Why Your Favorite Team is Going BROKE

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Why Your Favorite Team is Going BROKE, a.k.a how Bally Sports is bankrupting MLB:
The RSN bubble is popping. Bally Sports' bankruptcy is already completely changing the sports industry, and if MLB teams aren't prepared for the major hit to their revenue, it could bring them down as well. In this video, we take a lot at the rise and fall of Bally Sports (and the RSN system as a whole) and try to figure out where we go from here.
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Music (in order of appearance):
The Emperor's Army - Jeremy Blake
Habanera - Bizet
Coastline - TrackTribe
Into It - Kwon
Lands Unknown - Futuremono
Chapters:
0:00 - 4:38 The Rise of the RSN
4:38 - 7:40 The Fall of Bally Sports
7:40 - 11:33 The Affected Teams
11:33 - 14:08 The Threat to MLB
14:08 - 16:45 Where Do We Go From Here?

[@LancerJak]

Local games should never be blacked out. It’s insane that the home area can’t watch their home team because of blackouts.

[@bryangutierrez]

The idea is that if you want to watch sports you pay more for the privilege to watch your favorite team. I don't like it either.

[@bigfloridapimp]

I thought blackout just meant your local team was on ESPN that day. I know back in the day wrestling and boxing would be blacked out on local TV when the event came to your town. But the idea was they wanted you coming to the wrestling show. I can't imagine local games getting blacked out for any reason other than another major network broadcasting the game instead

[@mattsbjjjourney5601]

Biggest problem in baseball right now.

[@seanstuchbery]

go the game imo

[@jimbryant2157]

I do like going to the games, but for the 4 of us the ticket price is $130. When you add parking, food, and gas, we are close to $200 for a single game.

[@alexsepe9484]

As a soccer fan who has MLS Season Pass, I can safely say that is the model these leagues need to follow. It's the most streamlined and complete model I've seen. No blackouts, all the games in one place. I bet a ton of people would go for it. Maybe include a cheaper option if you only want to pay for one team's games.

[@imlost19]

the only downside for MLS is the rotating announcer crew. I really cherish having dedicated announcers for my teams (marlins, heat, panthers) so I can get to know them and they can really get in depth with the team they cover. Its one of the last remaining vestiges of non-football American sports that is precious to me.

[@ibrown3KC]

​@imlost19 I totally agree regarding the consistent announcers! Especially in a league/generation of sports in general in which players are constantly moving from one team to another like a game of musical chairs, thus it's rare to see a player stay with a team more than 6 or 7 years, and damn near unheard of for a player to spend his entire career with a team. So with that in mind, we as sports fans--specifically as Royals fans here in Kansas City--we've come to cherish our broadcasting crews, both on the radio and especially the TV broadcast booth, for I LOVE both Ryan Lefevre as well as Rex Hudler (yeah, there's mixed feelings about him as some can't stand his positivity and enthusiasm, and while I was unsure of it when he and Steve Physioc joined the booth back in 2012, he quickly won me over as I realized his positivity and enthusiasm were genuine and not some gimmick, and I can't help but think it helped to rub off on the team. And while that may sound ridiculous, I think Hud and his positivity and enthusiasm actually helped rub off on the team and organization as a whole. For before Hud arrived in 2012, my beloved yet pathetic Royals had managed just ONE winning season during a 20 season stretch from 1994 and 2013, and that was when the Royals pulled off an 83-79 record on 2003, but would have to wait more than 10 seasons. However, in 2013, which was Phys and Huds second season on the broadcast booth, the Royals finished with an 86-76 record which was there best season since the mid 80s. And though they barely missed the playoffs that season, they would finish 89-73 and make the Wild Card game where they'd beat the Oakland A's and then go on to sweep the Angels and Orioles in the next to playoff series, making it to their first World Series in 30 years. Unfortunately they'd lose in a heartbreaking game 7. However, the very next the Royals would charge right back into the World Series where this time the Royals smoked the Mets exactly 30 years after they won their previous World Series back in 1985, the year before I was born. Anyhow, while they couldn't recapture the same success, they did manage winning seasons over the next few seasons. But that eventually came to an end after the Royals management traded away their core players from those teams. And since then things have been pretty rough for these last few Royals teams. But it's still been great listening to Lefevre and Rex Hudler, and it looks like the Royals may be headed back in the right direction with the contract extension they gave Bobby Witt, and the various other acquisitions made this last off season. That said, my only worry is: will we still get to hear the likes of Hudler and Lefevre calling our favorite baseball team since those gambling junkies who run Bally Spoets ran them into the ground.

[@Venom3254]

FSN theme > Bally Sports theme

[@Owenthebaseballguy]

Straight facts

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

FSN >>> Bally Sports

[@VivaLaZach]

I miss FSN so much. The noise the ticker made back in the day during home runs was so little but added so much. It's crazy how far better it was

[@user-ps5ux2sp6w]

​yakisoba!

