Sinclair / Bally Sports looking for a buyer - Regional Sports Networks likely to die
tldr; the Regional Sports Network (RSN) business model is dying. Local teams could have a $20-30 / million a year revenue hole to fill very soon. Contractually, Sinclair could just stop the $20-30 million a year payments they send to Bally Sports Detroit (imminently) for up to 12-18 months.
Uncompetitive professional teams could be in a serious bind. Sports spending (contracts, stadiums, etc) has plateaued for the MLB/NHL/NBA has plateaued.
The NFL/CFB seem to be the remaining exception to this, for now.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/en/SB-Blogs/Newsletter-Media/2022/08/29
August 31st, 2022 at 3:17 PM ^
Fuck Sinclair
August 31st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Logged in just to upvote
August 31st, 2022 at 4:00 PM ^
No love lost for Sinclair here either.
Sinclair bought out two stations I used to frequently watch: one in South Bend (WSBT) that had been my go-to station when I lived for three decades in Berrien County; the other, WMET WWMT-3 in Kalamazoo, a station I've watched since childhood when they were called WKZO and were the only local channel carrying Tigers and Lions games. WWMT is still available where I currently reside but ef them!
Sinclair dumped nearly all the long-term local News Weather & Sports staff members at each station (apparently their MO anywhere and everywhere they take over) and replaced them with a puppet staff. With the exception of occasionally watching TV3's only purge "survivor", long-term weatherman Keith Thompson, I have forgotten where to find channel 3 on my dial.
(edit---I even initially forgot TV3's call letters and had to edit in the correct ones)
August 31st, 2022 at 5:33 PM ^
Yeah, WWMT is also in my viewing area for CBS coverage. The local coverage is lame or non-existent. I mean, no local sports coverage at all? Crazy. Although, like you, I still dig Keith Thompson.
I miss the Tiger broadcasts on the old WKZO station.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:43 PM ^
Fuck Sinclair and all the shitty stuff they do
August 31st, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
Underrated comment.
August 31st, 2022 at 7:50 PM ^
Just to refresh everyone....
August 31st, 2022 at 11:10 PM ^
Was finna post the same. Late to the game, carry on.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
Time to get a kickstarter to resurrect PASS sports
August 31st, 2022 at 3:48 PM ^
Only if the resurrect Live From Ladbrook DRC
August 31st, 2022 at 4:32 PM ^
Shoutout to the Mizlou Sports News Network AM highlight show on PASS c 1994.
Oh and the original sports reporters show "Sports Writers on TV". Just four ancient white guys from Chicago smoking cigars and talking about how things were better when Ike was president.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
One huge reason the idiots at Sinclair/Bally are struggling is they have yet to acknowledge that cord-cutting is real so their local sports stations are only available via the traditional satellite and cable networks. YouTube TV, Hulu, Sling and others are all locked out. I wanted to see the Cavs/Indians.....errr.....GUARDIANS play so I ponied up and got DishTV stream for that purpose only (still have YouTube TV which is my go-to live network provider for everything else).
Bally was supposed to launch their own network for live local/regional sports but that hasnt materialized yet for some odd reason. Everything has to go through one of the traditional providers.
Somebody will step in and fill the void, even if they do so for cheap. No way is local baseball, basketball and hockey just going to vanish from the airways.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:35 PM ^
Exactly. They play hardball with the streaming services, and thereby obsolete themselves. They they think they can charge four times what Disney+ charges for a paltry library of live events and really no other compelling reason to pay (especially when your teams are trash) for the one-off streaming channel. Brilliant.
There's money to be made in local sports. They just need to update their thinking to reflect new realities.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:40 PM ^
Oh, they launched the stand-alone service a few months ago.
It's an outrageous price of $20/month, or if you pay $189 up front for the entire year...$15/month
For the content you get on other streaming services for way less, it's just so over-priced. Even sports packages on streaming sites like YoutubeTV are like $10 a month.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:50 PM ^
I didnt know that - thanks. Actually for me that's a good deal cause I'm currently paying $90/month for DirectTV stream just to watch the Cavs/Indians......sorry.....GUARDIANS play.
Thanks for the heads up.
Edit: NOPE. The service is scheduled to launch on September 26th. I just checked their website.
Edit II: It gets worse. Not only is not available in Cleveland until September 26th, when it does become available baseball is NOT included. Just basketball & hockey. From their website:
Q: When can I purchase Bally Sports+?
Bally Sports+ is currently available for viewers in select regions: Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Sun and Bally Sports Wisconsin. Bally Sports+ will become widely available to viewers in all Bally Sports regions beginning September 26, 2022.
Q: What programming can I watch?
When you subscribe to your local Bally Sports regional network on Bally Sports+, you will have direct access to your local teams and original programming at home and on the go, including regional NBA and NHL games.
**Note: currently only select regions offer their live MLB games on the Bally Sports+ app, including Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Wisconsin and Bally Sports Sun.
August 31st, 2022 at 4:46 PM ^
They launched it in KC. I refuse to give them $20 a month, but i've heard its terrible. The app is bad, games cut in and out and for some odd reason, people complain all the time about the wrong game being shown or it just randomly switching to a game in another region.
August 31st, 2022 at 4:54 PM ^
Biggest moneymaker would be to offer the RSN out of market. I live in Tennessee, but don't care about Tennessee sports. I do care about Detroit sports.
