As RSNs Collapse, Gray Television Is Reaching Out to Teams, Leagues About Moving to Broadcast Channels
Gray Television knows an opportunity when it sees one. The company, which owns or operates 180 stations in 113 markets in the United States, has been “actively engaged” in discussions with professional sports leagues and teams regarding their broadcasting rights.
Gray is the company that the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury turned to when they were prepared to leave their former broadcasting home, the regional sports cable channel Bally Sports Arizona. There were a few legal snags, but that plan eventually came to fruition for the teams, and starting this NBA season, the Suns will be available in 2.8 million homes on local Gray-owned stations. As the WNBA season is currently underway, the Mercury are already being shown on those local Arizona channels. Both teams will also be available to stream in-market on a new streaming platform created by the independent video technology firm Kiswe.
The company has its sights set on grabbing up more local broadcasting rights, according to CEO Donald LaPlatney. He spoke during a conference call with analysts to discuss Gray’s second-quarter earnings report and revealed that the company was hoping the Suns and Mercury would be joined by other professional teams on Gray channels this season.
“Our discussions with other teams and leagues indicate that the new sports rights deal we have in Arizona can work in other markets as well,” LaPlatney said. “Whether we replicate that structure or find new ways to partner with professional franchises, we see a growing recognition in the market that returning professional sports to local broadcast stations will increase marketing value, advertising sales revenues, fan engagement as well as team value. We’re spending a lot of time analyzing these professional sports opportunities. In the coming months, we hope to have more innovative sports rights partnerships to announce that will return local teams to our broadcast stations and to local fans.”
The company owns channels in markets including Atlanta, Cleveland, and Portland, so there are definite possibilities for it to assume broadcasting duties for clubs like the Cleveland Guardians, who currently are shown on Bally Sports Great Lakes. It has looked at times this season as if Bally Sports’ parent company Diamond Sports Group would give up the rights to Guardians games, but each time the company has come through with the money it owed the team.
Still, there has been an undeniable trend of teams leaving cable channels for local broadcast networks this year. The Utah Jazz will play statewide on local channels owned by Sinclair beginning in 2023, and the Vegas Golden Knights will air on Scripps-owned networks in Nevada this year.
The RSN market is losing more steam every day; just last week, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery expected to have its remaining RSNs cease operations or be sold by the end of the year. Diamond Sports Group is still moving through bankruptcy court proceedings, determining how best to resolve a debt of over $8 billion while leagues like Major League Baseball try desperately to get their broadcast rights away from the company. If more local sports rights do become available soon, Gray Television is ready to step in and claim them.