On a panel during Advertising Week, Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley confirmed that the company is circling even more Regional Sports Networks.
AT&T reportedly is interested in parting with [AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh], AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah, Nevada and Colorado), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (parts of Texas and Louisiana) and Root Sports Northwest (Alaska, Washington and Oregon). The four networks have rights to more than two dozen pro teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, and Utah Jazz.
At the end of August, Sinclair Broadcast Group, officially closed their deal for 21 Fox regional sports networks after acquiring them from Disney for $9.6 billion in May. Ripley described the deal saying “Disney’s misfortune was our great fortune, and at the end of the day that’s how we prevailed.”
All has not been easy for Sinclair since they acquired the Regional Sports Networks. Before the deal officially closed, Dish Network and their streaming service Sling TV dropped the channels from the service. According to Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen “It doesn’t look good that the Regional Sports will be on Dish again.”