Last week the Oakland A's announced their play-by-play will only be available online. Now https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/19/first-the-as-audio-broadcasts-went-digital-only-now-the-sharks-are-giving-it-a-try/ the San Jose Sharks have announced certain games will be only available on their mobile app. Is this the beginning of the end of OTA sports broadcasting on the radio? What sports and markets are most likely to go digital only?
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Sports broadcasts going digital only
- Thread starter installLSC
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The writer is trying to put those two things together, but I don't see them as related. Oakland couldn't get a radio deal. San Jose has one, and they're trying to boost their subscription service. Those four games will be available on TV, just not radio. It's a promotion for the team app.
I think what baseball needs to do, especially this year, is fix the sign stealing situation. Because if people think the games are fixed, they won't want to listen to them on the radio or watch them on TV.
I think what baseball needs to do, especially this year, is fix the sign stealing situation. Because if people think the games are fixed, they won't want to listen to them on the radio or watch them on TV.
K
kenglish
Guest
I'm not sure what KSL radio does, but KSL-TV puts a lot of stuff on line. . .high school games and tournaments are regular fare. They also carry local pro sports via stream only (not broadcast).
Hockey is most likely to go digital-only. The LA Kings have been digital only for two or three years. I feel like another NHL team falls in that bucket, but I can't recall which.
As far as other sports, the most likely candidates to go online-only are the second team in large markets, like the As are the second baseball team in the Bay area, or the Clippers are the second NBA team in LA.
It's sort of a mutual deal. With the sharp decline of AM radio in most of the country the last 10-15 years, I can't imagine a team wanting to hitch its wagon to that.
And if you're an FM music-formatted station, there's not going to be much interest in carrying 80+ hockey/basketball or 162 baseball games because being in format all the time is important.
As far as other sports, the most likely candidates to go online-only are the second team in large markets, like the As are the second baseball team in the Bay area, or the Clippers are the second NBA team in LA.
It's sort of a mutual deal. With the sharp decline of AM radio in most of the country the last 10-15 years, I can't imagine a team wanting to hitch its wagon to that.
And if you're an FM music-formatted station, there's not going to be much interest in carrying 80+ hockey/basketball or 162 baseball games because being in format all the time is important.
Another factor, I feel, is the relative wealth of each market, which affects the ability of listeners to afford smartphones, smart speakers or any other devices capable of playing streamed audio. The Bay Area is likely an easier place to make this work than, say, Memphis or Cleveland.
Now that MLB and NHL don't charge for audio streaming anymore, are all of our top-level pro leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) now available for audio streaming through their respective websites at no charge? If not, that could affect the free streaming that NBA and NFL teams might want to pursue if their markets become a dry well for willing OTA partners; the league could step in and put the kibosh on any attempt, leaving that team's fans with one option -- register at the league site and stream audio through there for a fee.
I think you'll start seeing second-fiddle teams in metro areas losing affiliates for sure. Orioles, Mets, Angels, etc. As an O's fan, I have seen the "Orioles Baseball Network", which used to stretch from NC/SC border up to south central PA, eroded significantly due to the Nats taking a lot of Virginians as fans. Used to be every reasonably-sized town south of Baltimore had an O's affiliate. Now, they are usually to be found only in the largest markets on AMs that have a puny night signal. That's not good when 60-70% of your games are played at 7pm or later.
Sad part is once the O's left a lot of these stations, they were not usually replaced by the Nationals.
Nonetheless, The A's have historically had a difficult time finding a flagship station in the Bay Area. Now, the vast majority there who want to hear A's baseball on the radio will have to tolerate an iffy (but still listenable) signal from Sacramento's station
Sad part is once the O's left a lot of these stations, they were not usually replaced by the Nationals.
Nonetheless, The A's have historically had a difficult time finding a flagship station in the Bay Area. Now, the vast majority there who want to hear A's baseball on the radio will have to tolerate an iffy (but still listenable) signal from Sacramento's station
I wonder how that is going to work with MLB that doesn't allow teams to have their local broadcasts on the internet, even more their flagship radio station's website, and also assuming all the afflicate stations that also carry the games under their radio network.
Several points about this:
1. In 2020, I really really doubt a working poor person is more likely to have a working AM radio than a smart phone.
2. Smart speakers are really cheap. The Amazon Echo Dot was selling 2-for-$20 earlier this week. Cheap smart phones exist, like the $139 iPhone SE or the Moto G7 Play at $129. And mobile phone service is cheap too. I figure if I listened to one baseball game with Google Fi's pay-as-you-go service as my mobile plan, each game would cost between $0.40 and $0.50 in data charges.