[@johnwhitaker4293]

I disagree but maybe that’s just because I still think of Coyotes hockey when I hear the Bally theme(even though we are on Scripps now)

[@joshuaw711]

The leagues need to focus on getting their teams back on local tv. NBC Chicago showed a Blackhawks game during the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s in conjunction with the regular NBC Sports Chicago broadcast. People are using antennas again for local tv, so getting them on tv would help to raise viewership I think.

[@noahcoleman28]

The fact that I need to purchase several streaming subscriptions to watch my team (which won’t spend the money to win anyway) and then have to deal with blackouts will eventually deter me and many other fans away from baseball. Streaming is best when you can watch what you want in one spot. But that isn’t the case.

[@WhatHappenedtoBaseball]

TBS is why I'm a Braves fan. If I was born three years later, I don't know if I become a baseball fan.

[@joeg5414]

I lived in Atlanta from 1991-1993 when I was a kid and started watching the Braves on TBS. Then we moved to California and still got to watch the Braves. I never would have been a Braves fan if they weren't on TBS. Was crazy though how big it was though. School had Braves day and everyone wore Braves stuff. Supercuts had a special where you could get a tomahawk shaved in the side of your hair. I was so mad my Mom wouldn't let me🤣

[@MiserableLemon]

Sports blackouts are wack, I paid for NBA league pass just to not be able to watch 70% of spurs games and I live an hour away from SA! Unable to watch your local team is criminal 😭

[@troybaxter]

It's wild how local teams can get blacked out, but they may not be blacked out elsewhere. I noticed this with the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm able to stream them out in Houston, but my parents can't even watch them in Durham, NC (20 minutes away from thr Arena). It makes no sense.

[@TurboMan942]

I haven't had a cable/satellite service for three years, and I don't miss it at all. My regional Bally's network doesn't carry my MLB team as a standalone option. Therefore, I will continue to catch a 10-12 min play by play recap on KZbin a few hours after the games instead. They make it too hard just to watch these games anymore.

[@DS-11]

That’s what I do and I’m not missing anything either. My provider was charging about $13 monthly on the sports package alone when all I wanted was the occasional ball game.

[@MountainFisher]

@ I can't put in the link for the pirate baseball channel I use as YT deletes it. I have an old laptop I use in case I get a virus so I hook my tv up to it and since I use an antivirus program anyway it isn't an extra cost nor is my vpn. A lot of people think they don't need these things as the Microsoft security is enough. I'm not trusting Microsoft or Apple with my security is all I'll say about that. Daughter-in-law's brother is an IT security guy for a bank and he told me about the channel.😄 If Amazon starts carrying games and maybe one of my favorite teams, the $139 a year isn't bad compared to what a cable sports package and MLB Online would cost to watch favorite teams. I've been watching the Angels since before they had their own stadium and same for the LA Dodgers. Amazon might make the move to streaming games from the Cable Model easier, time will tell, but borrowing money to make payroll is a bad look.

[@josiah9008]

The networks got greedy plain and simple, the MLB and other leagues tried to capitalize on the RSN's. I personally don't have cable and I am not willing to pay for streaming of local sporting events, even then they blackout the local games anyways. I rather do without sports, than have it.

[@MountainFisher]

Get a good antivirus and firewall, use your vpn to watch pirated games. I keep an old laptop just for baseball. I have just cable which is expensive enough where I live is all I can afford, only two choices and difference isn't worth getting a new DSL modem and less bandwidth. I use an antenna for tv, get like 25 stations, most in HD or better.

[@jonvitullo748]

@@MountainFisherI used to do that. Now I don’t even bother. I shouldn’t have to jump through all of those hoops to watch local games just because I choose to not have cable.

[@HankThe_Tank]

Not sure how attendance rising the most since 1998 qualifies as lowering attendance.

[@itsNRC]

hindsight 20/20 MLB & NBA are dying & as a longtime fan it’s sad people don’t watch the games like they used to people don’t go to the game like they used to

[@thefox47545]

​@KICN13 Ever been to a game at Dodger Stadium? At least 45k attendance EVERY GAME, even during slumps. It isn't dying in LA.

[@mayquelmiranda6282]

This guy doesn’t know what he is talking about. Low attendance yeah right

[@MountainFisher]

@@mayquelmiranda6282 Maybe he meant low viewership which is true enough and is MLB's own fault. Lowest viewed WS Ever? No wonder the tv money is drying up.

[@jillbelas7266]

​@@MountainFisherBruh who the fuck wants to watch the diamondbacks against the rangers 💀💀

[@MrC.USA.18]

It is sad that the World Series no longer a big deal. 1. The World Series game start to late and run into college and NFL. 2. the final game of the World Series should not end in November.

[@99somerville]

Inter league play killed it. No difference between American and National leagues anymore.

[@bigfloridapimp]

In my local town, baseball was the biggest thing. A town of about 2k and we've got a baseball park. Every weekend you could hear dings and cheers from little league being played. I haven't heard a ding in years and it's the saddest absence of sound I could imagine 😢

[@LanceMan]

I grew up in a baseball area too. Haven't seen kids playing sandlot in a long time.

