Bally Sports RSNs Are Reportedly Preparing For Bankruptcy

[glrush]

Bally Sports Just Declared Bankruptcy - The Death of RSNs? | Cord Cutters News

After weeks of reports that Sincalir’s Sports Channels are preparing for bankruptcy, including Bally Sports RSNs, it has finally happened. Earlier today it was reported that Bally Sports and all of the Sinclair Sports Channels have declared bankruptcy. The company called Diamond Sports Group...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[Mr Tony]

just a restructuring...sounds like they will still do the games

Diamond Sports Files for Bankruptcy; Diamondbacks Owed $30 Million

Diamond Sports Holdings, owner of 19 regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said in a press release Tuesday it is nearing a restructuring agreement with d…

www.sportico.com

MLB has pledged to produce its own broadcasts, using MLB Network and the MLB.TV app to show each team’s games, if needed, but Diamond indicates that won’t be neccessary.

“DSG will continue broadcasting games and connecting fans across the country with the sports and teams they love,” Preschlack said. “With the support of our creditors, we expect to execute a prompt and efficient reorganization and to emerge from the restructuring process as a stronger company.”

 

[meStevo]

Eh, this is the first official domino, we'll see how everyone involved responds. Won't be surprised when teams and leagues w/ options begin pulling the content for not being able to actively pay the negotiated rates for it and the house of cards begins to tumble down.

 

[Bruce]

just a restructuring...sounds like they will still do the games

There is no way they can make it, this will go into Chapter 7.

The revenue taken in by per sub fees and advertising has declined so much, they can no longer cover the purchase ( the 8 billion debt) and the rights fees, the next 2 years, Paid Live TV will lose another 12-15 million subscribers, that means a loss of more per sub fees, what happens then, the RSNs will have the same problems as now, less income, cannot pay the bills.

Advertising is way down because the cheaper advertisers have moved on to streaming, the ones who pay more want to stick to programming that gets good ratings, which RSNs do not.

This is from the link-Sinclair is hoping to strike a deal to help them keep the channels operating thanks to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, so basically that is their plan, hoping all the teams/leagues will agree to new less paying deals.

But that is the problem, MLB, for example, already said they will be pulling their content, the league knows they will take a hit for 2 years, the RSNs do not exist without MLB.

Where do they think they will get the most money from, in today’s world, a hybrid of streaming and traditional ( cable or broadcast), will they get as much as they used to get, no way, but the teams were wildly overpaid anyways.

 

[Radioguy41]

How far out in left field is Sinclair? Can you imagine these yokels, less than two years ago, were trying to buy the NBC sports networks from Comcast to add to Diamond after there were already signs they were in financial difficulties and considering restructuring! Keep in mind these are the same guys who thought all along they would create a streaming service for each team apparently not knowing they never actually owned any streaming rights. That's like betting Kentucky Derby money on a horse that hasn't been bred yet. How are these guys keeping their jobs?

 

[SamCdbs]

That, of course, is not how bankruptcy works. Chapter 11 ends up transferring debt into equity. Thus Sinclair (awful, anti-consumer, company) loses all or most of its ownership and the creditors get it, and there you go.

But if in deed, no solution to the RSN issue is found, remember two things:

- Out-of-market packages are just showing games, fully paid for, to other places. Without the RSNs, these games don't get produced in the first place. Baseball in a few years is going to look a lot like baseball in 1975. A handful of games per week on national channels, until the anti-consumer wave of de-bundling kills those channel as well.

- This is just the first of thousands of types of programming that is simply going away. A la carte is anti-consumer. Because no one thing is every going to be popular enough (save the NFL) to justify its production in the anti-consumer a la carte world, it just goes away. TV is becoming the "vast wasteland" that the know-nothings claimed it was back 30 years ago. Wads and wads of reruns. Very little original content, sports or otherwise. As you decide between paying for the 5783rd rerun of Bonanza or the 8954th rerun of I Dream of Jeanie, remember you saved almost $9/month back 10 years ago. You sure showed them.

 

[glrush]

Diamond Sports aiming to acquire streaming rights for all 14 MLB teams during bankruptcy proceedings

Now that the Diamond Sports Group has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the next question is “what now?” If Diamond has their way, the bankruptcy proceedings will conclude with the company owning the streaming rights for all 14 MLB teams under its umbrella, up from the five it...

