Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that it will handle production and distribution for three franchises previously inked to deals with Diamond Sports Group, owner and operator of the Bally Sports RSNs.
Local broadcasts for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins will be available on a direct-to-consumer streaming service operated by the league next season. MLB also plans to negotiate cable and satellite distribution agreements for the teams, similar to how the league approached its production and distribution for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, and San Diego Padres in 2024.
Additionally, the league announced that the Texas Rangers have opted to not seek another partnership with Diamond and “are considering their local media options for the 2025 season.”
The announcement comes amid a shifting landscape for local media rights, especially in baseball, after Diamond revealed in federal bankruptcy court last week that it would drop 11 of the 12 teams it currently partners with . Though Diamond plans to renegotiate deals with some of those dropped teams, the league has revealed a strong preference to keep these rights in-house.
That preference may face some friction. The league would prefer to accumulate local rights to as many of its clubs as possible while it moves towards a media rights strategy where it can bundle these rights together and sell them to a digital platform like ESPN’s upcoming “Flagship,” or Amazon Prime Video. However, in the interim, individual franchises will face a difficult decision.
Per a report in Sportico on Tuesday, at least seven MLB teams remain in active negotiations with Diamond. Those franchises include the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays.
Inking a new deal with Diamond, even at a reduced fee, would almost assuredly be more lucrative for clubs than a direct-to-consumer plus over-the-air broadcast alternative. And while MLB cites that franchises moving to this DTC-OTA combo model reach double, even triple the amount of households versus a traditional RSN, the marginal increase in advertising dollars from the increased reach doesn’t come close to recouping the fees paid by traditional RSNs.
Despite the likelihood of reduced rights fees for the franchises involved, the move is certainly fan-friendly.
“With the media landscape continuing to evolve, Major League Baseball is committed to serving our fans by ensuring they can see their favorite Clubs, removing blackouts where we can, and ultimately growing the reach of our games,” said Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media.
The league also highlighted that the teams under MLB’s umbrella received increased production quality compared to the traditional RSN broadcast. These improvements include an Ump Cam, live look-ins of the MLB Replay Operations Center, a Wire Cam, and more.
“In addition to expanding reach, Major League Baseball is utilizing resources to provide fans with an outstanding production that features new technology, improved picture quality, and better access to the game and players,” said Billy Chambers, MLB Executive Vice President, Local Media.
For now, MLB can count on having the local rights for at least six teams under its belt for the 2025 season, with potentially more coming down the pike. It’ll be an eventful offseason as several clubs weigh whether or not to cash in on (potentially) the last few years of lucrative media rights deals with RSNs or join the league in its efforts to bundle local rights together.
[ MLB ]
The post MLB to produce Guardians, Brewers, Twins broadcasts in 2025 appeared first on Awful Announcing .
Local News
Comments / 0