[@NicEeEe843]

@@LanceManI see kids play in south Florida all the time to the point that’s it’s hard to find spots for kids because the leagues go sooo full so quickly, for mainly baseball and soccer.

[@JB-bs1se]

Disney ruins everything they buy!

[@Douchebigelow666]

Roger’s ruins everything it owns and won’t fire the jackasses who run its properties. Sadly with Atkins and shitpiro the jays will be dead last in the American League

[@PipeGuy64Bit]

Tbf them fleecing Sinclair by selling them the region sports networks rights is pretty hilarious

[@csnide6702]

I'd say the State of Florida is worse.

[@Extinguisher10]

That wasn't true or the MCU or the first decade or so. If anything having the financial backing of Disney helped. But to your point, they certainly ruined it over the past 4 years

[@Extinguisher10]

@@csnide6702 Florida man caught....

[@Th3Sixth]

honestly i feel like broadcasting on national or international audiences with small or low pay walls would help spread the game and make you more money in the long run not to mention the confusion you run into when trying to figure out where a game is being broadcast

[@PrimarySweeper13]

I’m happy Bally is going broke. They were going to fund the A’s moving to Vegas. If Fisher can’t get someone to pay for him, he possibly can’t move my A’s.

[@voidmaan]

As a GS Warriors fan trying to get into baseball (still have the Giants I guess), hell yeah brother!!

[@VojvodaSloboda]

@@voidmaan youre better off getting into paint drying competitions

[@Super_Flea]

Las Vegas Nevada home market and blackout games for 1)Diamondbacks 2) Padres 3) Angels 4) Dodgers 5) Giants 6) Athletes

[@Michael-sb8jf]

Now imagine living in Iowa black out regions for Royals white sox cubs twins brewers Cardinals The original purpose of a Black out was to force people to attend games in person. but damn you need to plan a road trip to do this if you live in Des Moines. The two closest teams being the royals and twins required a 3 hour drive to get to each and thats without potential traffic. assuming you not leaving the parking lot at the stadium till 10ish pm your probably not getting home till 2am and thats if your crazy to go to a game day off and drive back ITS GREED

[@Extinguisher10]

I don't know if you missed the addition of Luis Urias, Luke Raley, and Jorge Polanco, or if you ignored the moves to reinforce the theme of the video but those 3 plus Haniger, and Garver (which you did mention) should be a notable upgrade over Ford, Wong, Suarez, Hernandez, and Kelenic. It's been a very impressive off-season by Dipoto. Now imagine what he could have got done if ownership didn't cut him off at the knees

[@rocketking2589]

Nice job on this video! Keep up the solid work.

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

Thank you, appreciate the support!

[@FrodisRoom]

I'm not sure self-owned RSNs work in smaller markets. For example, Cleveland Indians already had their own RSN called "Sportstime Ohio", which they launched in 2006. They sold it to Fox in December 2012.

[@reverend_wintondupree]

Royals and RSTN as well, lasted only 4 seasons from 2003-2007.

[@ericjaysmusicpromotion957]

Great video, learned a lot. Keep up the great work

[@RandallBalls]

As a Phillies fan I'm glad I have nothing to worry about. Our local fans actually watch and attend the games, and as long as we're winning we have the most loyal fan base in baseball. Way too many of these teams out here think they're on par with us or the Yankees in terms of Interest

[@MountainFisher]

I'm blacked out from teams hundreds of miles from me, nothing local. Used to just be San Diego and Phoenix as I live in Southern New Mexico, but now it's all of Texas too. 900 miles to Houston and Dallas is almost as far, not worth it. Watch pirated games on an old laptop, screw them.

[@byronservies4043]

I haven't paid. for cable since 2008. So I haven't paid attention to several sports since then, MLB included.

[@Bbabybear02]

Pittsburgh Pirates fan here. I have several things to add to this. 1. The Pirates aren't in a Bally Sports Market. They had WBD. They are now broadcasting on Sportsnet Pittsburgh (which is owned by the Fenway Sports Group/Pittsburgh Penguins[NHL]). 2. I think the Pirates (who are cheap to begin with) will have no effect in regards to the RSN issue because They will have saved enough money to weather the storm that most of baseball will be effected by. I personally would love to see a return to games being on local broadcast affilates. It could thrive on CW/MyNetworkTV/Independent stations with little programming to move around. We are lucky in Pittsburgh to have WPKD 19 (IND owned by CBS), and WPNT 22 (CW/MY owned my Sinclair) to test this on. Maybe people will actually watch the Pirates again if WPKD/WPNT carried the games on weekends or special weekdays.

[@smking906]

As much as people don’t like Fenway (well at least Red Sox fans), they really handled the RSN situation well. The Pens owning Sportsnet is great especially since they have a deal with the Pirates now and the production hasn’t really changed much. Although I would not be opposed to the Pirates and Pens going to an affiliate network like 22 or the CW. The Steelers broadcast preseason games on KDKA and also broadcast the Thursday night Amazon games on WPXI if they’re playing. I think a model like that could work for the Pirates and Penguins if Sportsnet ever goes down.

