RedRamage Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 12 hours ago, gehringer_2 said: But unlike the NFL blackouts of yesteryear, MLB TV blackouts are not to protect ticket sales, and they don't benefit the home *directly*. They are to protect the RSN, the theory being that more valuable RSN rights mean bigger payments to the teams. But with the RSNs going under and the rights all devolving back to the teams and league, this is the perfect time to rationalize the system. With all the broadcast rights back in one place, the teams can in theory collect the full value of the broadcasts and MLB could offer Gameday to customers for *all* games for one fee. So simple you *know* it won't happen. I dunno... one thing I think we have to give MLB credit for it understanding that online content is a potential revenue stream. I think MLB was in front of a number of other leagues in terms of making money from online subscription stuff. The potential profit here might be enough to drive them into doing this. The two issue that might prevent this though are: 1.) Not having an easy, non-online method for viewing. I don't know what the average age of baseball fan is, but if the only way to watch games is online you might be alienating some significant percentage of the audience. 2.) Does MLB have the ability to produce the games themselves? Do they have the infrastructure to run it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 IIRC...one of the things that drove the WWE towards streaming their content via Peacock instead of the OOT network they built was the cost associated with maintaining the network. Could baseball find a streaming partner that has the capabilities of offering a tiered level of service...National coverage with the ability to buy a season pass for your team? Or would they have to front the $$$ necessary to build it themselves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Shinzaki said: IIRC...one of the things that drove the WWE towards streaming their content via Peacock instead of the OOT network they built was the cost associated with maintaining the network. Could baseball find a streaming partner that has the capabilities of offering a tiered level of service...National coverage with the ability to buy a season pass for your team? Or would they have to front the $$$ necessary to build it themselves? I don't know how comparable the two are. Note that Baseball has literally thousands of games, gives MLB a much broader base over which to distribute the cost of the network - or in short - the economies of scale are more favorable for MLB> Edited February 14, 2023 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRamage Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 15 minutes ago, Shinzaki said: IIRC...one of the things that drove the WWE towards streaming their content via Peacock instead of the OOT network they built was the cost associated with maintaining the network. Could baseball find a streaming partner that has the capabilities of offering a tiered level of service...National coverage with the ability to buy a season pass for your team? Or would they have to front the $$$ necessary to build it themselves? I'm probably talking out of my butt here but it would seem like there's three parts here: The rights, the production, and the transmission of the content. The transmission doesn't seem like it would be hard to do. I'm sure any streaming service would be able to take in the footage and then send it out to valid subscribers. They could easily take in money from customers and forward a portion of that to MLB or whomever. The rights aren't a huge issue either... I mean, obviously they are, but they aren't a technical issue. The problem is the production of the games including the equipment, the human resources, etc. I suppose in theory MLB could buy Diamond Sports Group if they can get a decent price on it that doesn't include all the debt that DSG has. This would give them all the people and equipment to be able to produce the games. What I have no clue on is advertisers. Who would be responsible to getting advertisers on board? Who would get the money from that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, RedRamage said: What I have no clue on is advertisers. Who would be responsible to getting advertisers on board? Who would get the money from that? If you inherit the assets of the RSN, you inherit a set of existing ad sales staffs that have all the contacts and relationships in place. I think the biggest hurdle is that if MLB holds all the rights and sends all the games out on one service, how do teams participate in the revenue? Right now the RSN money all (largely?) goes local. If MLB originated everything I would guess there would be some attempt made to nationalize at least some part of the income and that's were the battle gets fought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatkoVarda Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 I assume YES has been successful for the Yankees. Any reason that Ilitch Holdings (with 2 teams available to supply content) could not replicate that in the Michigan market, albeit on a smaller scale? That's a big undertaking I am sure, and swapping out a guaranteed payday for the risk of more money may not be appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 6 minutes ago, RatkoVarda said: I assume YES has been successful for the Yankees. Any reason that Ilitch Holdings (with 2 teams available to supply content) could not replicate that in the Michigan market, albeit on a smaller scale? That's a big undertaking I am sure, and swapping out a guaranteed payday for the risk of more money may not be appealing. That's been discussed here before. I guess all we can say is that we know they considered it before the last Bally contract was signed and decided the existing arrangement was more profitable for them. Which makes sense in a way since Bally was paying more than they could ulitmately afford! