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Lee needs to start 75% of them

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  • henrygandorf
    henrygandorf

    love these articles and comments from the mlb media about marring a world series or how the baseball world will be critical of the astros for this move. get. the. fuck. out. with. that. nonsense.

  • MaybeACoordinator
    MaybeACoordinator

    Going through old pics because of the death of my grandmother / mom and came across this -- 1996, my son's first Astros game.

  • NSIAP, but 10000% of this.  

Posted Images

Anyone have any insight into what’s going on at AT&T Sports?

Per the WSJ, the networks have notified the teams that it won’t make the next rights payment and has offered to give the teams their inventory back. 

9 minutes ago, hornmpa96 said:

Anyone have any insight into what’s going on at AT&T Sports?

Per the WSJ, the networks have notified the teams that it won’t make the next rights payment and has offered to give the teams their inventory back. 

You sure you’re not talking about Sinclair/Bally? Haven’t heard anything regarding AT&T.

2 minutes ago, IDIOTsavant said:

You sure you’re not talking about Sinclair/Bally? Haven’t heard anything regarding AT&T.

Never mind the AT&T report just popped up.

Warner Bros. Discovery has told teams that it plans to exit the regional sports network business entirely within the next several weeks.

The company, which operates three AT&T SportsNet-branded channels in Denver, Houston and Pittsburgh and has a minority stake in the Root Sports channel in Seattle, has told teams that they have until March 31 to reach an agreement to take their rights back. If the RSNs can’t reach deals with the teams, the channels eventually plan to move forward with a Chapter 7 liquidation filing.

In a statement provided to SBJ, WBD said, “AT&T SportsNet is not immune to the well-known challenges that the entire RSN industry is facing. We will continue to engage in private conversations with our partners as we seek to identify reasonable and constructive solutions.”

WBD sent letters to the leagues and teams this afternoon informing them of their plans to divest their interest in those four RSNs.

WBD has rights deals with 10 teams across those four networks: four MLB teams (Astros, Mariners, Pirates, Rockies), three NBA teams (Blazers, Jazz, Rockets) and three NHL teams (Kraken, Penguins, Golden Knights).

The moves come at a fraught time for WBD, which has been trying to get out of the RSN business for a while.

Over the past several months, league sources privately have praised WBD Sports’ RSN leadership, led by AT&T SportsNet President Patrick Crumb, for working with the teams to come up with a plan that would enable the company to get out of the RSN business.

In the letters, WBD said that it will allow the teams to use the same production staff and equipment to continue producing the games.

With WBD trying to extend its NBA package past 2024-25 -- as competitors like Amazon, Apple and NBC are emerging -- it's important for WBD to not ruffle feathers in the league office as it disentangles its interest in the RSNs.

Its RSNs hold the rights to three NBA teams -- the Blazers, Jazz and Rockets -- and it’s too early to determine how this move will affect them.

Edited by TonyTexas

2 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Amazon and no black outs 

That would be a Festivus Miracle.

Edited by slorch

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. With this news, along with the Bally bankruptcy, the local media right of 18 MLB teams are now in limbo. No doubt that Manfred has some stupid idea in mind about bringing it all under one umbrella. 

200.gif
It's all about Whitley's command. If he can keep the walks down his stuff will play just fine...

Well, keep the walks down, don't get hurt, don't do stupid shit, and grnerally be the exact opposite of who he has been his entire career so far.

How does that affect the broadcast team?

Now we're talking!

 

Anyone have any insight into what’s going on at AT&T Sports?
Per the WSJ, the networks have notified the teams that it won’t make the next rights payment and has offered to give the teams their inventory back. 

I hope that means better options for us in austin
42 minutes ago, WBT said:

Now we're talking!

 

That’s my pastor!  Craig Reynolds. Super good dude. 

1 hour ago, rvm96 said:

How does that affect the broadcast team?

This is all I care about.  I don’t care what the solution is as long as the band stays together. 

