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

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update - sort of. as of today, no new hearing dates have been set or reported in the Diamond Sports bankruptcy court proceedings. still in limbo.

in a related topic, another NBA team is dumping the RSN model. according to The Athletic, The Portland Trail Blazers are leaving ROOT sports. the Blazers issued a statement that an announcement on the future TV home of the Blazers would be made soon.

Phoenix and Utah have left their local RSN's for over-the-air channels and a direct-to-consumer streaming option. The New Orleans Pelicans will also be dumping their RSN for the over-the-air and DTC streaming model. New Orleans was on a Diamond/Bally RSN.
 

www.minnesotasportsfan.com

MN Local TV Stations in Contact with Twins, Wild and Timberwolves

It's been a long time since Minnesota professional sports games were regularly broadcast on over-the-air local TV... but that could change.
www.minnesotasportsfan.com www.minnesotasportsfan.com

Darren Wolfson from KSTP 5 has this to say.

“Let’s just say, multiple TV outlets in town have had conversations with all three organizations (Timberwolves, Wild, Twins). If that judge, at some point, declares that Diamond Sports is no longer an entity, that Diamond Sports is no longer a thing, it is going to be a crazy two to three week stretch.
There are going to be a lot of meetings, a lot of phone calls, a lot of people here in town interested in carrying Wild and Wolves games, put it that way. Because, Twins, their season is almost over. We have clarity on what the Twins’ TV situation will look like for the rest of this season.
But, there’s still some open-endedness on, ‘what does the Wild TV situation look like?’; ‘what does the Wolves TV situation look like?’. So, I’m telling you, like we need to wait on on the judge, but let’s just say… there’s been a good amount of conversations. And multiple TV outlets in town are ready to strike, if that judge says, ‘hey Diamond Sports, you’re done, you’re no longer a thing’.”
Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd (SKOR North)
Click to expand...
 

The whole point of that new venture seems to be to establish a monopoly. Judge agrees

"The launch of Venu Sports will be delayed after a federal judge granted FuboTV's motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.

United States District Judge Margaret M. Garnett in the Southern District of New York said in her 69-page ruling Friday that Fubo was likely to be successful in proving that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws and that Fubo and consumers would "face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction."..
FuboTV filed the lawsuit two weeks after ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery and Hulu announced in February their plans to offer a sports streaming service.

In its filing, FuboTV said it has tried for years to offer a sports-only streaming service but has been prevented from doing so because ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have imposed bundling requirements on FuboTV that it says forces "Fubo to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to license and broadcast content that its customers do not want or need."..
www.espn.com

Judge blocks ESPN, Fox, WB streaming venture

The launch of Venu Sports will be delayed after a federal judge granted FuboTV's motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

as I noted in the earlier post #601, several NBA teams have moved to a combination of over-the-air "free" TV and a streaming option.

I do find the "multiple" TV outlets thing interesting. the network TV stations (WCCO, KSTP, KARE) would have to pre-empt or delay their network programs to carry the Wild or Wolves. I just don't see that happening.

so the most likely stations to carry the Wild or the Wolves - IMHO - would be WFTC (Fox9+), KSTC (45), WUCW (CW).
 

short ornery norwegian said:
as I noted in the earlier post #601, several NBA teams have moved to a combination of over-the-air "free" TV and a streaming option.

I do find the "multiple" TV outlets thing interesting. the network TV stations (WCCO, KSTP, KARE) would have to pre-empt or delay their network programs to carry the Wild or Wolves. I just don't see that happening.

so the most likely stations to carry the Wild or the Wolves - IMHO - would be WFTC (Fox9+), KSTC (45), WUCW (CW).
Click to expand...
I could see KMSP/FOX (CH 9) combine with a sister station WFTC (FOX9+) in some form.a Same with KSTP/KSTC.

Only a few of the games would be on the Network station, but they could provide some occasional windows on weekend afternoons or even preempt Prime Time once in a while when they are just showing a summer rerun.
 


still no new hearing dates scheduled for Diamond bankruptcy case. this is going to run into the NBA and NHL seasons.
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in other news, saw this on Cord-Cutters News (a website that covers streaming TV news)
Direct TV is making a new push for "a la carte" TV.

Today DIRECTV came out in support of changing how people pay for and watch TV. With this DIRECTV now wants to offer smaller packages that are more flexible and cheaper. Yet there are some problems to making that a reality.