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Yespage]

That, of course, is not how bankruptcy works. Chapter 11 ends up transferring debt into equity. Thus Sinclair (awful, anti-consumer, company) loses all or most of its ownership and the creditors get it, and there you go.

But if in deed, no solution to the RSN issue is found, remember two things:

- Out-of-market packages are just showing games, fully paid for, to other places. Without the RSNs, these games don't get produced in the first place. Baseball in a few years is going to look a lot like baseball in 1975. A handful of games per week on national channels, until the anti-consumer wave of de-bundling kills those channel as well.

These games will be produced. MLB, NHL, NBA will figure something out. NBA and NHL could do it together having venues in common. The leagues need to adapt. Sports are the top rating programming, but no where near where they used to be and things got too expensive.

- This is just the first of thousands of types of programming that is simply going away. A la carte is anti-consumer. Because no one thing is every going to be popular enough (save the NFL) to justify its production in the anti-consumer a la carte world, it just goes away. TV is becoming the "vast wasteland" that the know-nothings claimed it was back 30 years ago. Wads and wads of reruns. Very little original content, sports or otherwise. As you decide between paying for the 5783rd rerun of Bonanza or the 8954th rerun of I Dream of Jeanie, remember you saved almost $9/month back 10 years ago. You sure showed them.

A La Carte is awesome, as it allows people to be selective. I can subscribe to Willow TV, without needing to subscribe to 20 or 30 Indian channels that I'd never be able to watch. The problem right now for sports is the leagues expected the system to remain the way it always was. Life doesn't work like that. Adapting is always necessary. The Internet provides sport leagues an impressive amount of access to customers... but at the same time, that access is available tall competitors too.

But back to a la carte and sports. The irony of choice is that what led to this was the channels themselves... overbidding for programming. That money has to come from somewhere. So while the leagues (well, not the NHL) benefit from competition among stations, the consumer didn't. And the consumer is walking... a lot of them. So one can blame the players, it is the channels that are setting channel rates... and those rates are set based on the exploding cost for the rights to sports that they themselves are responsible for.

 

[SamCdbs]

These games will be produced. MLB, NHL, NBA will figure something out.

Oh, thanks for the detailed explanation. "They will figure something out." Got it.

A La Carte is awesome, as it allows people to be selective.

Selective of exactly what? This thread is about the, or at least one of the, most popular forms of entertainment going away for the thousands who enjoy it. Save the NFL, N O T H I N G is popular enough to make it in the a la carte world. That is why every streamer, save one, loses money. NOTHING is popular enough to cover its production costs. Nothing.

Eventually Big Media will throttle back on the costs the only way it can. Less shows. Less sports. Less of everything. The consumer, unprotected.

TV in 10 years looks a lot more like Pluto than Paramount.

 

[ncted]

The consumer, unprotected.

Unprotected from less content? Oh, no!

 

[Bruce]

Oh, thanks for the detailed explanation. "They will figure something out." Got it.

Selective of exactly what? This thread is about the, or at least one of the, most popular forms of entertainment going away for the thousands who enjoy it.

What about the millions that do not watch the RSNs and are forced to pay for it since it was part of their TV Package.

This is how the free market works, when you do not have enough customers to support the product, it goes away.

And again, using myself as a example, now living in Florida for almost 3 years, but from Michigan, lived there 53 years, I have no desire to watch the Florida teams, so why should I pay for it?

But yet, I do get the MLB and ESPN+ for the Tigers and Red Wings, I do pay for that.

If that option went away, I can live with that, plenty of other things to watch.

 

[Yespage]

Oh, thanks for the detailed explanation. "They will figure something out." Got it.

Selective of exactly what?

The programming. By reducing my Sat bill to channels I have higher demand (Thanks Dish), I free up money to get things a la carte like Indycar through Peacock, Cricket through Willow, and soccer through Comcast's channels / Peacock. So, I don't get the local RSN and ESPN. Would I rather be able to watch the Guardians and have ESPN? It'd be nice, but I've let local sports and ESPN go because I can get a better value with other sport options.

There is a decent amount of money to make in sports in the US, so the leagues will adapt to get things back on a better footing. But the Internet (and DVR) has changed everything. There is no going back. So the leagues need to figure out how to go forward.

