Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is openly dreaming about a baseball-broadcast future that doesn’t include regional cable TV deals – and that would mean no more blackouts, among other improvements for fans, he said.
Manfred’s musings came amid ongoing bankruptcy speculation for Diamond Sports Group, which missed a $140 million interest payment in January. He said if Diamond can’t pay the 14 Major League Baseball teams it has broadcast deals with, baseball is ready with a Plan B that he hopes could lead to a better deal for fans overall.
“We’ve been really clear that if Diamond doesn’t pay under every single one of the broadcast agreements, that creates a termination right, and our clubs will proceed to terminate those contracts,” Manfred said.
Then he went straight to outlining what a post-cable baseball world would look like: “In the event that MLB stepped in, what we would do is we would produce the games, we would make use of our asset with the MLB Network to do that, we would go directly to distributors, Comcast, Charter, the big distributors, and make an agreement to have those games distributed on cable networks.”
That transformation would give them a chance to finally get rid of those pesky local digital blackouts.
“We would also be seeking flexibility on the digital side so that, when you look at MLB.TV, you could buy your out-of-market package like you always had but have the option to buy up into in-market games, something the fan has never had before, which I see as a huge improvement for fans,” Manfred said.
Though a Diamond Sports bankruptcy would create minimal fan disruption, its impact on MLB’s bottom line and revenue could be major. On Tuesday, Manfred talked with Arizona reporters and explained that teams would not be able to replace 100% of their revenue from regional sports networks in the short term; however, he said the goal would be to increase MLB’s distribution.
“Blackouts are the kind of opposite side of the coin of reach,” Manfred said. “We need to deliver product to fans who want to watch on platforms that they customarily use at a realistic price. That is our No. 1 priority.”