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

Thank you for watching! If you liked the video, please consider liking, leaving a comment, or subscribing to the channel!

[@mattshaw6259]

Well-researched content. Thank you

[@KelpShake98]

I’m pretty sure I heard somewhere that this past season had the highest attendance in decades, so I think the new rules they implemented last year definitely helped.

[@abrahamochoa55]

Correct but it was within those high end games caugh the padres games and dodgers. Who brought in a huge amount of revenue

[@slaymyface1357]

I personally think KZbin would make bank if they partnered with sports teams to stream their games. Billions are on KZbin as I'm writing this. People aren't using cable anymore

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

They’ve partnered to show games before, but they don’t do it as often as they have in previous years, I wonder if they didn’t get good ratings?

[@slaymyface1357]

@@TheDiamondBaseball i mean they did well in their solo games. I feel if they cornered the market for at least 5ish teams they could easily make a huge profit especially if one of those teams is good. I feel if they snagged the padres, rockies, dbacks mariners, and braves they have 5 very prominent franchises with dedicated fans. The ads theyd run would easily pay off contracts

[@reverend_wintondupree]

​@TheDiamondBaseball very poor ratings. But in fairness, most of those games were weekday matinees.

[@zachbush7923]

The announcers they got for those KZbin games were always shaky at best.

[@slaymyface1357]

@@zachbush7923 you realize that sports teams have their own broadcasters. KZbin has their own broadcast team If you have broadcast deals that means the broadcasters for the teams would still be the same

[@brodysdaddy]

“After spending a shit ton of money to win the World Series” - Heartbroken Dback fan.

[@JBaseball777]

Great stuff man! Any chance you can do a video in the future on MASN? Its a fascinating case that seems like the unique RSN with this whole collapse and death of cable

[@anonymousdogg1559]

Dodgers really are the suavest team when it comes to everything. They essentially will not have to pay anything out of pocket for Ohtani due to their unbelievable deal with Spectrum formerly Time Warner Cable. They have a top 3 farm even though they get later and less draft picks than majority of teams, they know how to bring veterans to star form again, they renew contracts like Andrew Toles just to provide them medical support, they treat their fans with respect and are arguably the gem of the league. People say they are the new “Death Star” of the MLB yet they’re the most likable group of guys ever placed on a single lineup. Say what you will but they are top tier class and I feel every team should and can replicate them, yet bad ownership proves that a team will never get anywhere without a good owner. Point being that a good ownership will prevail and these RSN deals are just insurance for owners “investments”.

[@abrahamochoa55]

The fuck you talking about, when mlb caters to dodgers and yankees and sox and phillies no shit they will be were they are at. Makes is difficult for smaller teams to go.

[@matthewlarson738]

I think you're missing the point. People dislike the Dodgers the same way as they did the Patriots when they had Tom Brady. It's a "rich get richer" kind of thing. Some people outside of LA don't like LA sports teams because LA is celebrity city so the teams get more media attention

[@stevencramsie9172]

And they’ll still get knocked out of the playoffs by the divisional round, as per usual.

[@QuintenRogers-nf6fb]

In my opinion the regional television deal money is just like "petty cash" and shouldn't be calculated into the daily operations of the team. The Dodgers have some big time owners with deep pockets that are creative with the business and knows how to make money. We can see a prime example by them still playing in old Dodgers Stadium and leading the league in attendance. NOT using the patented lie, that they need a taxpayer funded brand new stadium to make money. They spent their own money $430 million dollars of it and the team is valued at $4.3 billion today. Without a t.v. deal. We all saw how Mr. McCourt was running the team and how sad of a position it was in and the fans wanting him to sell the team. Which is like the Oakland A's and Mr. Fisher current day. The A's are definitely depending on a television deal for team operations and NBC Bay Area is desperately trying to find a way to get out of that disastrous TV deal.

[@bowdenproductions]

This makes me think about how the Blue Jays were able to even seriously go after Ohtani because Rogers was basically going to strap a rocket to him and make him a superstar in the country. They could probably use some of that energy to try and strip some of these guys away from these teams with hurting TV deals who have money issues. Makes me wonder if it could drive some attention to another canadian baseball market with a company like Bell behind it.

[@scotttild]

Pie in the sky he was never leaving LA it was always going to be the dodgers from day one, other stuff was just for show.

