MLB Considering Creating National RSN Package After Diamond Sports Group Deals Expire
MLB Considering Creating National RSN Package After Diamond Sports Group Deals Expire
The league is also mulling the creation of its own streaming platform, depending on how many teams’ local rights become available.
Never let it be said that Rob Manfred doesn’t have an eye toward the future. The Major League Baseball commissioner has made it very clear throughout the bankruptcy proceedings of Diamond Sports Group that at the earliest possible moment — either as contracts expire or following DSG’s bankruptcy hearings — he intended to take their business elsewhere, and it would probably be in-house. When that seeming eventuality does come to pass, the league will have to figure out what to do with the local rights to around half of its teams. According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, Manfred is considering every solution, including a nationalized regional sports network (RSN) package for in-market games.
Key Details:
- Manfred says that streaming services are looking for a more national product to buy from leagues.
- The commissioner has also teased the idea of an in-market streaming platform created by the league itself.
- Any MLB RSN or streaming platform is essentially guaranteed not to have all 30 teams available.
RSNs are highly important to MLB, even as the model of regional sports broadcasting continues to crumble. The league simply plays too many games per season to have them all televised on nationally available channels, and RSNs give the league a way to deliver thousands of games per season to in-market fans.
But the league has also been crystal clear about its desire to end its relationship with its largest current RSN partner, so what comes next? Manfred gave a hint this week, saying that the league had discussed a package that nationalizes all RSN content for about half of its teams. The main reason for insisting on a nationally available product is to attract streaming providers, who want to ensure they can put as many games in front of their entire subscriber base before shelling out big money for MLB rights.
“When you have the kind of disruption that we have in the media space right now, there’s going to be all sorts of conversations about all sorts of things, and certainly that is a topic that has been discussed,” Manfred said. “Those conversations are a product of owners saying, ‘Holy cow, the RSN business is really deteriorating.’ We know the future is going to be streaming. What we’re hearing from the streamers is they want a more national product, and we need to be responsive to what people want to buy.”
What exactly MLB’s plan to nationalize RSN coverage would look like isn’t exactly clear at this point, however, there is some precedent for such a move, although, baseball’s plan will likely vary dramatically. In 2022, Apple and Major League Soccer agreed to a 10-year contract that would allow the tech company to exclusively stream every game of the MLS season on a standalone platform called MLS Season Pass. For many reasons, that is almost certainly not the exact path that Major League Baseball will take, but there very well could be elements of the arrangement integrated into Manfred’s plan.
What Other Broadcast Strategies Has Manfred Considered?
One reason that MLB is so eager to be done with Diamond Sports Group is that it can’t enact any of its more expansive broadcasting plans without the in-market rights currently held by the broadcaster. Diamond owns the linear rights to 12 MLB teams and the streaming rights for five of those clubs as well.
Earlier this year, Manfred spoke about his desire to create an in-market streaming platform which carried around half the teams in the league. This would differ somewhat from the national RSN package discussed above, as it would not be a linear TV product, and would be sold directly to consumers, rather than to a streaming provider who would then turn around and market it to the public.
But why are the league’s ambitions seemingly so limited? Wouldn’t a platform with all 30 teams be the best way to attract fans? Probably so, but the way that MLB allows its teams to distribute their rights makes this all but impossible. The league still negotiates its national TV deals as one entity, but much like the NBA and NHL, it allows its teams to sell their in-market rights individually. Teams like the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees are able to command more money selling their rights than they would by joining a league-run streaming platform. Convincing billionaire owners to forego that extra revenue is not a conversation that would go well for Manfred, who is hired — and can be fired — by the franchise owners. It’s also one reason the league can’t simply sell its in-market rights to a current streaming partner like Apple TV+ or ESPN+.
So for now, baseball fans, a half measure is the best that you can hope for. Once the 2024 season ends, the rights to carry a handful of MLB teams’ games currently held by Diamond Sports Group will revert back to their respective clubs. Once that happens, the league will have to figure out the best way to try and deliver those games to the highest possible number of fans.
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