3. If someone is really that bad off, how much do you think the Cleveland Indians are going to care when they can't listen to the games? It's not like access to baseball on the radio is a protected right.
The drawbacks to a team are more about breaking old consumer habits of tuning into AM radio and expecting to hear baseball. Something I bet didn't happen with the As last season in any meaningful way.
MLB Gameday Audio is still $20 for the season by itself, although it's included with the MLB phone app. TuneIn Plus also offers it, along with the NFL, for $8 per month. That, far and away, is the best deal for streaming.
The NHL has allowed its flagship radio stations to stream its games for free for at least 10 years, if not longer. The NBA hasn't charged in the past, but I think one must use their app or go through NBA.com.
One drawback to the teams is the loss of a reliable and documentable ad platform for their percentage of the spots. If radio was just a marketing tool, you're right, it wouldn't matter. But it's also a revenue stream. The teams make money from the radio rights and spot placements for the team sponsors. It's not always easy to walk away from money.
Thanks for the correction on MLB. I'm not a smartphone user by choice and have had an MLB.TV subscription for many years that I use strictly on my home PC. I must have misread various items about the phone app and thought that Gameday Audio's inclusion there meant that it was free for all. Having SiriusXM, of course, makes GameDay Audio of no interest to me personally.
The Angels own an AM station that carries the team games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLAA_(AM)
The Clippers are owned by Steve Ballmer who has a net worth of over $20b and is currently trying to build a new arena in Inglewood next to the NFL stadium. I bet he could check his couch cushions and find a couple mil which would easily buy a station in the LA basin if he really wanted one for the team.
I wasn't aware of NFL free streaming of audio anywhere. The NFL seems to be aiming more and more towards pay-to-play.
But who is going to carry their smart speaker around to listen to a baseball game? Secondly, with decreasing revenues hitting not just AM, but FM also, why wouldn't FM be an option for Sports (including play-by-play) later in this decade? Some FM station owners may consider sports as an option. Also, with baseball and even football, the aging out factor is bound to affect how a change in media is viewed by the fans. I've seen pics of baseball games where half the stands are empty. If someone isn't enthused enough to go to a game, are they going to want to load the app on their phone?
It already is. In fact the aforementioned Oakland As had been broadcast on an FM sports station The Game KGMZ-FM for a few years. The competing sports station, KNBR, recently added an FM simulcast. Perhaps the most successful sports station, WFAN in NYC is an AM/FM simulcast. Boston actually has two FM all sports stations. So does Philadelphia.
Who is going to carry their radio around to listen to a baseball game, especially when almost everyone already carries a device that is capable of streaming audio and video?
There are already a lot of FM sports stations. I would say most markets have at least one by now.
An FM music station picking up baseball, especially on the west coast, would be essentially committing suicide. A big majority of the music audience won't stick around for baseball or any other sports play-by-play, so you're going to lose them. And when the team plays a road swing at Tampa and at Houston, the baseball will start before 5pm Pacific for a whole week, destroying any PM drive loyalty you might have.
The As were on an FM sports station through the 2018 season, and they burned that bridge. They won't be on the other all-sports station because the Giants are on KNBR.
That leaves the question for an owner in the Bay Area: would make sense to flip a music station to sports in order to support a play-by-play deal with the As? Apparently everyone said no.
Baseball has been enjoying record revenues as a whole, so their ticketing strategy seems to be working.
Clippers talked about being next door to the Forum where the Lakers used to be when Magic Johnson was in the NBA Finals too. Also I heard stuff that its a ploy to get LA the Olympics too in 2028.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2028_Summer_Olympics
I thought that was a done deal. LA is getting an Olympics. The Clippers don't want to share with the Lakers. They are second fiddle at Staples.
Yes it is a done deal that LA is getting the Olympics now though. But when Los Angeles was competing against other cities for the bid they were discussing about the stadium deals at the same time that the New Rams stadium and the Clippers were talking about being next door to the Forum in Inglewood as places where the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could take place though.
Oakland A's at one point talked about going to downtown Oakland and an area now known as Levi's stadium but that got cancelled as soon as the Golden State Warriors made the decision to move to Chase center and the Raiders to Vegas though. I'm not even sure that's even being discussed here.
Back to the MLB how much of this is also about boosting the League pass subscribers. I understand in regular season games the MLB likes to talk about that a lot for Cable and streaming outlets but I don't know about the situation in radio though.
Back to the MLB how much of this is also about boosting the League pass subscribers. I understand in regular season games the MLB likes to talk about that a lot for Cable and streaming outlets but I don't know about the situation in radio though.
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