Regional Sports Networks Going Bankrupt

https://nypost.com/2023/03/12/mlb-t...id-looming-diamond-sports-bankruptcy-sources/

 

They filed. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/diamond-sports-files-for-bankruptcy.html

 

Note the reference to tv revenue supporting "bloated player salary budgets". https://www.nexttv.com/news/diamond...-to-shed-dollar8-billion-in-bally-sports-debt

 

I was hitting links and reading about this. One article discussed the situation in the Denver area where local cable companies have not reached an agreement with the Altitude, the Avalanche/Nuggets cable channel, for a couple years. The article quoted one of the providers as saying they some their data showed that less five percent of their audience had been watching one hour of Altitude a week. These regional sports networks have been receiving around five dollars a cable subscriber. If the local cable company is charging $100 a month it makes no economic sense for the cable provider to pay the sports network five percent of revenues if they bring in less than five per cent of the subscribers.

I think the bubble has popped.

 

MLB Commish was not happy with the ousted Diamond Sports exec.
https://www.nexttv.com/news/longtime-universal-exec-steve-rosenberg-out-as-president-of-diamond-sports-group

 

https://www.nexttv.com/news/fubo-to...et-games-package-as-dollar2499-a-month-add-on

 

https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/yes-network-hopes-to-launch-dtc-product-by-yankees-opening-day/

 

How many consumers are ponying up for ESPN+ or the Disney bundle that includes ESPN? I just don’t see consumers spending $25/month to watch baseball games, especially if the team stinks. And baseball is the only sport that offers the tonnage of content needed to lure people in.

(ESPN+ is great for gamblers, it airs every damn game under the sun.)

 

ESPN+ includes everything ESPN produces, including every major and minor sport from every Division I conference, along with NHL Center Ice and selected MLB games. It’s finding its audience.

 

I paid for the Disney Plus/ESPN Plus bundle (plus Hulu, which I don’t watch) until switching my cell service to Verizon. Now I get it as a toss-in by going one step up in my data plan, which means a slight savings over before.

 

Interesting development. The Yankees seem to lead with stuff like this, with other pro teams close behind. https://www.nexttv.com/news/yankees-rsn-yes-network-officially-goes-dtc