MLB broadcasting rights, explained: What Bally Sports parent company bankruptcy could mean for fans in 2023

Abraham Smith

In early 2023, MLB tries to address two of its most confusing — and most hated — debacles: broadcast rights and power outages.

The vast majority of MLB games are televised over a regional sports network — or RSN. This means that broadcasting rights are handled locally, unlike, for example, the NFL, which has broadcasting rights with five companies (Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN/ABC, Amazon Prime).

The result for baseball is that teams have to work with local networks to show games. Some major-market teams — notably the Yankees, Cubs, Mets, and Red Sox — have their own broadcast network. Others work with regional outlets.

The most common broadcast partner is Bally Sports, previously under the Fox Sports umbrella and now owned by Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of TV giant Sinclair. Fourteen MLB teams broadcast with Bally Sports.

Diamond Sports Group announced on Feb. 15 that it was skipping its $140 million payout, which could mean impending bankruptcy. That could open the door for MLB to take over streaming rights.

MORE: MLB spring training 2023 dates, schedules, locations for all 30 teams

The Sporting News breaks down what you need to know about the MLB local television situation and how Diamond Sports Group’s troubles could impact how fans watch games in 2023:

What is Diamond Sports Group?

Owned by Sinclair, Diamond Sports Group is the operating arm of the regional Bally Sports Networks which hold the broadcasting rights to 14 teams – by far the largest holding company under one roof. The second highest number is four each for NBC Sports and AT&T.

The teams currently broadcasting under the Bally banner are:

  • Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Atlanta Braves
  • Cincinnati Red
  • Cleveland Guardian
  • Detroit Tigers
  • Kansas City Royals
  • Angels from Los Angeles
  • Miami Marlin
  • Milwaukee Brewers
  • Minnesota twins
  • St. Louis Cardinals
  • San Diego Padres
  • Tampa Bay Rays
  • Texas Rangers

Diamond Sports Group failed to pay a $140 million interest payment on Wednesday, meaning it is now in a 30-day grace period. Should DSG fail to pay after that period, it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In addition, teams can sell the broadcast rights if DSG does not pay.

Diamond Sports Group was bought by Sinclair after Disney was forced to sell it due to antitrust concerns following its acquisition of Fox.

In its Wednesday statement, DSG wrote that it “intends to use the 30-day grace period to continue its ongoing discussions with creditors and other key stakeholders on possible strategic alternatives and deleveraging transactions to best position Diamond Sports Group for the future.” , according to ESPN .

MORE: World Series Odds 2023: Astros still favorites, Padres and Jays lurking as sleepers

What does Diamond Sports Group’s failed payment mean for MLB?

Due to DSG’s financial woes, MLB could acquire broadcast rights in the short term, but this would be unlikely to be permanent.

“In the event that MLB intervened, we would produce the games,” commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters, per ESPN. “We would use our capital, the MLB network, to do this. We would go straight to the distributors — that is, Comcast, Charter, the big distributors — and make an agreement to distribute those games over cable networks. My expectation is that as part of the negotiations there would be a price negotiation. And that probably leads back to what the economics would be, but we would look for flexibility on the digital side as well.

Manfred analyzes a lot of understandable language and says that MLB Network would produce the games and agree to broadcast them locally over cable while also (hopefully) making it more available for cable cutters. In other words, fans should be able to see their teams regardless of the outcome.

However, Manfred made it clear that he would like to continue working with DSG and Bally.

“Obviously we want all of our broadcast partners to be successful,” he said. “We don’t want them to have financial difficulties and we’ve put a lot of time and effort into working with them and finding out where they are. We’re contractually obligated to pay them, but as I guess I’m a contingency planner by nature, no matter what happens in relation to Diamond, we’re ready to make sure the games are available to fans in their local markets.

“We think it will be both linear in traditional cable bundles and digital on our own platforms, but that remains to be seen. As I said, our first hope is that Diamond finds a way to pay the clubs and broadcast the games as they are contractually obligated to do so.”

MORE: An optimistic prediction for every National League team in 2023

Why is MLB blacking out games?

The league’s streaming platform, MLB.TV, is a solid business. It costs $150 for a year to watch any game anytime.

The problem is that it has a massive catch: it doesn’t work for local cord cutters. Market-loving fans cannot watch their teams on MLB.tv because regional networks want exclusive broadcast rights to games.

Because of RSN’s structure, MLB fans have been forced to contend with geographic power outages. Due to the desire for exclusivity from MLB broadcast partners, fans using MLB.TV cannot view in-market games. The incentive is there for both networks and to get fans into stadiums, but the geographic parameters are dubious: Fans in Iowa, for example, are notoriously blacked out for Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, Brewers and Twins games.

Also confusing are tentpole events like the All-Star Game or the Postseason. Due to MLB’s rights with ESPN, TBS and Fox, these games may also be subject to a blackout on MLB.TV. So essentially, MLB.TV is great for out-of-market fans. But it’s specifically designed to ensure that fans in the market need to stick with the cable.

However, RSNs may soon lose some rights.

What did Rob Manfred say about power outages?

Manfred himself doesn’t seem to be a fan of blackouts, although his hands are tied.

“Blackouts are kind of the opposite side of the reach coin,” he said this spring. “We need to deliver (the) product to fans who want to watch on platforms they normally use at a realistic price. That is our top priority.”

Despite the somewhat confusing terminology, Manfred seems to be saying that he wants to become more digital-friendly.

Power outages are largely a team issue as teams negotiate with the networks. That’s the basis of the RSN structure – it’s not in the hands of MLB. So if it defaults back to MLB, there might be more streaming options.

MORE: An optimistic prediction for every American League team in 2023

Things to know about MLB streaming rights

One of the other confusing things about MLB is that its distribution is further diluted by streaming rights.

Last season, MLB rolled out select games nationwide on Apple TV+ and Peacock. If teams play on any of these services, they will be banned locally.

Another source of confusion is the rights of individuals. The Yankees, for example, played 21 games on Amazon last season, often competing with Apple. New York in this case was still playing on MLB.TV, but in the New York market, streamers were forced to watch Amazon Prime.

Most RSNs require cable logins to watch, and Bally Sports+ cost $189 for the year and $19.99 per month in 2022. It’s unclear what will happen to subscribers at that point.

The overarching point Manfred was apparently trying to get across was that fans should continue to have access to their local teams in one way or another throughout the 2023 season. But how fans will watch depends on the next 30 days with DSG.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *