a deal in place by ____ date.
 

and now the next bankruptcy court hearing for Diamond Sports has been postponed for 10 days.

from Sportskeeda

The ongoing bankruptcy court hearing regarding Diamond/Bally Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) and Major League Baseball has faced another delay, extending the wait for a resolution to January 19. The sides have been engaged in mediation and negotiations, contributing to the postponement. Despite the delay, it’s essential to note that this does not necessarily indicate a negative turn in the process or confirm a finalized deal.

and this news - MLB apparently nixes deal that would have had Amazon take over streaming of 11 MLB teams.

Recently, Amazon proposed a lifeline of around $150 million to Diamond Sports, intending to invest in the company and take over streaming broadcasts for 11 baseball teams, including the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, and St. Louis Cardinals.

However, MLB commissioner Bob Manfred rejected Amazon’s proposal ahead of the bankruptcy hearing. The rejection was attributed to Amazon’s desire for a streaming deal lasting more than one year, with Manfred insisting on handling any digital deal with MLB directly.

At the upcoming bankruptcy hearing, MLB plans to present Diamond with a deal that reduces media rights fees for three of the 11 teams in exchange for MLB obtaining digital rights for all Diamond teams in 2025. While Diamond could still consider negotiating with Amazon, MLB seems inclined to strike its streaming deals with major platforms like Amazon or Apple from 2025 onward.
 

a little more information on the Diamond/Bally - Amazon - MLB situation - from the NY Post:

Diamond Sports got a few extra innings to work out a streaming deal with Amazon after a bankruptcy judge delayed the embattled company’s showdown with Major League Baseball.

The nation’s largest RSN owns the broadcast rights to 11 MLB squads, including the World Series champion Texas Rangers — and the streaming rights to five of them.

It had sought to sell the streaming rights for all of the baseball teams to Amazon for roughly $150 million but MLB rejected that proposal.

Now, Diamond Sports’ creditors have hatched a plan to partner with Amazon for the streaming rights to the five teams it does own, sources told The Post.

MLB, meanwhile, has offered Diamond a deal that reduces the media rights fees it pays for three of the 11 teams in exchange for the league gaining the digital rights for all Diamond teams in 2025, sources said.

Diamond’s senior lenders are owed $650 million and are generally supportive of the MLB plan, sources said. They want Diamond to wind down its operations after the 2024 MLB season and sell its profitable media contracts to rival networks, the insiders said.

However, the junior lenders — who are owed $8 billion — want to scrape together enough money to pay off the senior lenders and keep Diamond afloat, sources said.
 


In the never ending saga Amazon reaches an agreement with Diamond sports. The bankruptcy court must still approve it.

www.espn.com

Amazon agreement saves bankrupt RSN provider

Amazon will partner with Diamond Sports as part of a restructuring agreement as the largest owner of regional sports networks looks to emerge from bankruptcy.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

More on the Diamond-Amazon deal from CNBC:
(deal still must be approved by bankruptcy court)

Regional sports programmer Diamond Sports Group said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with a group of creditors to emerge out of bankruptcy and that it would also get funding from Amazon.com as part of a streaming deal.

Diamond Sports owns 18 networks under the Bally Sports banner, giving it the television rights to 11 MLB, 15 NBA and 11 NHL franchises for a grand total of 37 major professional sports teams.

Diamond Sports, a unit of Sinclair Broadcast, said the agreement with creditors would provide it with $450 million in financing, some of which will be used to pay down debt and the rest to support its operations as it finalizes its reorganization plan.

The company also said Amazon’s Prime Video will now become the primary partner through which customers can buy direct-to-consumer access to stream local channels of Diamond, which carries the games of more than 40 major sports teams across the U.S.

That would allow Prime Video viewers access to content including live MLB, NBA and NHL games, and pre- and post-game programming for the teams for which Diamond has DTC rights.

Separately, Diamond said it has reached a deal with Sinclair Broadcast to settle the pending litigation that alleged the parent firm fraudulently withdrew as much as $1.5 billion from the regional sports business.

According to the settlement, Sinclair will pay Diamond $495 million in cash and provide ongoing management and transition services to support its reorganization and separation from the parent’s operations, among others.

(note - Diamond/Bally only has streaming rights to 5 MLB teams. They do not have streaming rights to the Twins. There is a hearing scheduled for Friday in bankruptcy court. one of the issues reportedly on the docket for Friday involves a potential agreement between Diamond/Bally and MLB.)
 

and another wrinkle - from Cord Cutters news.com --
Diamond wants to change the terms of its contracts with NBA and NHL teams as part of its plan to remain in operation.

Over the last few months, Bally Sports’ parent company, Diamond Sports Group, struck new deals with the NBA and reportedly the NHL that would see its TV contracts end after the current season. Now, as a part of a new plan proposed to the bankruptcy court, these contracts would be terminated, and the old NHL and NBA contracts would go back into effect.

The terms are part of Diamond Sports Group’s plan to emerge out of bankruptcy, and would revert the NBA and NHL to its old TV deals.

At jeopardy here are several OTA TV deals that allow NBA teams to air up to 10 NBA games this season on free broadcast channels in their markets. Cord Cutters News has confirmed that these contracts could be terminated if the judge approves this plan.

Bally Sports is arguing that while teams have already gone ahead and struck new TV deals, their NBA contract has not gone into effect yet. That would allow the judge to backtrack and put the old NBA and NHL contracts back into place.

All of this is subject to the judge’s approval, and MLB, NHL, and NBA will all have a chance to argue for or against this plan.
 

and now this: turns out there was a video conference today in bankruptcy court. an MLB lawyer said MLB was not informed about the proposed Amazon deal. Evan Drellich tweeting about it (writes for the Athletic)

Highlights:
lawyer for Diamond said there are 3 MLB teams that have been offered deals by Diamond for 2024. Drellich says those teams are the Rangers, Guardians and Twins. Diamond says they want those teams to accept or reject the proposed deals by Feb. 1. there are also talks with at least one of those teams about a deal that runs past 2024.

it appears that the hearing scheduled for Friday (Jan 19) is postponed with no new date set. Quote from MLB lawyer:
"we are digesting an enormous amount of information. until yesterday we were operating with the assumption that we were mediating and nearing conclusion. All of this (Amazon deal) came as a surprise. We knew nothing about it."

and the Judge said the proposed deal with Amazon is "certainly a positive update. But it's got to satisfy the code and the evidentiary standards."
 

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