Edited by Guadaloopy

1 hour ago, WBT said:

Now we're talking!

 

Kevin Eschenfelder listed in the credits.  Been here a long time. 

6 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

Kevin Eschenfelder listed in the credits.  Been here a long time. 

You’d think by now he would stop trying to make fetch happen.

4 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

Bring back HSE 

Is Bill Worrell still around?

The Amazon NFL broadcasts are shit so I would be leery about them doing baseball.  They don't have all the kinks worked out of doing live sports yet.

Edited by kevwun

Also it's so shocking that a broadcast network that is available on almost no platforms by design is in financial trouble.

It seems the simplest solution would be to make the Astros available to everyone on MLB.TV.  I hope the time crunch forces them to.

12 minutes ago, kevwun said:

It seems the simplest solution would be to make the Astros available to everyone on MLB.TV.  I hope the time crunch forces them to.

I think that’s what Manfred wants to do but there are a lot of questions  Where does  the money comes from. Pro rata portion of subscription revenues based on ratings?  Do the Astros have to form a team to sell commercials? How long will AT&T provide production?  Are you SOL if you don’t have a smart TV?

Edited by TonyTexas

I think that giving the team a percentage of subscription revenue makes the most sense.  It's fair to do it that way since you have to pick your team when you sign up anyway so it's an easy number to come up with.  It's just agreeing on the percentage.  MLB wants to do it anyway eventually so they would do whats necessary to come to an agreement.  They can probably use the ATT equipment and studios for the whole season or at least until they have time to get their own up and running.  MLB.TV solves the problem of distribution because it already exists and works well and that would be a big issue with every other solution.

Edited by kevwun

45 minutes ago, kevwun said:

It seems the simplest solution would be to make the Astros available to everyone on MLB.TV.  I hope the time crunch forces them to.

This. They already have the platform...don't need another partner.  Just let the people who want to pay to watch baseball be able to do it.  From anywhere...

On 2/24/2023 at 9:03 AM, Seasick Sailor said:

Seems relevant to the MLBtv discussion from upthread:

 

Thanks for the tip!

My subscription was set to renew in a couple of days at $149.99 but I joined the MLBPA and got my discount link yesterday and successfully applied it to a new MLB.TV subscription with a $75 discount. 

Pretty clear that the teams/MLB have known about both Bally and ATT issues for months and are going to recapture all the media rights and have their own streaming service.  Long overdue.  Hopefully this is the last season that requires a $70/mo minimum to watch regular season Astros games in market.  I am hoping it’s something like $20/mo to watch just your team or $30/mo to watch all the games.  Would be super cool if they went back to Disney with it and you could get MLB combined with ESPN and SEC network all streaming for some reasonable price.

It will be interesting to see how this impacts revenues this season and beyond.  If all those teams aren’t going to get paid their fees this year then we could see several teams anxious to cut payroll (hopefully not the Astros).  It also remains to be seen whether MLB owning their own tv rights will result in more or less revenue and how that will be distributed.

Edited by Snake Diggity

16 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

Man, am I gonna be able to watch the Astros this season in Houston?  

I haven't been able to for years, because of this stupid network.

I hope they get onto more than one platform.

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

I think that giving the team a percentage of subscription revenue makes the most sense.  It's fair to do it that way since you have to pick your team when you sign up anyway so it's an easy number to come up with.  It's just agreeing on the percentage.  MLB wants to do it anyway eventually so they would do whats necessary to come to an agreement.  They can probably use the ATT equipment and studios for the whole season or at least until they have time to get their own up and running.  MLB.TV solves the problem of distribution because it already exists and works well and that would be a big issue with every other solution.

It might solve the problem of distribution (which isn’t that big a problem) but it doesn’t solve the problem of providing Crane fat stacks of cash to pay for this outfit. My strong suspicion is any subscription pay model is a net money loser compared to the RSN’s. 

