Utah Jazz to Leave AT&T SportsNet RSN; Games Will Air on Local Broadcast Channel Next Season
The news that Sinclair Broadcasting Group (SBG) is picking up any live sports rights may come as a shock to some fans. One of Sinclair’s subsidiaries Diamond Sports Group is in a fight for its life in bankruptcy court, as it tries to keep its collection of 19 regional sports networks (RSNs) afloat.
But the newest team to head to a Sinclair-owned channel won’t be making use of any RSNs; in fact, just the opposite. John Ourand at the Sports Business Journal reports that the Utah Jazz will move local broadcasting of their games to Sinclair’s KJZZ, which extends its coverage throughout the state of Utah. Jazz games had previously been shown on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, an RSN owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
As part of the agreement, Sinclair will partner with the Jazz to launch an in-market streaming option. The arrangement sounds quite similar to the plan that the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury tried to implement in late April. Those teams also attempted to partner with local broadcast channels to pull their games off the Bally Sports Arizona RSN, but the Suns were blocked in bankruptcy court after Diamond Sports protested the move.
There will be no such legal challenges from AT&T SportsNet, however. WBD sent a letter to all teams covered by its RSNs in late February, telling them that it was leaving the RSN business and that their broadcast rights would revert back to the clubs in question. The company wants out, and it’s hard to argue with their logic; not enough customers are paying into RSNs to make them worthwhile. Jazz games on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain were seen by only 39% of Utah viewers, while KJZZ reaches 100% of the state.
Nationally broadcast Jazz games on channels like ESPN or TNT are the only games that won’t air on KJZZ going forward. Sinclair also owns KUTV, the Salt Lake City CBS affiliate, and will show some Jazz games on that channel as well. More and more NBA teams are showing a willingness to return to local broadcast channels; the Los Angeles Clippers aired 11 regular season games exclusively on KTLA 5 last year.
Most importantly from the team’s perspective, the deal comes with some flexibility. Jazz owner Ryan Smith spoke to the Salt Lake Tribune about the of the pact, saying, “It’s not a super long term deal, but with the flexibility, it’s probably more much more of a partnership than a deal. With KJZZ, if we’re good partners, we’ll keep going, and if we’re not good partners with each other, we won’t.”
The new streaming product offering Jazz games is due to launch in October, as of now. There was no word on what such a service will cost, though it will likely be less than the $29.99 per month NESN 360 charges to stream Boston Red Sox and Bruins games in the local New England market. Outside of Utah, Jazz fans can use NBA League Pass to stream the team’s games as always.
NBA League Pass
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