[@devynlich00]

You also have to think as well the Rangers could have gone after ohtani as well even after resigning Monty if Bally didn't go bankrupt

[@KittyPurrfect100]

The art of radio has been lost in baseball, sort of gets overshadowed by games on television. You can’t blackout a game on radio. WCON FM the Braves are always on the radio. I live in Upstate SC and WCON is in Cornelia GA. 90s Country music is on the rest of the time

[@Michael-sb8jf]

Lots of sports stations are still AM. and a lot of AM stations have to cut power at night when the game is on so unless you live within 60 miles of the antenna your not getting a reception. also you need to pay a subscription to listen to the game on internet if you don't have access to OTA broadcasts not to mention needing a radio. No problem in a car for now but most people now listen to things on their phone and you can't listen to radio on your phone without a app that also needs a subscription for live sports or did at least for baseball. Might have changed so correct me if Im wrong. I do know I can listen to my local NFL teams radio broadcast on my phone though the teams app but I need to be in the geo fenced in area approximately 60ish miles from the stadium. Sure you could trick the system with VPN but thats another fee

[@jettjettandjett]

love your attention to detail, following the money

[@greghurlbut7017]

Is streaming the death of local sports bars? Most are not legally allowed to steam live sports events through services like Prime and Apple TV. As a sports fan without cable, I rely on my local bar(s) to watch live sports. How will the end of RSNs affect me?

[@jackgardner2514]

Just get the streaming services... you don't need to yell in public to prove you're a fan

[@quiveringmoist7558]

You can't call them local tv if they're owed by a national conglomerates. People can always listen to the radio games like many of us did when our teams were on the road back in 80s

[@jdsthird]

The Padres have much bigger issues than losing their TV deal. Their debt load is extremely high and out of compliance with the collective bargaining agreement. They handed out bloated contracts and extensions like it was candy. And they’ve been running deficits the past five years. They also crossed the CBT threshold multiple years and handed MLB 40 million in luxury tax alone last year. AJ Tingler Preller needs to be fired for his incompetence and ineptitude. We wish it was only he loss of the TV deal late last season.

[@justbecause9645]

Yes

[@shanestevens5352]

The debt is only from losing the TV deal. The loan was for 50 million and the revenue lost from the TV deal was 50 million

[@mattforbes221]

Sadler was also dying, can’t blame a man for pushing the envelope when he knows his time is limited. It just didn’t work out, and the RSN bubble burst at the worst possible time for them.

[@jdsthird]

@@shanestevens5352 Not true. Debt load has built up since 2019 when Seidler financed his majority ownership stake. It’s very different than the TV deal which was lost late last season. The debt load is governed by the collective bargaining agreement. The franchise has operated at deficits every season for the last five years. The loan request was for 100 million and MLB declined this amount and only granted half. Financial crisis has been lurking long before the loss of the TV deal.

[@jdsthird]

@@mattforbes221 Seidler’s financial missteps date back to 2019. It didn’t help him that he trusted and kept an incompetent and inept front office executive who couldn’t deliver him a championship. Any other person but AJ Tingler Preller would have delivered so much more with the talent and money spent.

[@kingjro2]

Great video!

[@417fga]

Amazing explanation my man!

[@Alan-lv9rw]

In NY and Chicago, the games were not on the local networks (CBS, NBC, ABC). They were on the independent stations (WGN, WOR, WPIX).

[@AndreasHeddergott-ph2vl]

Thx for the Timeline and Background - hard to find here in Germnay otherwise ;)

[@thekrazyhatter5063]

*Germany

[@AndreasHeddergott-ph2vl]

@@thekrazyhatter5063 True 😂👍

[@falco2911]

Saturday's Mariners spring training game on ROOT was just a rebraodcast of the White Sox feed

[@LobsterSpecial]

The team's broadcast partner (and minority owner of ROOT Sports), Warner Bros. Discovery left the regional sports business at the end of last year, leaving the Mariners as 100% owners. Since Warner Bros. Discovery was the producer of the Mariner's broadcasts, the team now has to do it for themselves and I imagine they haven't quite got it all up and running

[@Extinguisher10]

Just a note for future videos. The music volume is too high. Otherwise a great video:)

[@Extinguisher10]

I'm starting to wonder if you wrote this script a few weeks ago. The Mariners are now 100% owners of Root. That happened in mid December

[@goukizx2]

The Colorado Rockies are doing a streaming only package as they won’t have any games on TV.

[@DanielOppliger]

We lived in the Phoenix Metro area for 15 years. The Diamondbacks were only on cable TV the entire time. When I grew up in STL, the Cardinals had teen nights to get young people to the ball park. My late father said the Cardinals and Browns had the Knot Hole gangs, where they let kids into the games for very low cost. No wonder they have fans. In Arizona, MLB doesn't try to get kids to attend Cactus League games. By not being on free TV you leave out a lot of the market.

[@smjbr79]

I didn't hear you mention the unsuitable player contracts. They are insane amounts of money. Thats probably the biggest factor to mlbs money issues. They also need a hard salary cap.

[@stenbak88]

The price of professional teams is so overvalued it’s crazy. The bubble will burst soon

[@danfarmer5613]

Very interesting, thanks

[@KWally]

Hockey going thru the same issue, but not mentioned when MSG does Rangers games as well being owned by the same owner, as well as the Devils with YES.

