Cord-cutters threaten regional sports networks

In March, Diamond Sports Group, the biggest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts by way of Getty Pictures

As buyers reduce cable solutions in favor of streaming platforms, regional sports networks are at threat of going beneath. In the initial quarter of 2023, an estimated two.three million Americans ditched classic cable packages. And as much more Americans move toward streaming platforms, these regional cable networks are losing much more income.

“Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Ben Strauss, a sports and media reporter for The Washington Post, about how regional sports networks are fairing as much more Americans pass on cable, and what this could imply for sports fans about the nation.

The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Kai Ryssdal: For these probably unfamiliar, what specifically are regional sports networks?

Ben Strauss: They are cable networks that for the previous 20 to 30 years have shown just about just about every a single of your favourite baseball, hockey and NBA teams.

Ryssdal: And regional, as it implies, is not a national factor. It is every area, you know, there is a network for every and just about every area and group, suitable?

Strauss: Precisely. So, the teams in Dallas are on a single network. In Chicago, up till lately, the Cubs and the White Sox and the Bulls and Blackhawks are on the very same network.

Ryssdal: OK. And the point of this piece, and the factor that truly could adjust sports, as we type of know it, is that these regional sports networks are going broke, fundamentally.

Strauss: Fundamentally, they are in deep difficulty. Primarily, as people today leave cable, the costs that they have been paying to these networks that these networks, then in turn, have been paying to these teams are dropping substantially. And a single of the major owners of these networks, a enterprise named Diamond Sports, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. And there are teams that have not received their rights payments, which is potentially landscape-altering for sports.

Ryssdal: So, the leagues have a vested interest in saving these regional sports networks. What are they undertaking?

Strauss: So, unique leagues are undertaking unique items. Various teams, in truth, are undertaking unique items. Baseball does not think in this enterprise — this Diamond Sports enterprise. And so, baseball would sort of like to have all these teams pull their rights back and build some sort of solution that you could see on cable that you could stream straight by itself. Most NHL and NBA teams would sort of like to see this model milked for every thing it is worth as extended as the checks are nonetheless cashing for the subsequent couple of years. So, it is a small bit of a hodgepodge, and it is undoubtedly not specific how it is going to play out.

Ryssdal: Messy sounds like a great word right here, suitable?

Strauss: Yes, yes, you are great at this.

Ryssdal: So appear, spare a believed for me right here for the fans, who all they want to do is watch their teams, and now simply because streaming is up and in cable tv, and simply because the league’s want income, and the regional sports networks are going broke, what’s a fan supposed to do?

Strauss: Effectively, so seriously fascinating query about becoming a sports fan for the final even though, suitable? One particular of the causes that these networks have been so worthwhile is that all of these people today who didn’t watch sports, have been paying for them. Everyone has a cable subscription, and everybody’s paying 3, 4 or 5 even six dollars a month for that regional sports network, even if they do not watch a minute. And so, it is sort of in this á la carte model exactly where people today are leaving the cable bundle., in the end, the teams sort of have this selection, like do you want to attain much more people today, and do you consider about anything on broadcast TV—which is a seriously old college factor that would make the games obtainable to a big quantity of people today. Diamond is fighting that. and so do you want to attain the most quantity of fans, or do you want to gather the most quantity of income by going on to a streaming service exactly where people today have to spend much more to uncover you? And, it is sort of this balancing act.

Ryssdal: And the catch is that you cannot have them each, suitable?

Strauss: The catch is you cannot have them each. And so in the end, I would consider that sports fans are going to finish up paying much more for their sports.

Connected Stories