ZWF: Regional Sports Networks are dead, and that's a good thing
Zander's Weekend Facts #64: Sunday, April 30, 2023
As the RSN model of watching a baseball/basketball/hockey team’s games dies off, the Phoenix Suns just did something many other franchises should follow.
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, why sports teams should return to playing on broadcast television, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast! Episode 102 features a breakdown of the controversies surrounding TikTok and the threats to ban the popular social media app. Go download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, April 30, 2023:
The old way of watching sports is new again
For decades, the Regional Sports Network model has been massively lucrative to professional sports teams across the country.
For MLB, NBA, and NHL teams who play many games not shown on national television, the RSN model was a way to show local viewers games that weren’t shown nationally and make a lot of money. In order to pay out the massive contracts the RSNs signed with these teams, they’d make deals with cable providers to get as many people to sign up for the channel as possible, even if they didn’t watch the channel.
That worked out for everybody back in the golden age of cable, but as more and more consumers cut the cord, the business model has gone from boom to bust quickly.
The RSNs are no longer making as much money from their deals with cable providers, because not as many people are subscribing to cable packages that carry the networks. To offset the losses, the RSNs are asking the cable companies for more money per subscriber. Many have balked, leaving many RSNs off of television providers such as Dish Network, Hulu, and YouTube TV.
The losses have gotten so bad that companies like Diamond Sports Group, which operates the Bally Sports RSNs and is a subsidiary of Sinclair, have declared bankruptcy. Warner Bros. Discover, which owns the AT&T Sportsnet RSNs, is leaving the RSN business later this year and shutting down its networks.
Diamond has missed payments or is in danger of missing payments to several MLB teams, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers. MLB has gone so far as to ask a federal court to terminate broadcasting deals Diamond has with several teams if they are not compensated.
Safe to say, the once-flourishing RSN business is now in the gutter. Fans who have refused to pay exceedingly high cable prices to watch their teams play are undoubtedly celebrating. But for teams who have enjoyed raking in the tens of millions of dollars each year in RSN money, the champagne is not flowing.
Pro sports franchises in baseball, basketball, and hockey are now looking at ways to not just gain the RSN revenue back, but to just broadcast their games as RSN networks fall into the wastebin.
But the supreme solution to this dilemma isn’t hard to find, as evidenced by what the Phoenix Suns and Mercury announced this past week.
On Friday, the NBA’s Suns and WNBA’s Mercury announced a deal with Gray Television that will broadcast their games on over-the-air networks across the state of Arizona. Games will air on Gray affiliates KTVK, KPHO, and KPHE, the latter of which can be seen across the entire state. The games will also stream online in the Suns’ and Mercury’s local market via a new direct-to-consumer service.
The five-year deal was signed after the team’s previous deal with Bally Sports Arizona ended after the recent conclusion of the Suns’ regular season slate. Bally’s parent company Diamond is threatening legal action, saying that the Suns breached the contract between the two sides and violated bankruptcy law. Diamond believes that they should have had an opportunity to counter the offer that Gray Television produced, or that it can use bankruptcy court, which the company is currently in, to block the deal. Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein countered by saying Diamond’s position is “totally inaccurate.”
It really is incredible that a company that’s currently going through bankruptcy because it claims it doesn’t have the money to pay professional sports franchises their contractually agreed upon rights fees is threatening to sue another professional sports franchise for leaving said bankrupt company.
Putting the potential legal anxiety aside, the deal with Gray marks a turning point in how U.S. professional sports will be broadcast on television. One that the market went away from decades ago.
Back in the day, MLB, NBA, and NHL teams aired their games that weren’t nationally televised on local, over-the-air broadcast channels. The New York Yankees aired their games locally for decades on WPIX before moving to YES Network. Los Angeles Lakers games were broadcast on KCAL before moving over to Spectrum Sportsnet. The same is true for many franchises all over the country.
For the Suns and Mercury to return to OTA broadcast television is like making something old new again. In this case, however, it’s the best option for everyone.
While reports state that the teams are set to lose tens of millions in guaranteed money because of the move, that’s not of concern to new owner Mat Ishbia. Ishbia, the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, just bought the Suns and Mercury back in February.
Ishbia is banking on the fact that while his teams won’t be getting as much money from its media rights deal, many more people in Arizona will be able to watch the Suns play. An estimated 2.8 million households will now have access to watch Suns games for free, nearly three times the increase in reach from their deal with Bally, where you had to pay to watch the games.
More people being able to watch will inevitably lead to more fans of the teams. More fans will inevitably lead to more ticket sales, more merchandise purchases, and more enthusiasm for the teams. It also doesn’t hurt when your team currently has a couple of the best players in the game, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and is now regularly a contender for the NBA championship.
Ishbia and the Suns are the first to pull the trigger and reverse decades of putting games behind a paywall. It’s undoubtedly a risk. But if it pays off, Ishbia will rightfully reap the benefits, and so will the fans.
If this marks the beginning of a massive trend of bringing games back to free broadcast television, then it’s also a massive win for all of us fans.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from Front Office Sports - Suns, Mercury Ditch Cable for Free TV, Streaming
What Zander’s been reading
Over the last few years, the weaponization of public education has become a major issue in the United States. Book bans, critical race theory, don’t say gay, it’s been the talk of the town. And one conservative group, Moms for Liberty, has been at the forefront of it all. The following article details the egregious tactics members have taken in order to advance their political agenda, at the expense of the well-being of others.
If you read any news piece this week, make it this one.