[@Banzai51]

I wish the Detroit teams would buy out Ballys and start their own streaming services. But even if they do, everyone gets greedy and jacks up monthly fees on top of advertising. With Ballys holding the Wings and Tigers hostage, I can't watch my local NHL and MLB teams.

[@jander6121]

The Utah Jazz have their own streaming app. I believe this is correct choice for the future, streaming and simultaneously using the HD Antenna (free) to watch games.

[@nebuloushammer8773]

I'm glad the RSNs are collapsing after taking all the games off OTA. Put the home games on OTA again with a streaming service for the away games and I'll be happy.

[@TheRoseBoy11]

As someone from Boston, it feels like we're "the ones that got away somewhat unscathed" with NESN as the death of RSN spirals out of control.

[@pancho2235]

Honestly the teams got lose their deals really got 2 options u either buy out the network like the Houston teams n make ur own network with a streaming app for extra money or u allow amazon to board cast the games so they get a piece of the pie but in that option most likely ur losing a way to watch ur local sports teams

[@Becauseimme]

I remember Bally as a fitness center called “Bally Total Fitness”

[@BrandanTheBroker]

With the way streaming is taking over and seems like Amazon and Netflix is taking media rights left and right, I can see someone platforming everything to maybe KZbin Premium at some point.

[@brennennakagawa]

Great video! Don't forget mariners did get Jorge Polanco at 2nd base but I agree with the rest they have a hole at 3rd and Luke Raley should be fine, but I don't trust Mitch to play more then 100 games this year

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

The Polanco trade happened shortly after I recorded everything, thats the struggle with covering current events sometimes lol. Glad you enjoyed the vid!

[@mattforbes221]

Did the M’s make their full purchase of ROOT after as well? How does that change things?

[@fatdingo8251]

They have Luis Urias to hold down 3rd bro.

[@mattforbes221]

@@fatdingo8251 *they have two lottery tickets in Rojas and Urias that they hope will payoff this year

[@Lucky_9705]

Robert Manfred needs to be fired immediately and replaced by a new commissioner that can make better decisions. Baseball as a sport has been in decline for nearly 10 years because of his shitstain of a legacy.

[@scotttild]

To be fair its not his fault these teams made bad deals and Bally's went bankrupt. MLB is typically out of local TV contracts. Issue has been the CBA for a long time in MLB does not really share equally all the TV money. That's the issue.

[@reverend_wintondupree]

Thank the MLB owners, Manfred just enacts their prerogatives

[@Michael-sb8jf]

@@reverend_wintondupree this the commissioner is just the mouth piece of the owners

[@wizardoferror9942]

MLB should definitely look for more teams to show nationally like the Padres and such. If they continue on that track, then they’re good to go in terms of TV viewership.

[@scotttild]

MLB does not know how to promote other teams not named the Dodgers, Angles, Yankees Cubs. They want the major teams in the major TV markets to be the national TV face. Its all about money.

[@wizardoferror9942]

@@scotttild Dude, I knoooooow. It’s so annoying. Edit: At least the smaller market teams know how to promote themselves.

[@mattforbes221]

@@scotttildof course it is, putting the Pirates on national TV isn’t suddenly gonna grow a national Pirates fan base. The Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox and the like have national fan bases due to their history and huge local markets that result in fans being spread out all over the country. Baseball fandom is extremely localized and always will be because of the simple fact that it’s pretty possible that nothing really happens during the game. You can put Giannis or Jokic on national TV and be sure that they’re gonna do something amazing and create fans that want to keep watching, but that’s a lot harder for MLB. Shohei’s really the one case I can think of of a player transcending the fandom barrier and bringing his not-historically-national team to the national stage.

[@matthewlarson738]

​@@mattforbes221And Ohtani went to the Dodgers 😂

[@wizardoferror9942]

@@mattforbes221YES, you hit the nail on the head.

[@20thCY]

Honestly if we went back to the superstation model (but modernize it because cable is dying) where all teams can have a national audience, I think we'd be better off.

[@Jackson-if4re]

Root Sports is the greediest RSN. I cannot watch my Mariners without forking out a lot of money (I am not willing to do so).

[@mattforbes221]

Xfinity moved ROOT, it was their decision.

[@claytonroitenberg1935]

Big issues today here in Minnesota these teams just need to start there own streaming platforms

[@fernandoacosta7423]

Given all of this it’s crazy that the Oakland A’s what to move to Vegas where there tv deal is gonna be cut in half .

[@tylerleggett5088]

Ever since bally took over in Detroit, the only team I've been able to really watch is the lions, so I'd love for a local network like Fox to broadcast like they do the NFL. My level of fandom for the NHL and MLB has really decreased over the years and I blame the inability to access games.

[@shaindaman13]

I don’t understand why some other network doesn’t just pick up the rights to broadcast these teams. None of it makes sense to me. It’s not like unless Bally covers then no one else is capable of it.