$20/mo is nothing to watch teams I want to watch.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:00 PM ^
**Note: currently only select regions offer their live MLB games on the Bally Sports+ app, including Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Wisconsin and Bally Sports Sun.
I feel like this is an unmistakable sign that you shouldn't waste your time watching the Guardians.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:07 PM ^
I get MLBTV for free through TMobile every year. Can you watch on that or are you blacked out?
August 31st, 2022 at 5:48 PM ^
My understanding was that it's so expensive because they didn't want to piss off/undercut cable compaines.
We're in a weird place where standalone streaming services are growing and therefore seen as the future but don't make money, whereas the bundle makes money but is losing subscribers - and one of the reasons subscribers don't want to pay is because the RSNs are expensive.
I imagine the long term future looks more like Bally+, with maybe a handful more local games on OTA broadcast. The MLS has taken everything onto AppleTV, and the 3 major leagues (NFL signs only national deals) may follow suit to some extent. But if they want to attract new fans, you should have the local team available to watch sometimes without a paywall.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:00 PM ^
The NBA seems to be trying to just directly get the money that people are paying for any regional sports streaming. They just cut the price of league pass to $99 for the whole year.
August 31st, 2022 at 6:34 PM ^
Can't watch local teams on League Pass. Local is always blacked out.
August 31st, 2022 at 7:38 PM ^
Get a VPN and you can watch local teams. Some cheap/free ones available.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:04 PM ^
I've watched a couple of the Bally broadcasts of Pistons games last year and wow are they just simply awful. The broadcasters are way too biased (for whatever team they are calling) and the rest of the broadcast is equally awful, especially the cutaways to the hype team shooting out tshirts and the dj playing and the trivia. It's just an awful watch.
August 31st, 2022 at 7:57 PM ^
The only reason that I even am slightly interested in Bally TV is because they broadcast the Tigers... but that's been easy to not be disappointed about for quite a few years now. I get my TV via Dish and Dish dropped Bally three or four years ago. I've been using that as an excuse to get a break on my Dish charges! Thank you, Bally.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
Good. The first thing they did was piss off casual viewers by stripping the content from most major services. It was a really terrible model to pull yourself from all the modern streaming networks and cling to cable - or - a massively expensive monthly streaming stand-alone service. I'm sure some other entity will buy those rights and actually strike a deal with the streaming services. Too much money to just be sitting out there.
August 31st, 2022 at 3:29 PM ^
Bobby Bonilla sure worked the money system in his favor!
August 31st, 2022 at 3:57 PM ^
Publications who put their articles behind paywalls but still accept advertising revenue are the next ones that need to go.
August 31st, 2022 at 4:36 PM ^
Thanks for the post MGoArchive. Things are radically changing in sports broadcasts and RSN's will likely be first up. I don't expect Amazon or Apple being a player here. The one thing that stood out to me and would go down at some point are Fanatics or DraftKings.
Seems like one of these sports betting conglomerates would bet RSN's are right in their wheelhouse. Legalization is rapidly happening and they could pick & choose how to market a product out of it.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:11 PM ^
There's still a lot of money to be made in regional sports coverage. It might take a significant change in the marketplace to capitalize it, but it will happen one way or another.
That does not mean that whatever change might occur will be "good," just that there will be change.
August 31st, 2022 at 5:31 PM ^
I (YTTV) haven’t watched a tiger, redwing, or piston game since they took over. Of course they all stink so i don’t think I’m missing anything.
August 31st, 2022 at 7:09 PM ^
I am absolutely getting NBA League Pass to watch the Pistons this year.
August 31st, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^
I cut the cord over 10 years ago and never looked back. Saved literally thousands of dollars.
We stream everything we watch. Screw them.
August 31st, 2022 at 6:22 PM ^
Big contraction underway; America is overbuilt. Probably oughta be out playing rather than watching anyway--and my daughter and I do have fun at semipro matches of the local soccer team--but I'm kinda hooked.
August 31st, 2022 at 6:32 PM ^
I wonder if fans would prefer a bevy of financially unstable but community run local team that may fold in 5 years to a financially stable but billionaire owned major league team that may leave in 20 years.
But then the successful community teams would build super leagues and turn themselves into CFB and it would be eerily similar so nevermind, it wouldn't be different. This is the way.
(Also, I find that the more I play a game in beer leagues, the more I watch the big leagues)
August 31st, 2022 at 6:41 PM ^
I love this. I'm so glad Sinclair/Diamond Sports Group looks to be on the path of filing for bankruptcy. They screwed over so many local fans when they pulled RSNs from all the major/best streaming options. They can eat the biggest bag of dicks.
August 31st, 2022 at 10:48 PM ^
But it's not just Sinclair/Bally. YTTV doesn't carry any of the regionals. Any idea why not?
September 1st, 2022 at 9:27 AM ^
Because Sinclair/Bally tried to increase the cost to YTTV, Hulu+, Fubo, Sling, etc. by an exorbitant amount. It wasn't on the streaming services.
Sinclair did that because they thought they could create their own DTC streaming option for $20 per month. $20 per month for one channel with no programming other than pre-game shows and live games of your regional team. Genius. They deserve to have this explode in their face.