MLB has reached agreements with the Comcast-owned NBC Sports regional sports networks to provide in-market streaming for 2019.
All of the deals, except one, are multi-year contracts. NBC Sports Chicago, which broadcasts Cubs games, reached a one-year deal in advance of the franchise’s plans to launch its own RSN, Marquee Sports Network, with Sinclair Broadcasting for 2020.
This news was first reported by Sports Business Journal and confirmed by MLB.
The other RSNs providing team broadcasts are owned either by Fox or AT&T and have already agreed to terms on digital streaming rights. Each RSN currently pays about $2 million annually for those rights, according to the New York Post.
The Justice Department has mandated that Fox sell its 22 RSNs before its acquisition by Disney. (Those networks broadcast games for 15 MLB teams and 29 other pro franchises.) MLB is in the second round of bidding to take ownership of those Fox RSNs. Commissioner Rob Manfred is the headlining keynote conversation at SportTechie’s State of the Industry conference on Wednesday where he is expected to discuss the league’s interest in those networks.
SportTechie Takeaway
Fans will see no change as a result of these renewals, but the space is worth monitoring closely given MLB’s interest in the Fox RSNs. As Manfred told Fox Business in December, “We think that the combination of that traditional mode of delivery and the digital rights that we control is an opportunity for the game.”