I certainly wouldn't mind not having to sign up for FUBO in order to get ATT Sports. Just make games available in local markets on MLB TV. 

  • Author

Fuck - game isn’t streaming on the app

Double fuck - mlb isn’t listed on the pirate stream 

3 hours ago, kevwun said:

It seems the simplest solution would be to make the Astros available to everyone on MLB.TV.  I hope the time crunch forces them to.

This is such an important lesson that the whole sports industry needs to learn so they never make the same mistake again.

3 hours ago, TonyTexas said:

 

Like the 1927 Yankees, with the difference being that the Astros are reigning World Series champions.

2 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

It might solve the problem of distribution (which isn’t that big a problem) but it doesn’t solve the problem of providing Crane fat stacks of cash to pay for this outfit. My strong suspicion is any subscription pay model is a net money loser compared to the RSN’s. 

Bigly. 

But the RSN bubble is bursting.  The subscriptions and ad revenue must not be there to cover the rights fees.  I doubt that distribution will actually change in the short-term though.  I bet that for a time MLB will just operate the RSNs themselves to keep getting those sweet, sweet subscription fees from people who don't watch baseball.  I don't see how going to streaming only makes sense.  You would probably have to charge something like $60/month and how many fans will be willing to pay that?

Either way though, it seems like league-wide revenue could actually contract from this.  That doesn't look good for future labor relations.

Found this article:

https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/2023/02/24/report-ownership-for-rockets-astros-television-rights-likely-to-change/

This is their bottom line:

Quote

In the longer-term, once existing carriage agreements expire, the transition to local ownership might allow teams to explore direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming options. But that’s likely a number of years away, and each sports league will have conversations with its teams regarding the best path forward. The vast majority of teams and their broadcast partners are experiencing similar challenges.

For now, in AT&T SportsNet markets, it should largely be the status quo for fans in terms of their ability to watch the games.

 

And David Barron, out of retirement with the Chronicle's take.  It doesn't really add anything other than to say that the existing carriage deals with Direct TV and Comcast goes through 2032.

Spoiler

For the second time in a decade, the regional sports network that carries Astros and Rockets games is on the verge of financial collapse.

Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, informed both teams by letter Friday that it plans to exit the RSN business and wants to negotiate with the teams to assume responsibility for broadcasting and distributing their games.

Despite the dire nature of the network’s impending collapse, fans will not lose access to their local teams’ games, because the Astros and Rockets have contracts to have their games telecast on DirecTV, AT&T and Comcast’s Xfinity cable service through 2032.

The main question as the Astros prepare for their season opener and the NBA season wraps up, then, is not whether the games will be available on DirecTV, AT&T and Xfinity but on which channel the games will air and who will pay production costs for telecasting the games.

Spokespeople for the Astros and Rockets declined comment regarding the letters, the receipt of which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal and Sports Business Daily.

According to the Journal, the letter to the teams sent by Patrick Crumb, who oversees the AT&T SportsNet channels, said that they “will not have sufficient cash to pay the upcoming rights fees” and that unless it can transfer ownership of the network by March 31, “the only realistic option is to file for Chapter 7 liquidation.”

 

  • Author
26 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

BOOOM

Dirden!


RoY dark horse !!!

It's the first game of the year for Kalas and Blum too.  They apparently both forgot about the error to leadoff this inning where the CF dropped the fly ball at the wall.

Billy Wagner's baby boy looking good!

Brantley interview on mlb network asked about Yordan-

"I was here in 2019 my first season and his first season here and we were in the same batting group. I had never met him before. I saw him hitting the ball all over the field and asked him what position he played. He said he was LF. I said well then why did they sign me??"

Ronel Blanco might be the next big thing. Struck out the side in his 1 inning today. In the Dominican winter league, he had 19 appearances, 20.2 IP, 27 SO, 0.00 ERA and a WHIP of 0.58. I wonder what he’s found at the age of 29. 

Edited by TonyTexas

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