Check out this week’s featured article on VICE - A Far-Right Moms Group Is Terrorizing Schools in the Name of Protecting Kids - (Link for Article on Apple News)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the ZF Sporting Club:
NBA Playoffs: While one Game 7 remains in the First Round, the Conference Semifinals round of the NBA Playoffs has also begun this weekend. The final spot in the second round will be decided later today, with the #6 Golden State Warriors facing the #3 Sacramento Kings in Game 7 of the series at 3:30 pm et on ABC. The winner will face the #7 Los Angeles Lakers in the next round. Also in the West, the #1 Denver Nuggets took Game 1 last night against the #4 Phoenix Suns. Over in the East, the #8 Miami Heat, who became just the fifth #8 seed to win a series over a #1 seed, will face the #5 New York Knicks, with Game 1 tipping off at 1:00 pm et today on ABC. The #3 Philadelphia 76ers start their series against the #2 Boston Celtics on Monday at 7:30 pm et on TNT.
NHL Playoffs: Five teams have clinched their spots in the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Finals so far. The Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vegas Golden Knights have all advanced after winning four games in their First Round series. Three Game 7s will decide the remaining three teams who will advance. The Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins will face off at 6:30 pm et tonight on TNT with the winner playing the Maple Leafs next. At 9:30 pm et on TNT, the Seattle Kraken and Colorado Avalanche will fight for the right to face the Stars. Then on Monday on ESPN, the New York Rangers face the New Jersey Devils with the winner playing the Hurricanes in the next round. The Knights and Oilers will also face off in the Second Round.
NFL Draft: The 2023 NFL Draft wrapped up on Saturday after beginning on Thursday. The first pick in the draft, quarterback Bryce Young from Alabama, was taken by the Carolina Panthers, becoming the first Alabama player to be selected #1 overall in the draft. In total, 12 quarterbacks were selected in the draft, a common draft era record. That includes Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, selected second overall to the Houston Texans, and Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, selected fourth overall to the Indianapolis Colts. This year’s draft took place in Kansas City, home of the Kansas City Chiefs who won the Super Bowl just over two months ago.
English Premier League: In a rare moment for the postseason-less Premier League, a de-facto championship game took place in the league last week. Top-of-the-table Arsenal with 75 points entering the match on Wednesday went on the road to take on second-place Manchester City, who came in with 70 points and had been closing the gap on Arsenal in the last few weeks. What proceeded was a 4-1 thrashing by Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola, who beat his former assistant, current Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, for the ninth time in ten matches. Man City now sit at 73 points, just two behind Arsenal for first place, but having played two games fewer than Arsenal. City have seven games remaining this season to close the gap and win their third-straight league title.
NFL Quarterbacks: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was officially traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets last week. Rodgers first announced his intentions to play for the Jets last month. It took until Monday for the Packers and Jets to agree to a trade that would send the disgruntled quarterback east. The news was one of two major offseason quarterback developments that dropped last week. The other being Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson agreeing to a new five-year contract worth $260 million. The contract will pay Jackson $52 million per year, making him the league’s highest-paid player.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Tucker Carlson: Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose primetime program “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the network’s top-rated show, was fired from the network on Monday. While it’s not publically known why Carlson was ousted from the conservative-leaning outlet, the network settled a case with Dominion Voting Systems last week for $787 million. The lawsuit exposed messages from Carlson discussing Fox executives, with a new report from The New York Times saying unrevealed messages that paint Carlson in a worse light were discovered by Fox executives. Coincidentally, another cable news network ousted a well-known anchor on Monday, with CNN firing “CNN This Morning” co-host Don Lemon.
Election 2024: President Joe Biden officially launched his campaign for reelection last week. While Biden has teased that he will be running in 2024 for months, he made the news official on Tuesday, four years to the day he launched his 2020 run. With Biden’s announcement, the Democratic National Committee announced it would not hold any primary debates. The only primary challenges Biden faces are from environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and author Marianne Williamson.
Abortion Bills: While several Republican-controlled states have passed bills restricting abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last year, two states’ measures failed last week. Bills to ban most abortions in Nebraska and South Carolina failed to pass in the state legislatures, leaving previous laws that allow abortions up to 22 weeks in place. In Nebraska, two Republican state Senators did not vote, leaving the bill one vote short of passing. In South Carolina, six Republicans joined Democrats in voting against ending debate on the bill in the state Senate, ensuring it would not be passed this year.
Montana Legislature: Republicans in the Montana House of Representatives voted to censure Democrat Rep. Zooey Zephyr last week. Zephyr, the state’s first transgender lawmaker, was accused of inciting protesters, some Republican lawmakers said encouraging “an insurrection”, in the House chamber who were against a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state. Zephyr also said on the House floor that lawmakers who supported the bill would have blood on their hands. The vote came after Republicans in the Tennessee House voted to expel two Democratic representatives earlier this month, accusing them of inciting protesters in the House chamber who were advocating for gun control.
Disney/DeSantis: The Walt Disney Company sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week, claiming that DeSantis is fighting a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” against the company. The feud began last year when Disney, whose Orlando-based Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the country, publically came out against a bill critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Republican lawmakers in the state led by DeSantis then passed a bill that gave the governor the authority to take over a previously Disney-controlled government district. After the members of the district’s board of supervisors that DeSantis appointed voted to void a development deal in the district, Disney filed the lawsuit.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
Check out Zander’s Facts’ Linktree page for more on everything Zander’s Facts related, including the all-new Zander’s Facts website. At ZandersFacts.com, get the latest on all the facts that Zander is putting out, and check out the freshest styles at the Zander’s Facts shop!
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.substack.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The Facts in print return next Sunday, May 7, 2023.
