MLB Wants Baseball to Be a National Sport Again, but Can’t Do It With RSNs
MLB Wants Baseball to Be a National Sport Again, but Can’t Do It With RSNs
Rob Manfred discussed his reasoning for wanting to be quits with RSNs more comprehensively than he’s done in the past.
All throughout the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy hearings, one of its most vocal skeptics has been Major League Baseball. MLB officials have consistently cast doubt on the idea that Diamond can pull its Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) and the Bally Sports+ streaming service out of bankruptcy, and commissioner Rob Manfred has discussed his desire to create a league-run streaming service to take its place on multiple occasions. Manfred spoke on a panel at the CNBC and Boardroom’s Game Plan in Los Angeles on Tuesday, providing more context to his desire to be finished with RSNs, and for the first time revealing the negative impact that RSNs have had on theleague.
Key Details:
- Manfred acknowledged the RSN model was good for baseball financially, but created fanbases that were too regional.
- Nationalizing the audience is the way to gain a more loyal fanbase for the sport, Manfred said.
- MLB has three teams contracted with DSG who will see their deals expire at the end of 2024.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, MLB’s beef with Diamond Sports Group isn’t personal… mostly. The league’s frustration is evident, however, and its latest dispute with the company comes thanks to a pledge by Diamond to either exit bankruptcy or shut down by spring 2025. That leaves MLB with a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding broadcast arrangements for the teams still contracted to be partnered with Diamond once this season concludes.
Manfred talked about the league’s relationships with RSN providers at Tuesday’s event, saying that while the model worked economically for MLB teams for a long time, it put baseball at a decided disadvantage by making the game so much more regional, instead of building a robust national following for the sport.
“While the regional model was great for baseball financially … [it] forced us local,” Manfred said. “As we move forward and as the landscape continues to change, we have an opportunity to make our sport more national, increase our reach, and deal with the blackout issue that has plagued us for years.”
Will MLB Be Allowed to Embrace a Streaming Future?
Manfred clearly wants to attract more fans to baseball and sees streaming as a great way to do so. In February, Manfred shared his dream of creating a blackout-free streaming platform that carried in-market games; this service would ideally have the rights to around 15 teams, and could potentially be crafted with local-only or national packages.
Manfred has also discussed the potential of creating a national RSN package which would also be run by Major League Baseball. Such a service could have decided advantages, such as getting the buy-in of richer team owners whose RSN contracts still bring in boatloads of revenue. There’s little incentive for teams like the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees to pull their games off RSNs and send their local rights to a national streaming service since the networks they partner with are financially healthy and generate important income for their clubs.
Such dreams will have to wait until the local rights for more MLB teams become available, however. The Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers all have deals with DSG that expire following the 2024 season, but even with those clubs, Manfred wouldn’t have enough teams to craft a viable new streaming option for fans. That means he must continue to wait to pursue his goal of growing a more loyal fanbase for his sport by increasingly nationalizing his audience.
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.