MLB Commissioner: League Ready to Take Over Local Broadcasts from Bally Sports; Wants to Make More Games Available to Stream
Sinclair Broadcasting Group (SBG) and its sports vertical Diamond Sports Group (DSG) seem to be down to their final strike. DSG has upcoming broadcasting rights payments to Major League Baseball that it’s in danger of missing, and MLB is prepared to broadcast the games itself, according to commissioner Rob Manfred.
“I think you should assume that if Diamond doesn’t broadcast, we’ll be in a position to step in,” Manfred said Thursday after an owners’ meeting. “Our goal would be to make games available not only within the traditional cable bundle but on the digital side, as well.”
DSG is in the midst of a complex corporate restructuring in bankruptcy court, though it has not officially declared bankruptcy yet. The company would be protected from the ramifications of failing to make its rights payments to MLB if it made such a declaration, and the league is currently waiting on the outcome of those proceedings, according to Manfred. MLB currently stands to lose around $1 billion in revenue if DSG cannot make its upcoming rights payments.
“What we do is largely dependent on how Diamond and the creditors play their cards,” the MLB commissioner said. “Our No. 1 goal in terms of preparations is that if for some reason Diamond isn’t broadcasting, that we want to be in a position to make sure our fans are going to get their games.”
This eventuality sounds like the exact reason that former SBG executive Billy Chambers was hired by MLB to become its first-ever Executive Vice President of Local Media. DSG owns the broadcast rights to 14 MLB teams (including the streaming rights to five teams on Bally Sports+), so if Diamond cannot broadcast games for the upcoming MLB season, the league has a seasoned executive ready to handle the fallout.
That could mean more games will be available to stream in local markets. Manfred’s comments are only the most recent indication that the league has been looking to increase its direct-to-consumer (DTC) offerings. In November, Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reported that the league was exploring the possibility of creating a national DTC product that would combine all local in-market rights with Extra Innings, the league’s out-of-market games package. Additionally, baseball’s industry-changing steaming version of the package is available via MLB.TV.
Relations have only gotten worse between SBG and MLB since October, when it was reported the two sides were not close to a deal for expanding streaming rights to MLB teams on Bally Sports+, DSG’s new DTC offering. The league would like to see SBG and DSG deliver on their contractual obligations, but if they can’t, it appears that MLB has other options up its sleeve to ensure its fans don’t miss out on games in their local markets.
MLB.TV
MLB.TV is the official streaming service of Major League Baseball. You can see every out-of-market game live or on demand, and choose home or away TV and radio feeds. The app allows fans to watch up to four games simultaneously on the same screen through their Multi-view feature.