Good Deal for TV-Watching Braves Fans: Pay Now, Pay Later

Bravo for the pursuit of profit.

A primer: Diamond Sports Group, which owns Bally Sports South and several other regional sports networks under the Bally name, filed for bankruptcy in March 2023. The company has been struggling ever since.

In the midst of this, Comcast wanted to move Bally networks to a premium tier, as it has done with other RSNs. Because RSN channels have a smaller but loyal audience compared to other cable channels, this would place more of the cost of fees paid by Comcast to Bally on the backs of those viewers. Comcast also wants to make this transition as quickly as possible. Diamond Sports wants existing viewers to be grandfathered in and not required to pay premium fees, according to Lee Berke, a longtime television sports executive who has worked with teams in the NFL, MLB, of the NBA and NHL.

Without an agreement being reached, Comcast terminated its Bally channels on May 1.

Meanwhile, Diamond is scheduled to appear in bankruptcy court on June 18 to confirm his plan to escape bankruptcy. It would be very helpful for Diamond to have a deal with Comcast at this point, but it’s possible that Comcast first wants to see how the court rules before committing to a deal with Diamond. Comcast has often been very patient at the negotiating table.

“You’re trying to emerge from bankruptcy in June and you have to present a viable business plan that shows you’re a going concern (capable of staying in business for the foreseeable future),” Berke told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . “And right now, all of that is being heavily questioned.”

If Comcast and Diamond reach an agreement, Bally Sports would benefit from a premium tier that could cost viewers $20 more per month. Comcast subscribers in Pittsburgh, for example, pay this amount for SportsNet Pittsburgh (which broadcasts Pirates and Penguins games) in addition to their normal bill.

Hawks fans, whose games are also broadcast primarily by Bally, would face the same choice: pay extra to continue watching. And, surely, other cable companies that carry Bally — or have dropped it, like YouTube TV and Hulu — would demand the same deal from Diamond Sports.

What if Diamond Sports – and Bally Sports South with it – disappeared?

The Diamondbacks and Padres are possible examples. The Bally Networks previously broadcast games from both teams, but Diamond Sports walked away from its contracts with both teams, letting MLB take over.

In addition to the usual distribution outlets like cable and satellite, both now offer direct-to-consumer deals for fans in the teams’ home markets. The games are available on empty cable and satellite channels that only broadcast the games (along with pre- and post-game shows). The direct-to-consumer option can be streamed to a phone, tablet or TV.

You didn’t think these games were part of the standard cable package, did you?

Padres and Diamondbacks fans must purchase an additional plan ($20 per month) to get them.

It’s conceivable that post-Bally Braves games could be broadcast on a local, live channel, like Peachtree TV. The Utah Jazz, for example, lost their RSN and now offers the possibility of watching games on a (paid) application or on a local station.

But it would seem less likely that a local station (it couldn’t be a network affiliate) would do this for baseball rather than hockey or basketball, because the number of games would be more disruptive to the programming.

And even if fans didn’t subscribe to cable and watched games via an app or local TV, that would prevent them from watching games broadcast on ESPN, TBS or MLB Network.

So fans will have to pay extra fees to either the cable company or the team, but they’ll have to pay someone.

Some sports television pundits have a more optimistic view of the future of Bally Sports. Patrick Crakes, like Berke, a television sports director at his own company, sees a continued place for RSNs in the market.

“I expect this to be resolved,” Crakes told the AJC. “It’s going to be a little different than what DirecTV, Cox and Charter have done, but I just think it’s in Comcast’s best interest to keep those RSNs.”

Cox Communications and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both owned by Sandy Springs-based Cox.

Crakes even predicted a deal could be reached by Memorial Day. He also doubts that teams want to essentially become their own channel. Although the rights fees they can get from Diamond Sports may be reduced, without them they would have to try to earn the same revenue by selling subscriptions at $20 per month (with ad revenue). It’s certainly possible, and the most industrious and intelligent teams could make a return on the risk, but it’s a much bigger task.

One way or another, though, fans will have to pay the price to keep watching.

At least once, they can start watching again.