The Rise of Bally Sports
In March 2019, a deal closed between The Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox saw the then Fox Sports Regionals fall under the House of Mouse. However, as a concession in the merger, Disney was forced by regulators to sell the regional sports networks (RSNs) due to concerns of monopolistic behavior.
In May of the same year, Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired the rights to the RSNs and college athletics under the Fox Sports brand. As part of the terms of the deal, Sinclair had to rebrand the RSNs. This change took effect on March 31st, 2021 with the rebrand to Bally Sports.
Different name, same favorite teams.
Today is a new beginning.
Welcome to Bally Sports. #HeartoftheFan pic.twitter.com/aPzqxBtaGK— Bally Sports (@BallySports) March 31, 2021
Bally Sports Collapses into Bankruptcy
The writing was on the wall immediately following the transition that bankruptcy was inevitable. Bally Sports Wisconsin was only available on a handful of TV services at the start, most notably YoutubeTV and Charter Spectrum. While this scarcity was problematic across the country, it was especially problematic for Wisconsin residents.
Charter Spectrum is unavailable in many non-metro regions of the state, immediately alienating a significant portion of the population. Similarly, the lack of high-speed broadband internet (and the state legislature’s majority refusing to invest in it) makes streaming a difficult, if not impossible, option for those living in these regions of the state. One way or another, Bally’s lack of accessibility left many with no viable option to watch Brewers baseball every night.
Many people resorted to radio broadcasts, next-day journalism coverage, or even unauthorized rebroadcasts in order to keep up with the Brewers. Wisconsin residents who subscribed to MLBTV were equally out of luck, as the long-ired blackout restrictions made the service unusable for Brewers games. While this can be circumvented by using a VPN, it would be unfair to expect many to go through all the necessary hoops to do so… let alone be understood by those less technically inclined.
Bally even attempted to roll out their own streaming platform, which only further stoked discontent between fans and the broadcast rights holder, especially considering the myriad of technical issues of the platform. The net result? Just two full regular seasons with the Bally Sports moniker before the bankruptcy announcement Tuesday evening.
Diamond Sports Group officially files for bankruptcy pic.twitter.com/pvgWJEumbd
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 15, 2023
What Comes Next?
As the announcement indicates, Bally will continue broadcasting games for the immediate future while the business elements of a restructure are sorted out. The most popular rumor is that the MLB, NHL, and NBA would reacquire the media rights to the total 43 teams covered by 19 regional Bally networks, but no plans have been made official. Whatever form the games are broadcast in the future, one can hope that they become more accessible than they are in their present state.
A combination of more national broadcasts and ending blackout restrictions on MLBTV would be a great step forward to increase viewership, the claimed motivation of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred when discussing recent rule changes effective this year (banning the shift and implementing a pitch clock).
Furthermore, a consolidation of MLB media rights could open the doorway to implementing revenue sharing. This is the practice where all team revenues are summed and divided equally to all teams, promoting competitive balance and providing equity to smaller markets. The MLB is the only league of the major 4 in the US that has no form of revenue sharing: the NFL and NBA have complete revenue sharing, and the NHL has a modified version of this between the top 10 in revenue and the rest of the league.
The regionality and dependence on individual TV deals has long skewed the competitive balance towards the massive media markets, allowing the likes of New York and Los Angeles to flaunt their excess money every free agency period that small markets, like Milwaukee, could never realistically offer. With the looming changes to MLB media rights coming, hopefully the result is better for both Wisconsin residents and the Brewers organization as a whole.
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