AllTideUp
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MLB might bid on the 22 RSNs
Now, this is interesting.
From Awful Announcing:
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suggests they might bid on the 22 RSNs that are currently being sold by Disney
Quote:We’re very interested in the RSN sale process and have preferences in terms of who the owners are going to be. Candidly, we’re looking at the RSNs ourselves.
As a Braves fan, I've watched coverage of the club decline in quality since the deal with TBS expired. Our media deal is horrible and I would love for the club to be in a position to own a piece of the RSN it's currently on. That and it could re-open opportunities for out of market broadcasting.
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11-28-2018 03:51 PM |
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Wedge
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RE: MLB might bid on the 22 RSNs
That would create lots of potential conflicts if MLB owns RSNs on which NBA, NHL, and/or college games are also televised. They might prioritize MLB telecasts and pre-empt NBA or NHL telecasts whenever they conflict, or give the NBA/NHL teams short shrift in promotion and recorded content related to the teams, etc. It's one thing for the Milwaukee Bucks, for example, to share Fox Sports Wisconsin with the Brewers, but it might be much different if the Bucks were basically just a neglected stepchild on what is effectively the Brewers' own channel.
It certainly seems like something about which NBA or NHL teams might strongly object.
(This post was last modified: 11-28-2018 04:47 PM by Wedge.)
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11-28-2018 04:45 PM |
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chargeradio
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RE: MLB might bid on the 22 RSNs
There won't be many conflicts between the NBA or NHL and MLB.
The NBA regular season starts in October, after the MLB regular season ends. The NBA regular season ends in early April, a few days after the MLB regular season starts. Playoffs games rarely fall to the RSN level (I personally have watched an Atlanta Hawks playoff game on Fox Sports South, but that clearly is not a common occurrence.) The NHL begins and ends about a week before the NBA, so it should be less of a conflict with MLB.
Night games during Spring Training may be an issue in late March and early April, but that can be solved by scheduling appropriately. NBA teams don't play every day, so that helps.
Football, on the other hand, will have more issues during August, September, and early October.
One opportunity that might exist, is that if MLB now owns both teams' regional rights to a game, it could move that game to the MLB network to open up space for other inventory at the RSN level. This might prove useful for football weekends, and towards the end of the college basketball season in late February and early March.
Having other properties on the RSNs will help the MLB team with maintaining value for the five months of the year outside the MLB preseason and regular season. Spectrum and the LA Dodgers have pretty much learned this the hard way with SportsNet LA.
Honestly, part of what has hurt RSNs is increased competition - aside from the few markets with 2 MLB teams (Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, New York, Chicago), there isn't a need for overlapping RSNs, especially with conference networks draining quality college sports inventory. A market with an NBA, NHL, and MLB team really only needs one channel with an overflow feed, which in theory should deliver live programming around 300 days a year.
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11-28-2018 09:44 PM |
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AllTideUp
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RE: MLB might bid on the 22 RSNs
(11-28-2018 04:45 PM)Wedge Wrote: That would create lots of potential conflicts if MLB owns RSNs on which NBA, NHL, and/or college games are also televised. They might prioritize MLB telecasts and pre-empt NBA or NHL telecasts whenever they conflict, or give the NBA/NHL teams short shrift in promotion and recorded content related to the teams, etc. It's one thing for the Milwaukee Bucks, for example, to share Fox Sports Wisconsin with the Brewers, but it might be much different if the Bucks were basically just a neglected stepchild on what is effectively the Brewers' own channel.
It certainly seems like something about which NBA or NHL teams might strongly object.
Point taken although the Yankees and Nets seem to work together pretty well.
I think the concerns of NBA and NHL teams would be met because the profitability of these entities would depend on their content as well. I think all parties would have an interest in working together.
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11-29-2018 12:42 AM |
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