Yahoo Autos For Cleveland and Cincinnati baseball fans, what's the TV deal? | Michael Arace
Major League Baseball opens its season Thursday. As was exclaimed when the Knickerbocker Club played the New York Nines in the first official game in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1846: Huzzah!
The Cincinnati Reds open at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a matchup of relatively ancient, and now decrepit, franchises. The two teams combined to lose 200 games last season. The Cleveland Guardians open on the road against the Mariners in Seattle. They combined to win 182 games. Ohio remains tilted to the North.
As the Guardians begin a quest to defend their AL Central title, and as the Reds begin a quest to lose fewer than 100 games, the most important question for fans wanting to watch those teams goes something like this: What’s the TV deal?
Diamond Sports Group, the media company which runs the Bally Sports regional sports networks – two of which are local outlets for the Guardians and Reds – filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Reports are that DSG, as part of its restructuring plan, wanted to void contracts with a handful of teams that weren’t drawing in enough revenues to cover costs. The Guardians and Reds are said to be two such teams.
Both DSG and MLB were sanguine in their statements about what might happen next.
DSG said it "will continue broadcasting games and connecting to fans across the country with the sports and teams they love. We look forward to working constructively with our team and league partners and with all DSG stakeholders throughout this process and beyond.”
MLB said it saw DSG’s bankruptcy coming and added: “Despite Diamond's economic situation, there is every expectation that they will continue televising all games they are committed to during the bankruptcy process. Major League Baseball is ready to produce and distribute games to fans in their local markets in the event Diamond or any other regional sports network is unable to do so as required by their agreement with our Clubs.
“Having streamed live games on MLB.TV for more than 20 years and producing live games for MLB Network since 2008, we have the experience and capabilities to deliver games to fans uninterrupted. In addition, we have hired additional seasoned local media professionals to bolster our capabilities in anticipation of this development. Over the long term, we will reimagine our distribution model to address the changing media climate and ultimately reach an even larger number of fans.”
Legions of lawyers are now involved, so it’s difficult to predict where all of this will end up for Guardians and Reds fans. For the time being, all indications are that Bally Sports Great Lakes and Bally Sports Ohio will operate as usual.
If and when MLB assumes the broadcast rights for whatever teams DSG’s creditors decide to shed, well, there’s the wild card. Let’s say the Guardians are Reds are two of these teams. MLB has indicated it will step in and take over the production and distribution of their broadcasts. What will that mean for Ohio’s baseball fans? Probably, it’ll mean buying an MLB.TV app, at least at first. Maybe there will be a discount. (A free week!) Maybe MLB will create a new local cable channel for wider access. When it comes to this kind of stuff, the league is creative.
It’s a good bet that you’ll be paying more. Let’s say you’re a huge Guardians or Reds fan and an inveterate streamer. FubtoTv’s package with Bally Sports Ohio and Bally Sports Great Lakes is $84.99 a month and adding MLB.TV package adds another $24.99/month (not counting a free, weeklong trial!).
This concerns my lawyer, Randy Kilbride, a voracious baseball consumer.
“Let’s say I pay $20 a month (for Bally Sports+ streaming) to watch the Guardians,” he said. “That seems like a lot to me. It's like $1 a game. And it’s even more than that to watch Crew games.”
Major League Soccer has control of all its teams’ local television rights and packages the entire bundle on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. The package costs $14.99 a month or $99 for the season. If you’re a Crew fan bent on watching all 34 games and you opt for the $99 package, that’s nearly $3 a game. The good news is there are no blackouts.
Streaming is the future in our cord-cutting world, which is one of the reasons DSG and its RSNs are in trouble. Aside from the NFL, which has billions thrown at it by the major networks, every other pro sports league wants a model like that of MLS. They want control of local markets on top of national broadcasts but, unlike MLS, they have a web of local deals that are difficult to untangle. MLB is beginning the untangling in Cleveland and Cincinnati (and, reportedly, Arizona and San Diego).
DSG took on huge debt to finance its forays into streaming services. Its restructuring has opened the door, if only a crack, for MLB to experiment with the future – like MLS, if on a smaller scale. We’ll see where this goes. We’ll see what the market bears. We’ll see if it is good for the game.
Predictions: The Guardians will defend their AL Central title, the Reds will lose 92 games instead of 100 and the pitch clock will be embraced (but my lawyer does not like the new shift rules).
Happy opening day. Huzzah.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: MLB ready to step into broadcast booth if Bally Sports leaves a void