The main problem here is that content owners like Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and NBCUniversal are unwilling to let providers like DIRECTV make changes to their packages.

“Unfortunately, while DTC offerings have evolved, pay TV packages have remained largely unchanged. Instead of allowing distributors like DIRECTV to also develop smaller, more tailored packages at prices that reflect the value they get from the content, programmers have continued to impose and enforce strict bundling requirements through exorbitant minimum penetration rates – the minimum proportion of a distributor’s subscribers required to access a channel. These antiquated requirements force pay TV customers to subscribe to many channels they may not watch, which have yielded ‘fat bundles.’ At the same time, programmers have reserved flexible genre-based offerings solely for themselves, eroding the price-value proposition for pay TV customers by shifting the best programming to DTC services while raising programming fees on pay TV.” DIRECTV said in a statement today.

With this DIRECTV says it and other cable TV providers are losing subscribers “because of our collective failure to evolve to meet consumer preferences, not due to external forces.” To help with that DIRECTV is proposing several changes.

Here is everything that DIRECTV is proposing happen:
  • Flexible Packages. Consumers want the ability to choose from genre-based programming without piecing together and purchasing an extensive lineup of channels that don’t meet their desires.
  • Lower-Priced Alternatives. Consumers want price points closer to the DTC options they are familiar with and the ability to pay for all their programming through one platform.
  • Aggregated Experience. Consumers want access to their favorite shows and sports and the ability to discover new content in one complete experience – live ‘linear’ TV or on-demand content from DIRECTV or a third party – instead of through numerous disjointed entry points while managing multiple individual subscriptions to those products.
To achieve any of these goals DIRECTV needs content owners to agree to these changes and so far they have not been willing to make these changes.

(note - Direct TV's current contract with ESPN is up for renewal. those negotiations could be interesting....this could also be more fallout from the proposed Venu skinny sports bundle.)
 

we have a Diamond/Bally update - sort of.

from Evan Drellich in The Athletic:

Regardless of whether it successfully emerges from bankruptcy, Diamond Sports Group, which broadcasts the Bally-branded regional sports networks, is now promising it will operate through the 2024-25 NBA and NHL seasons.

Diamond Sports on Friday said it has reached agreements with both leagues and that as part of the basketball deal, the broadcaster is stepping away from contracts with two teams: the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.

The deals need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 3. Contract terms in both leagues have also been modified, presumably with some rights-fee payment reductions, but no specific dollar figures were revealed in court filings Friday.

Looming over everything, though, is still the question of Diamond’s long-term viability, and when it will be addressed.

For Diamond to emerge from bankruptcy, it needs to hold a confirmation hearing where a judge approves a plan. One was scheduled for late July but was pushed back when Diamond said it needed to make significant changes to its plan. A new date has yet to be announced. (Diamond on Friday proposed a new arrangement with some of its key debtholders that positioned Oct. 1 and Nov. 15 as significant procedural deadlines.)

**according to Sportico, under the new agreements, the rights fees paid to teams will be 30-40% lower for NBA teams and roughly 20% lower for NHL teams**
 
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Sources: Amazon pulls $115M offer to Diamond​


Amazon recently pulled its eight-month-old offer to infuse Diamond Sports Group with $115M in cash, multiple sources told SBJ, a development that has delayed but seemingly not rebuffed Diamond's plan to reemerge from bankruptcy proceedings.

Indications are Diamond, which struck a deal Friday with the NBA and NHL to broadcast games locally this season for 22 teams, still has enough investors to submit a viable reorganization plan to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in the coming weeks. In January, Diamond acknowledged receiving $450M from creditors to help it remain solvent, and Diamond's 13 current NBA teams were informed Friday at a joint session that the company is still a full-go with its plan to escape bankruptcy.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Sources: Amazon pulls $115M offer to Diamond

Amazon recently pulled its eight-month-old offer to infuse Diamond Sports Group with $115M in cash, multiple sources told SBJ, a development that has delayed but seemingly not rebuffed Diamond's plan to reemerge from bankruptcy proceedings.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

My god. Will Diamond please go out of business and do it now.
 

and this from Sports Media Watch:

Even with Diamond’s assurances that they remain on track to emerge from bankruptcy, there remains worry from NBA franchises that Diamond may miss payments. Citing an NBA team executive, SBJ says, “[w]e’re not worried about the first payment. We’re more worried about the last payment.” Diamond’s first rights fees are due to hit in October, coinciding with the beginning of the NBA season.

there is a hearing in bankruptcy court scheduled for Sept 3, but that is being held to review a request from Diamond to end its broadcast agreements with the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans - as noted in post #607.

still no dates set for the big hearing to consider whether Diamond is allowed to emerge from bankruptcy.

