Does Diamond Sports Group’s New Partnership with Amazon Spell Doom for Bally Sports+?
Does Diamond Sports Group’s New Partnership with Amazon Spell Doom for Bally Sports+?
Amazon is bailing out Diamond Sports Group, but its investment could mean Bally Sports+ finds itself redundant.
Speculation is already rampant regarding what effects Amazon’s newly announced investment in Diamond Sports Group will have on the company. There are dozens of unanswered questions, and one consequence of the decision could be that Amazon no longer has any need for Diamond’s in-market streaming platform Bally Sports+.
- Amazon has already stated it will offer Bally Sports streaming content through Prime Video Channels.
- Offering Bally Sports’ content on its own platforms will negate the need for operating another streaming platform.
- Keeping Bally Sports+ in operation and offering its content through Prime Video could be confusing for fans.
Will Bally Sports+ Be Needed After Amazon’s Investment?
While there has been no official announcement regarding the fate of Bally Sports+, current trends in the streaming industry suggest that there’s a good chance that the streamer may not be in Amazon and Diamond’s long-term plans.
Over the past year, The Streamable has covered a foundational transformation in the streaming world. Investors need to be shown that streaming platforms can be profitable as Wall Street is no longer simply rewarding big subscriber increases with a corresponding rise in stock prices. Streaming providers are doing everything they can to make themselves profitable, and a big part of that equation is cutting unnecessary costs. That’s one of the main reasons that streamers like Max, Disney+, and Paramount+ followed through on high-profile content cuts over the course of 2023.
Amazon has already confirmed that it will be offering direct-to-consumer (DTC) content offered by Bally Sports on its own streaming platforms, but it was not made clear if that would be via the existing Bally Sports+ platform thanks to the Prime video Channels hub or directly via Prime Video. In the short term, it will almost certainly be the former, but once Amazon is able to get fully up to speed on DSG’s business, that could change.
“Customers will be able to access all local DTC content, including live MLB, NBA and NHL games, and pre- and post-game programming, for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights, through Prime Video Channels,” Diamond’s press release announcing its deal with Amazon said.
With the ability to deliver live games through Prime Video, and with plenty of experience offering live sports — Amazon took over national broadcasts of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” in 2022 — the e-commerce giant should have no difficulty in streaming all Bally Sports games from a technical standpoint. That begs the question, why would Amazon need to keep Bally Sports+ if it already has a streaming home for Bally Sports content ready-made?
There’s also the question of fan confusion. Top sports rights are being spread across more and more broadcast partners as the cost of those rights rapidly escalates. As major league sports games are distributed more widely among more providers, fans become frustrated in trying to find their favorite team’s game on a given day. Therefore, if Prime Video and Prime Video Channels can become a hub for multiple
Why Bally Sports+ May Survive Amazon Deal
The Amazon deal will be truly transformational for Diamond Sports Group, allowing the company to continue operating in 2024 and beyond when it looked all but certain it would have to shut down following the end of the upcoming MLB season.
Despite how consequential the deal will be, Amazon will be a minority investor in Diamond Sports Group. Amazon’s voice will certainly carry weight, but Diamond executives will have the final say on whether Bally Sports+ stays or goes. If the sports on Bally Sports+ are shifted off the service and moved to Prime Video, Amazon would presumably get the lion’s share of ad revenues for those games, revenues that currently flow into the pockets of Diamond Sports Group. Diamond’s executives might not be too keen on that arrangement, despite the new corporate partnership with Amazon.
Perhaps Amazon will simply try to give Bally Sports+ a facelift. Prime Video uses AI to enhance its stat-based “Prime Vision” alternate broadcast of “TNF” games; perhaps Prime Vision and its accompanying features could be incorporated onto the Bally Sports+ platform if it continues to exist in the long term. Other alternate broadcasts could also be added to Bally Sports+, if Amazon and Diamond feels its subscribers would respond. Amazon can still collect some revenues from Bally Sports+ if the service does survive, as it will surely collect a commission on all subscriptions to the service captured through Prime Video Channels.
There are likely to be more major announcements from Diamond and Amazon in the coming months as the two companies reveal what their business relationship will look like. The Streamable has been covering all things streaming since 2017, and in our opinion there’s a good chance that Bally Sports+ will be a cost-saving casualty of Amazon’s new deal with Diamond Sports Group.
Bally Sports+
Bally Sports+ was a direct-to-consumer streaming service that provided live, in-market games without requiring a cable or satellite subscription. It allowed fans to watch their local Bally Sports regional sports network (RSN) without a traditional TV package.