ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Everyone who follows the world of Sports is understandably aware of the collapse of the regional sports network(RSN) situation.
Last Spring, Diamond Sports Group, who owns the Bally Sports Networks, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The bankruptcy has led the group to drop broadcast of two teams(San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks) in the middle of the season and another three teams (Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians and Texas Ranger) at the moment faces the odds of getting dropped in 2024 or coming back with significantly reduced rights fees.
The St. Louis Cardinals have discussed the RSN situation during the last day of Winter Warm Up on Monday earlier this week, and while the team expected to be paid in full in 2024 or at worst 80%, the team has openly been question of where the future of their broadcasts could be in 2025.
“If it’s in our lap, we better know our market,” said DeWitt III on Monday. “We better know who’s out there, we better know what ratings have looked like in outer market territories and inner market territories.”
On Wednesday, the media world received a surprise that Amazon has reportedly agreed to invest into Bally Sports and potentially set a path all local direct-to-consumer (DTC) access content, including live MLB, NBA and NHL games, and pre- and post-game programming, for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights, through Amazon Prime Video Channels.
Currently, Bally Sports only has digital and streaming rights to five MLB teams: Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers.
There are still a lot of questions about the investment by Amazon including if and when could Cardinals and Blues can be on Amazon Prime, even though at the moment, the Cardinals, not Bally, retains its streaming rights and the NHL and NBA agreed with Bally to revert team rights back to league after the season ends.
Dr. Patrick Rishe, the Director of Sports Business Program at the Olin School of Business at Washington University joined KMOX's Total Information A.M. to discuss the Amazon investment, what it means for the Cardinals and Blues and when fans could see both club's games on Amazon Prime (Hint: not likely in 2024)