Diamond, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, runs 19 regional sports networks and owes MLB teams alone nearly $1 billion in rights fees this year. At least some of those payments are now in jeopardy, as the sports and cable industries grapple with the effects of Americans dropping their cable subscriptions.
Diamond’s bankruptcy has forced some of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world to rethink the future of their business. The regional sports network model has been lucrative for most NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball teams for the last three decades because most cable subscribers pay fees for networks like NBC Sports Chicago, YES Network in New York or the Mid Atlantic Sports Network in D.C. and Baltimore.
Major League Baseball issued a more dramatic statement, saying the league is “ready to produce and distribute games to fans in their local markets in the event that Diamond or any other regional sports network is unable to do so as required by their agreement with our Clubs.” MLB added, “Over the long term, we will reimagine our distribution model to address the changing media climate and ultimately reach an even larger number of fans.
missed one payment to the Arizona Diamondbacks because it deemed the size of the rights fee so unfavorable
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: WOKVNews - 🏆 247. / 63 Read more »