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Sinclair’s Bally Sports streaming service won’t arrive until summer

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

www.fiercevideo.com

Sinclair’s Bally Sports streaming service won’t arrive until summer

Sinclair’s planned Bally Sports direct-to-consumer streaming app—which will feature live games from five MLB teams—likely won’t arrive until this summer. | Sinclair’s planned Bally Sports direct-to-consumer streaming app—which will feature live games from five MLB teams—likely won’t arrive until...
www.fiercevideo.com www.fiercevideo.com

In this case its the RSN's thats being streamed for certain MLB teams mentioned here for streaming.

Sinclair’s planned Bally Sports direct-to-consumer streaming app—which will feature live games from five MLB teams—likely won’t arrive until this summer.

The Kansas City Star confirmed that the Kansas City Royals will be one of the teams getting a streaming service. Sinclair has also reportedly reached streaming rights agreements with the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. But fans of those teams will have to wait until this summer.

Royals chairman/CEO John Sherman told the publication his organization is working on streaming options with Sinclair and MLB.
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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
In this case its the RSN's thats being streamed for certain MLB teams mentioned here for streaming.
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Wonder how they'll be structured once they're fully operational. Throughout this past NBA season, we weren't able to watch a number of games when they aired live for whatever reason. We were able to go to the Bally Sports website and stream them later, commercial-free. As a bonus, customers of Comcast and certain other cable outlets got free access to the streamed content on the Bally Sports website.
 

This is interesting though.

Last week, the Sports Business Journal said executives at Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group think the hiring of the two investment banks — LionTree LLC and Moelis & Company — may suggest that the broadcaster is interested in divesting its regional sports business.

Unnamed sources reportedly told the Sports Business Journal's John Ourand that Sinclair's hiring of the investment banks was intended to "improve the sports group's capital structure to make it more attractive to potential suitors or investors." Ourand has a good track record of breaking sports-related media news that ultimately turns out to be correct.

The hiring of the investment firms is interesting in part because of their prior work on behalf of media companies. LionTree recent took on Ted Leonsis, the chief executive of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, to help execute the purchase of 67 % of Comcast's Washington, D.C.-area regional sports network. (Monumental already owned a 33% stake in the network; the deal, which went through last month, brought that channel under Monumental's ownership entirely.)
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Here is more on the talks to get Bally's Sports Net.
MLB, the NBA and the NHL may orchestrate a buyout of the nation’s dominant owner of regional sports TV networks, whose shaky finances pose an increasing threat to their teams, The Post has learned.

The trio of pro-sports leagues are expected to soon begin talks with Diamond Sports, which operates 21 regional Bally Sports networks that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country, sources close to the situation said.

A prospective deal is looming as Diamond — owned by Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group — has been hemorrhaging cash and could be headed for a possible bankruptcy filing if it doesn’t find a white knight in the coming months, the sources claimed.
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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Here is more on the talks to get Bally's Sports Net.
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Interesting. Others may have more insight, but from what I can recall, most if not all the former Fox Sports RSNs were bought and taken over and rebranded as Bally Sports about 2 seasons ago. Almost immediately they began sounding the alarm about money issues and started trimming staff and some on-air features in at least some markets. Perhaps Bally Sports' owner paid too much for the Fox Sports RSNs, or perhaps they didn't understand how they were funded or operated as they seemed to be in hot water financially very soon after the acquisition.
 
A few things happened.

1. Dish Network decided to go without the RSNs starting in 2019, trimming hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue. Sinclair was initially confident they could get Dish back in the fold, but it has yet to occur and Dish CEO Charlie Ergen seems happy with the state of things. (Dish represents over 10 million customers)
2. The acquisition was funded with debt - in some cases, very expensive debt. A small fraction of the bonds bear 12.75% annual interest, most of the debt is closer to 6%
3. The pandemic happened, causing the RSNs to go without ad revenue from live events for much of 2020. Furthermore, many cable companies demanded rebates from the RSNs, since they didn't deliver the promised content.
 

Here is more on the Bally Sports+ package Sinclair in advertising.

Sinclair today has begun taking orders for its Bally Sports+ cord-cutter app in all 19 Bally markets with NBA and NHL teams. However, as expected, MLB teams are only available in five of those markets.


The service, which has been available in five test markets (Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay) since June, enables fans to subscribe directly to their in-market Bally Sports channel without a subscription to a pay TV service such as cable or satellite or a live streaming provider.

Bally Sports+ costs $19.99 a month or $189.99 per year. There is also a free seven-day trial.
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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
www.fiercevideo.com

Sinclair’s Bally Sports streaming service won’t arrive until summer

Sinclair’s planned Bally Sports direct-to-consumer streaming app—which will feature live games from five MLB teams—likely won’t arrive until this summer. | Sinclair’s planned Bally Sports direct-to-consumer streaming app—which will feature live games from five MLB teams—likely won’t arrive until...
www.fiercevideo.com www.fiercevideo.com

In this case its the RSN's thats being streamed for certain MLB teams mentioned here for streaming.
Click to expand...
Baseball is just about over for this season, as far as the RSNs being involved. The last day of the regular season is October 5. If this venture survives, MLB should be on board by the time Spring Training begins next March.
 
Don CT said:
$20 a month, jeebus that's way too expensive.
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I think it's OK. I would trade $20/mo. Bally Sports Plus during the baseball season and some rabbit ears for 12 months of cable service, and still get 90% of the programming I actually watch.

Basically, I'd be coming out way ahead by not paying for all the other junk in the cable bundle.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
I think it's OK. I would trade $20/mo. Bally Sports Plus during the baseball season and some rabbit ears for 12 months of cable service, and still get 90% of the programming I actually watch.

Basically, I'd be coming out way ahead by not paying for all the other junk in the cable bundle.
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We'll have a look in a few months once the NBA and NHL seasons are in full swing to see how things shake out financially. Also, last season we got the Bally Sports app and access to replays on the Bally website, included in the cost of our Comcast subscription. That was helpful when we couldn't watch a game live and wanted to watch it later at our leisure, usually commercial-free. It'll be interesting to see if they continue to offer that to Comcast customers free.

We'll look at it in all ways financially..The cost of our current Comcast subscription vs. all the various streaming services we'd need if we dropped Comcast, or maybe a lesser Comcast subscription that may still give us most everything we want, vs. maybe even a streaming subscription + YouTube TV or similar.
 
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The RSN's may launch streaming services but you will NEVER see major sports on them

Because of this, they won't even be regional. They'll be national just like Stadium is (And as Sinclair OWNS Stadium, you can FORGET Bally EVER becoming a streaming service)

Altitude & SportsNet (The one we have here in Denver) have a better chance of launching streaming services, But again - NO major sports on them

Reality
 
JeeperOne said:
The RSN's may launch streaming services but you will NEVER see major sports on them
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I guess you're going to say the NBA doesn't count. Because Bally Sports+ is broadcasting the NBA season which has just begun.
 
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