Diamond may claim that they don't need the Amazon money - but not that long ago, the Amazon deal was being cited as one of the reasons why Diamond would be able to operate as a viable business going forward. now, they don't need it?
 




hey - another dispute between a Network and a provider - this time it's Disney (ABC/ESPN) and Direct TV. If a deal is not reached by Sunday, Disney channels could be blacked out on Direct TV and Direct TV Stream - impacting sports fans.

this writeup from OutKick:

Disney and DirecTV are locked in a carriage dispute that could cost cable viewers the start of the NFL season.

If the new sides do not reach an agreement by Sept. 1, 11 million subscribers will lose access to ESPN. This means they won't be able to watch the season premiere of Monday Night Football on Sept. 7, featuring Aaron Rodgers' Jets vs. the 49ers.

College football fans would be just as agitated.

DirecTV subscribers would also lose the ability to watch ESPN's broadcasts of USC vs. LSU on Sunday, Sept. 1 and Boston College vs. Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2.

For those expecting a deal to quickly develop, remember that a carriage dispute between Disney and Charter Communications last year at this time led to a nearly two-week blackout and was not resolved until hours before the Monday Night Football opener.

DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun says he wants to offer "smaller, more tailored packages at prices that reflect" value to consumers – noting that ESPN charges subscribers a $9.42 per sub per month (the highest in cable) if the channel is included in their cable package, whether they watch ESPN or not.
 

***update*** ESPN and some ABC stations are now blacked out on DirecTV and DirecTV Stream.
from the AP:

ESPN has gone off the air on a major carrier for the second straight year during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the midst of the first full weekend of college football.

Disney Entertainment channels went dark on DirecTV Sunday night after the sides were unable to reach a new carriage agreement.

The move angered some sports fans, who posted their displeasure on social media. And the U.S. Tennis Association wasn’t pleased with another carriage dispute.

ESPN was showing the fourth round of the U.S. Open when it went off the air on DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. EDT.

It also happened 10 minutes before the start of the college football game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked Southern California in Las Vegas.

DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.

Distributors and subscribers would like to see a model where they can buy channels a la carte instead of subscribing to a bundling package.

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(my thoughts) the traditional cable TV industry is slowly becoming extinct as viewers move to streaming, but the cable TV and satellite companies are going to go down kicking and screaming.
 

Hearing held in Bankruptcy court on Tuesday. hearing was held to review Diamond/Bally's new agreements with its NHL and NBA teams, and to approve Diamond ending its deals with New Orleans and Dallas in the NBA. details from Sportico:

As expected, Judge Lopez signed off on Diamond’s arrangements with the NBA and NHL, before going on to OK the company’s divorce from the Pelicans and Mavericks. He then agreed to preside over a status conference in the first week of October, one which should end with a firm date for a final confirmation hearing.
--still no date for the final confirmation hearing, but it looks like November at the earliest.

As part of an emergency session held Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Diamond counsel Joe Graham asked that a twice-delayed confirmation hearing be rescheduled for early- to mid-November. Initially slated for June 18, the hearing represents what amounts to the final legal milestone in Diamond’s long journey out of bankruptcy.
--while the NBA and NHL have new deals covering the 2024-25 seasons, MLB remains the most vocal critic of Diamond--

MLB representative James Bromley suggested that the company is burning through its cash reserves at an unsustainable clip, as it has earmarked $215 million of the $495 million it collected in Sinclair settlement proceeds as a paydown to its first-lien lenders. Bromley also said that Amazon had pulled its $115 million cash infusion off the table, a development that puts another sizable dent in Diamond’s war chest.
Bromley concluded his presentation by suggesting that baseball isn’t a big believer in the company’s future prospects. “While it is great that NBA and NHL have taken care of their seasons … we have to keep in mind that what is being described to the court is a Band-Aid at this point.”

The judge also said that he took MLB’s concerns “very seriously” before approving Diamond’s proposed adequate-protection package.

----MLB's beef is that - with the final hearing being delayed again - baseball teams will go into the off-season not knowing whether Diamond will emerge from bankruptcy or not. But reading between the tea leaves, the Judge seems to be strongly hinting that he will rule in Diamond's favor.
 



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