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 4 hours ago, RatkoVarda said: I assume YES has been successful for the Yankees. Any reason that Ilitch Holdings (with 2 teams available to supply content) could not replicate that in the Michigan market, albeit on a smaller scale? That's a big undertaking I am sure, and swapping out a guaranteed payday for the risk of more money may not be appealing. Wasn't Cameron Maybin with YES last season? Wouldn't one be curious to know if this is a concern in his mind, going from YES to the Bally's umbrella? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbomb13 Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 Worth noting that DSG owns a minority stake in YES... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 In the end I don't think this will change much for the average fan or viewer. Rich people will still get their money somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 15, 2023 Share Posted February 15, 2023 29 minutes ago, oblong said: In the end I don't think this will change much for the average fan or viewer. Rich people will still get their money somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Damn rich people and their yachts.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 19 hours ago, Shinzaki said: Damn rich people and their yachts.... Yachts for the rich. Yacht rock for the rest of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biff Mayhem Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 20 minutes ago, chasfh said: Yachts for the rich. Yacht rock for the rest of us. Off topic, the crown prince of Yacht Rock, Christopher Cross, is an amazing guitarist. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRamage Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Quote Manfred said Thursday that Major League Baseball can produce games digitally in conjunction with MLB.TV if Bally Sports regional networks are no longer broadcasting them. In fact, he said this is a chance to address the game blackouts that inspire so much anger among fans. https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-rob-manfred-business-a4f556cfebff72629036d0b7b3ab220a That's an interesting read. Touches on a few things we've talked about already here like MLB helping team effected, possibly taking over the broadcasts, and ending local blackouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 I didn't read it but doesn't the "need" for blackouts still exist due to non Bally networks? It's to protect their local partners ability to charge cable and satellite fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 9 minutes ago, oblong said: I didn't read it but doesn't the "need" for blackouts still exist due to non Bally networks? It's to protect their local partners ability to charge cable and satellite fees. It’s been my understanding that the blackouts extend beyond the Bally affected RSNs. But it’s like any other contract, isn’t it? Everything is negotiable, isn’t it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roarintiger1 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 I live in NW Ohio and used to listen to the Tigers on WJR......coming in loud & clear every day. I then watched many games on Fox......any time I wanted. This is 2023 and I can't get the Tigers on the radio or TV. It's no wonder the interest in baseball is dying. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 2 minutes ago, roarintiger1 said: I live in NW Ohio and used to listen to the Tigers on WJR......coming in loud & clear every day. I then watched many games on Fox......any time I wanted. This is 2023 and I can't get the Tigers on the radio or TV. It's no wonder the interest in baseball is dying. They aren't on 96.1 out of Archbold any longer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 2 hours ago, oblong said: I didn't read it but doesn't the "need" for blackouts still exist due to non Bally networks? It's to protect their local partners ability to charge cable and satellite fees. Sure, there are teams like the Yankees whose local networks are intact, but that wouldn't stop MLB and the orphaned teams teams from setting up a network with no backout for the participating teams. Blackouts would only need to remain for those areas with RSNs remaining. But that would still be a big step toward a more fan friendly system. As a fan in Det who may want to watch both the Tigers and Yankees on the same service, what do a I care if a Yankee fan still needs 'YES' ? 🤷♀️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 46 minutes ago, Shinzaki said: They aren't on 96.1 out of Archbold any longer? It’s not a strong enough signal. It barely gets to the western suburbs of Toledo if conditions are right. There’s not a traditional radio signal for it’s t closest significant population base less than an hour drive away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, casimir said: It’s not a strong enough signal. It barely gets to the western suburbs of Toledo if conditions are right. There’s not a traditional radio signal for it’s t closest significant population base less than an hour drive away. The Google Map screenshot on WMTR's website shows their reach as far as Port Clinton in the east... Realistically, 3800 Watts with an antenna in Wauseon probably gets them a little past Swanton lol Edited February 17, 2023 by mtutiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinzaki Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 3 hours ago, casimir said: It’s not a strong enough signal. It barely gets to the western suburbs of Toledo if conditions are right. There’s not a traditional radio signal for it’s t closest significant population base less than an hour drive away. I can pick it up in my car in SW Monroe county unti! I cross Jack man heading east...but that's in my car. And I'm out in the sticks. I lose 97.1 somewhere south of the state line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports_Freak Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 I'm going to have to pay an early termination fee from Comcast if the Tigers aren't on Bally Sports. Sports is the only reason I keep cable TV. I guess baseball and Comcast lose my money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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