 

[Bruce]

This is a new excuse-

Diamond Sports Group, which owns the broadcasting rights of 14 Major League Baseball teams, said on Thursday the league's desire to broadcast games directly to fans helped push the company's regional sports networks into bankruptcy.

So the bankruptcy has nothing to do with 1 billion dollars in rights payments to MLB due, another billion for debt payments right now, when you only have $585 million in cash.

It is only because of streaming rights.

Broadcaster says MLB streaming dispute pushed it toward bankruptcy

Diamond Sports Group, which owns the broadcasting rights of 14 Major League Baseball teams, said on Thursday the league's desire to broadcast games directly to fans helped push the company's regional sports networks into bankruptcy.

www.reuters.com

 

[Mochuf]

This is a new excuse-

Diamond Sports Group, which owns the broadcasting rights of 14 Major League Baseball teams, said on Thursday the league's desire to broadcast games directly to fans helped push the company's regional sports networks into bankruptcy.

So the bankruptcy has nothing to do with 1 billion dollars in rights payments to MLB due, another billion for debt payments right now, when you only have $585 million in cash.

It is only because of streaming rights.

Broadcaster says MLB streaming dispute pushed it toward bankruptcy

Diamond Sports Group, which owns the broadcasting rights of 14 Major League Baseball teams, said on Thursday the league's desire to broadcast games directly to fans helped push the company's regional sports networks into bankruptcy.

www.reuters.com

Well, it didn't help Diamond. Don't get me wrong, overpaying for the RSNs is the biggest, overwhelming reason for the bankruptcy.
To be honest, it's almost like NBA/NHL/MLB want the RSNs to go away. They declined to invest in them when they had an opportunity months ago and were reluctant to have them get streaming rights.

 

[navychop]

They have better accountants than Diamond.

 

[Bruce]

To be honest, it's almost like NBA/NHL/MLB want the RSNs to go away. They declined to invest in them when they had an opportunity months ago and were reluctant to have them get streaming rights.

Because they know nothing will save the RSNs.

Right now, only 50 million of the, roughly, 68-70 million that still pay for Live TV, get the channels along with the per sub fee.

Thay will drop another 12-15 million by the end of 2024, so only 35 million will be paying the per sub fee, by then, because of the high right’s fees, the majority of RSNs will be unprofitable, 1-2 years after that, all of them will be, but also other channels and a bunch of video providers, DirecTV for sure unless a merger happens.

 

[SamCdbs]

What about the millions that do not watch the RSNs and are forced to pay for it since it was part of their TV Package.

This is how the free market works, when you do not have enough customers to support the product, it goes away.

Of course it is. When the consumer is unprotected. The bundle protects the consumer and insures a diversity of options for everyone. One of the consumer's very few ways to stay ahead of the greed at Big Media.

But yet, I do get the MLB and ESPN+ for the Tigers and Red Wings, I do pay for that.

You mean the games that wouldn't be produced in the first place, if not for the fans in Michigan? Those games? The games that won't exist anymore?

If that option went away, I can live with that, plenty of other things to watch.

Get used to saying that. Enjoy I Dream of Jeanie.

 

[ncted]

One of the consumer's very few ways to stay ahead of the greed at Big Media.

It is consumers rejection of the greed of "big media" that is one of the biggest causes of the abandonment of traditional cable/satellite packages which included RSN. Maybe, just maybe, it was the short term thinking on the part of the media companies and others who caused the ridiculous price increases year after year (at a minimum) that caused consumers to think short term about how they can lower their rapidly rising monthly expenses and abandon the bundles that somehow were supposed to "protect" them.

 

[Yespage]

These channels existed as a premium before they were bundled.

Prime Ticket was a rarity, being on basic cable.

Prime Ticket caught on with cable subscribers in Southern California as it was founded at the height of the Lakers' 1980s championship run, and later got a boost from the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Kings in 1988. It was also unique among regional sports networks, in that it operated as a basic cable channel, instead of a premium service as many of the RSNs operating at the time did.

The trouble with bundling is that it made sports channels susceptible to general subscriber loss, not merely their viewers. So when Fox got into the game, they went bundlin' and it was great... until it wasn't.

 

[Mr Tony]

meanwhile it seems like "business as usual" as in today's paper BSN North is going to televise 153 of 162 Twins games this year
(yes I know behind the scenes is crazy, but as someone who worked for a company who went through two bankruptcies you try just go "business as usual")