The 2023 Major League Baseball season begins Thursday with a new official tagline: “Baseball is Something Else.”
In terms of media presence, this sentence is absolutely true. This season, a sport known for its decades-long history on radio and television will make direct-to-consumer streaming an even bigger channel for fans. Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Peacock are back with exclusive game bundles and regional sports networks like YES, NESN and Bally Sports have ‘done it all over’ with expensive new subscription offers. ESPN+ will also stream games almost daily, albeit on a non-exclusive basis as an online mirror of regional broadcasts. Fox Sports, another MLB media partner, streams through its Fox Now app, which requires a pay TV subscription.
Ahead of this week’s opening day, there were some big announcements, with Prime Video announcing a new lineup of 20 games, mainly on Wednesdays. The tech giant is already a partner on the YES Network, which produces the Prime Video streams of MLB games. YES also just unveiled plans for a subscription streaming outlet that will cost a whopping $25 a month and bring New York Yankees games to subscribers outside of the traditional pay TV package.
Bally Sports+, a streamer tied to Bally’s 19 regional sports networks operated by Sinclair Broadcast-backed Diamond Sports Group, and NESN+ will show a full baseball season for the first time. They debuted in the middle of last year.
More and more players are entering the streaming space, mainly as pay TV continues to shrink. The past year has seen an increase in cable cuts, with major service providers losing nearly 6 million subscribers, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Formerly known as America’s Pastime, but now striving to stay relevant and rekindle interest among younger fans and future Little Leaguers, the media drama is coming to the field even in a time of transformation for baseball. Rule changes such as the introduction of a pitch clock, larger bases (designed to encourage more stealing), and a ban on the infield shift are intended to speed up play. Average playing time increased by nearly 30 minutes, passing the 3-hour mark, and fewer balls were put in play as the caliber of pitching improved. The result can be an irritating viewing experience for even the most dedicated fan.
With the bottom of the traditional RSN business model gone — a shift exacerbated by Covid, which wiped out months of games in 2020 and cast a shadow over 2021 — baseball has suffered more than other sports. The NFL, for example, operates on a national model and does business with a handful of rights holders. Diamond recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. AT&T Sports Networks, two RSNs owned by Warner Bros. Discovery operates, said they may not have enough money to pay for the rights this season. RSNs are still wasting money even as penetration declines, but a complication with baseball has been how market-specific viewers tend to be. Prices for the streaming versions of the regional networks range from $20 to $25 per month – well north of other streaming offerings on the market. The guess is that fans are passionate enough to pay the high price.
As the economics of linear broadcasting weakened and the viability of streaming remained unproven, leagues — especially the MLB, but also the National Hockey League and others — tended to reclaim the rights they had long sold to the highest bidder. When asked about the rights issue Wednesday during an appearance at New York’s Paley Center, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reiterated, “There will be a relaxation of the exclusivity that has historically existed in the cable bundle. has.”
One potentially hotly debated scenario is MLB itself operating a streaming service with regional options for fans of specific teams. It already has MLB TV, a linear network with select game coverage, but entering the direct-to-consumer business will be a major milestone. In another case, a division called MLB Advanced Media or BAM Tech was acquired by Disney. This technology will support all streaming offerings mobilized by the league and challenge strategic plans for ESPN, one of Disney’s key operating units. Currently, ESPN is building on its traditional pay-TV roots, even as ESPN+ grows as a complementary streaming company. CEO Bob Iger recently hinted that ESPN will not be spun off or sold, a departure from the stance of former CEO Bob Chapek, who has publicly talked about entertaining overtures for the sports brand.
Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen believes that RSN’s demise “could be a catalyst for more dramatic moves towards sports streaming.” In a recent message to consumers, he wondered: “How is this sustainable when the pay-TV business that supports it collapses? We believe that streaming must be the answer and evolve beyond the current model.”
However, for viewers looking to enjoy the 2023 season, streaming has not been seen as a panacea. Baseball fans are largely habituators and lovers of tradition. Baseball knowledge comes from everything from singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch to tuning into the same channel to hear game after game famous announcers. The streaming era, like the pitch clock, is inherently different.
Jimmy Traina, columnist and podcaster for sports illustratedShe has long complained about streaming in general. This week he turned his anger on his team, the Yankees. “If you’re a Yankees fan who wants to watch the vast majority of regular season games, you already have to pay for some form of cable or other bundle for YES Network, ESPN, Fox, FS1, TBS, Apple TV+ and Peacock “, he wrote. “And now you have to pay for Amazon Prime.” He added, “I love how baseball likes to spew the ‘grow the game’ crap, but you certainly don’t know where your team is broadcasting on a daily basis.” “
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