[@scotttild]

Its simple Bally Sports is in bankruptcy meaning everything has to go through a bankruptcy court and judge. Assists can't just be bought, creditors have first right to anything that is owed to them. Everything has to be given a value and either sold or bought out once the judge approves the bankruptcy. Teams that are tied into all this can't do anything at the moment because the TV contracts are part of the bankruptcy. It will take years to unravel, meanwhile Bally still owns the rights under the contracts and teams can't do anything to get out of them.

[@rx2878]

Isn't that what Amazon is trying to do here ?

[@coleton2144]

I'm very happy with how the Diamondbacks are handling their situation. $100 for the year or $20/mo to stream the games and they have linear channels set up in the state that will broadcast games OTA. I think it's the perfect set up moving forward for teams leaving their RSNs. Suns and Coyotes are doing similar broadcast set ups after they left Bally

[@ZachComa]

As a Cubs fan, I hate Marquee so much.

[@ThatBaseballGuy643]

Pirates getting picked up by PSN, which is run by NESN

[@dylandaugherty2380]

What about the Longhorn Network? That was long a stable-regional sports network for Texas. i know it was through ESPN but that’s it. Maybe something like that is possible

[@Justanotherfan2]

The Rangers, Mavs and Stars need to collaborate on this, with the Longhorn network shutting down, they’re could be an opportunity for them. Also keeping UIL broadcasts they wouldn’t be short on content.

[@AKT0B0S]

As a Diamondbacks fan, I love the option I have now to pay $75 a year to watch the team without a blackout. I hope options like that are where we’re headed

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

Personally, I’m not paying another $99 just to watch my Dbacks when I’m already paying $150 for MLB.tv, I’ll just take advantage of my VPN when I’m back in AZ lol

[@tjtribble.]

Did you record this before the Mariners traded for Jorge Polanco? Also they traded for Luke Raley for corner outfield.

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

Yes, this video took me forever to edit, so there were some updates between when I recorded and when I published

[@tjtribble.]

@@TheDiamondBaseball that definitely makes sense. Your video was very well informed so I figured it was just a time thing. It’s ultimately not important to the video as a whole though, which was great!

[@kylereyes2453]

I'm not sure why they don't go full youtube and twitch? Like not only does it hit a broader audience, it would not be that difficult for them to do. They do cable, changing to a youtube live stream wouldn't be that hard. Especially since they can in theory change the content of the game. Its a much more interesting thing if viewers are to see whats going on that day while the teams change innings. Giving a more local feel instead of just watching ads on cable. You can still have ads, but now its just on youtube and you can still do sponsors. Plus like who are you going to pay the rights for? They should have their own rights to do this at least I hope. I could very wrong on this. Both logistically and economically. In my head, this would be both great for the consumer and great for the orgs. And its not like they don't use youtube, they do highlights all the time and with this anyone who would want to see a replay of something can just rewatch the live stream.

[@CanadaMMA]

MLB isn't facing falling attendance It's been holding pretty steady for the past 20 years. The local tv rights is a major issue though. MLB does seem to be aware of it though, and live events on streaming services seem to be catching on. Depending on what they go for, that could fill the gap.

[@adamhustler3639]

@8:10.. oh the irony of me watching this as they trade for Cease

[@paulwilliams7103]

The real issue of declining number of kids playing and not attending games themselves is money. The fan interest of the younger generations is there and you can thank KZbinrs for that. The issue is money because it has become very expensive to even attend one game.

[@isaiahleksell2573]

Luckily the Philly area has there own “independent” local sports broadcast

[@minnybiker4505]

Take away people's access to watch games casually, they will lose interest over time and stop going to games completely.

[@thoughtfulbobcat1872]

I never understood why Balls demand more from streaming because getting dropped by streamers and blacking out MLB TV coverage means their ratings would plummet and money would dry up. Less eyes on your product is never ever good.

[@davidcollison8973]

I just love big brain people!

[@adamhustler3639]

@15:50 ... Sportsnet for the Blue Jays, both owned by Rogers.

[@domeyann]

hopefully appletv helps the Bally teams that didn’t get helped by Amazon, their camera quality is insane just let us keep our announcers please

[@teejay7537]

As a Phillies fan it’s weird to see our stadium packed and then see the rest of the league. I think the fans gotta take some responsibility here too. Show up and support.

[@stevencramsie9172]

It’s not the fans’ fault. Esoecially considering how high inflation is, and how expensive it is to go to a ball game these days

[@Michael-sb8jf]

yeah Im not driving 40 miles and paying 200 bucks to take my family to a game when the management of my team fails to even field a AAA team's worth of talent another reason why baseball is dying implement a damns salary floor and cap already

[@timmholl9238]

I'm five states away from my team, and it's my fault I can't attend a game?

[@maxdelacruz8406]

It’s ridiculous that I have to pay $20 a month to watch the stars living in Dallas when I can bundle ESPN with Hulu and Disney for 14.99 and watch 70% of nhl games

[@m8x425]

Man, the Mariners never catch a break, or when they do the window is very limited

[@canada87699]

Canada has monoploy on regional sports since we only have 2 sports networks so we dont want pay other sports stations and sportsnet and tsn have a rivalry but sportnet is winning because rogers own the blue jays and its the parent company of sportnet

[@TheDiamondBaseball]

Yeah, I feel like the Canadian market is a different beast to analyze lol

[@canada87699]

@@TheDiamondBaseball tsn is own by bell and have hockey,basketball,curling and canadian football and sportsnet has hockey,baseball,basketball,curling and has exclusive world coverage of world football but that involves a addon with world station for money

[@scotttild]

But Canada also has nationalized TV so contracts in my understanding have to be approved by the government giving the Blue Jays very little room to get a mega deal for local TV.

[@jackofallgamesTV]

Bally: that's the name I haven't heard since before the video game crash when they had their Astrocade. How did Bally become a relevent name a few years ago? I though they were long dead? How with the regional sports networks affect rights to ,the Bally video games?

[@lanceweaver4830]

It doesn't make sense when you read things saying that attendance was up, but then videos like this say otherwise

[@eddief9254]

I think mlb lies about their attendance, baseball is in big trouble nobody watches the game

[@mattforbes221]

@@eddief9254calm down bro, this isn’t that complicated. Compare 2023 to 2022 and attendance/viewership went up, compare 2023 to 2006 and it’s still lower. Big picture, numbers are down. Little picture, numbers went up.

[@DoctorEw220]

I think that each team should get a minimum number of nationally televised games.

[@iancypes5911]

Technically every Blue Jays game is nationally televised.

[@mouseinurhouse]

Streaming. One single streaming platform and you pick and choose what teams you want to have access to.

[@MikeMath9]

Jokes on you pal, my team has always been broke Go Brewers

[@JoyStickJester_]

I've been an A's fan for many years. (Okay get the joke outs). I was a Dish customer when all of sudden they stopped showing them on TV. I thought they were under Comcast California and Dish dropped them. Now we are with KZbin TV and as much as my A's will suck this year I would still want to catch a game here and there

[@kurtmooreca]

Meanwhile in Toronto....Rogers the owner also owns the broadcast rights for the Jays....and all they do is print money during baseball season.

[@live2rock13]

According to USA Today in 2022, the Jays actually lost around $33.7 million. I don't know what the tax laws are in Canada, but since they are corporate owned, I'd imagine they would just write off that loss.

[@zacwoods]

@@live2rock13LMAO USAToday has no idea about what foreign companies make or lose. They could make up anything and put it down on a website and these media “sources” would pick it up.

[@kurtmooreca]

@@live2rock13 They didn't lose it....they spent it as part of their 300M$ renovation of the Skydome. Shows as an operating loss on a balance sheet, but its a fixed investment in the operation. They will likely "lose" money for the next several years while the renos are completed. 2022 was the Blue Jays most successful season EVER by Revenue. So I think USA Today is mistaken.

[@JoePCool14]

Whatever happens, we just need to get rid of the infamous Bally bar.

[@magic02k46]

Cleveland has the 4th richest owner in baseball and hasn’t spent money in 20 years, and they blame the TV contract for not spending…. I’m not believing that one

[@smuncho]

Kirby yates isn’t a free agent that completely fit the rangers needs? Didn’t have that big of an impact on the rangers at least *this offseason*

[@bikeny]

On a big picture scale, I am not concerned about the teams going bankrupt since I stopped caring after the 1994 baseball strike. On the small scale, it's gonna hurt big-time what with staff being out of a job and the ancillary jobs also going away. Not good. With all the revenue a team takes in: let's see from where: well, 2/3 of the stadiums are named by corporate naming rights johns. Advertising plastered all around the stadiums; oh, now the new thing that's started the process by which baseball uniforms start to look like soccer uniforms (and probably in a couple of years, like auto racing uniforms -- talk about being a billboard); broadcast rights; ticket sales; concession sales; maybe some local money in the disguise of lower taxes; 'other' as I don't know if there are other income streams. Maybe if they had managed the money properly they'd have some saved for a rainy day. And maybe if they had fielded better quality teams. And if MLB hadn't introduced really idiotic rule changes (man on 2nd base in 10th inning; only 2 throws to 1st base w/r/t pickoffs; making the actual bases physically larger; and lastly, the pitch clock, maybe folks would want to come to a game or at least sit at home and watch the game. Now, who decides what the ad rates are going to be? Did the rates get set too high? Are there too many minutes in an ad-break and as a result nobody wants to watch the game at home?

[@robertchapman2149]

Each team should have it's own subscription streaming service. Keep it affordable by selling advertising. I'd give $100 a year for my Rangers. If I could watch them all the time and keep up with what's going on I would be more likely see some games in person.

[@IWDA4]

Yankees broadcast on Amazon Prime every wednesday and its the only day I can't watch games due to regional blackout. Even though I pay for both YES streaming service and Prime. First step, remove the stupid blackouts.

[@kevineusebio]

MLB, NHL, and NBA should start selling their rights nationally like NFL. Regional Sports Networks are dying because of cord-cutting.