Whither TV Money?

In Other Topics by Rice Cube72 Comments

There’s been a growing discontent over the fact that about half the teams in MLB may be affected by their regional sports networks crapping out financially. Even the Sonny Gray deal by the Cardinals, who should be a financially well-off historic franchise, is heavily backloaded, while the Padres are not-so-discretely signaling that they’re going to dump salary, among the other moves (or lack thereof) that have transpired so far this offseason.

I personally am still trying to determine whether I want to keep my services such as Netflix, (HBO) Max, and the like, and the main reason we haven’t canceled Disney+ yet is because my wife forgot and now we’re locked in for another year (dying laughing), but it’s kind of funny how at least one consumer (points thumbs at this guy) is considering cutting the cord after having already cut the cord. It kind of makes you wonder how much someone is willing to pay for the privilege of watching their favorite squadron play live (or at least two to three pitches behind the live action, which might be about 10 seconds after everyone posts their reaction on your social media platform of choice). With the bubble all but burst, MLB had to step in to help a few teams once the RSNs started falling:

A similar approach was employed by MLB in 2023. The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks were forced to find new cable homes in their respective markets in the middle of the season when Diamond relinquished the rights. Their games were also streamed direct-to-consumer. Fans had the option to buy in-market Padres and D-Backs games for $20 a month on MLB.TV.

MLB didn’t promise any backing for 2024, which might explain the hesitancy this time around, which may or may not affect the markets of certain marquee free agents (who may or may not play on Marquee Sports Network depending on how Jed and Tom feel about dropping some armored trucks onto doorsteps). I would also normally be cool with spending on MLB.tv, but considering the games that are flexed out to ESPN, FOX Sports, random other services like Peacock, etc, it feels like I should be getting a discount for not getting the full 162 (not to mention the blackout issues they haven’t figured out yet).

Anyway, it’s just something to keep an eye on as the Cubs try to sign Shohei Ohtani with some of that sweet Marquee money.

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  1. Author
    Rice Cube

    Interesting!

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  2. berselius

    Rice Cube,

    Now there’s a name that hasn’t crossed my radar in a while.

    I guess the Padres felt there could be only one former Cubs first round pick on the coaching staff.

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  10. Author
    Rice Cube

    Glasnow or Glaslater?

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  15. dmick89

    If the Cubs were as close to a championship caliber team as they were when they acquired Harden, a pitcher like Glasnow makes more sense. They still seem a few players away from that and maybe more than a year. Not sure I’d risk giving up young talent for one year of a guy you can’t really rely on. Even with Harden’s injury issues, he made sense for that team.

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  16. Perkins

    dmick89,

    I’d agree with that. If they’re going to spend prospects, at the moment I’d rather they go after someone more like Shane Bieber than Glasnow. Especially after seeing the bullpen wither down the stretch.

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  28. andcounting

    Bruce Levine reported that Zach Zaidman is being considered for the White Sox broadcast booth and with all due respect to Ohtani, Soto, et al, THIS IS THE ONLY RUMOR THAT COULD EVER MAKE ME HAPPY.

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  29. Author
    Rice Cube

    andcounting:
    Bruce Levine reported that Zach Zaidman is being considered for the White Sox broadcast booth and with all due respect to Ohtani, Soto, et al, THIS IS THE ONLY RUMOR THAT COULD EVER MAKE ME HAPPY.

    Picard make it so dot gif

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  31. berselius

    andcounting:
    Bruce Levine reported that Zach Zaidman is being considered for the White Sox broadcast booth and with all due respect to Ohtani, Soto, et al, THIS IS THE ONLY RUMOR THAT COULD EVER MAKE ME HAPPY.

    Your reward will be Judd Sirott returning to the cubs booth (dying laughing)

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  46. andcounting

    With multiple leaks about the Cubs backing off in the Ohtani hunt, you have to imagine he will punish them by becoming a Cub.

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  47. Perkins

    I’d love to see Ohtani in a Cubs uniform but I’d consider an offseason that nets Yamamoto, Hoskins, and one of Bellinger or Soto to be an enormous success.

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  48. berselius

    andcounting:
    With multiple leaks about the Cubs backing off in the Ohtani hunt, you have to imagine he will punish them by becoming a Cub.

    The whole story of the Ohtani offseason was that he wanted no leaks, so I won’t believe anything until he actually signs a contract (dying laughing). Well, unless the news is that the White Sox are in the mix.

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  51. berselius

    Rice Cube,

    This seems like the player equivalent of an ownership Vote Of Confidence in a manager, I look forward to seeing him play for the Dodgers next year (dying laughing).

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  52. Author
    Rice Cube

    Guess it was a good story (dying laughing)

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  59. BVS

    If I’m trading Morel for a pitcher, I’d much rather package him with Madrigal or Wisdom or other pieces to the Mariners for Woo or Gilbert than to send him to TB for one year of Glasnow.

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  60. BVS

    Rice Cube,

    IG has been boring me, particularly when it’s a grid of 9 team x team blocks, so I’ve been playing it as a scavenger hunt. For example, last Sunday I filled in as many blocks as I could with players who had Francis in their name, like Jeff Francis,.who didn’t even fit one of the Rockie blocks. Between Frank, Francis, Francisco that filled 5 blocks. Then filled the rest with Andrew/Andrews/Drew. Rarity = 4 with Drew Pomeranz accounting for 2. But of course it was all cheating through Bref. Who knew Bobby Avila of 50s Cle x Bal fame had Francis as his middle name? Not me, but Bref did.

    Usually I try to pick asany exCubs as possible and then default to exTigers. Chuck McElroy and Rogers Hornsby are often helpful.

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  62. Perkins

    My answer for MIL-STL was a lot higher than I expected, and I couldn’t think of anyone else.

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 248 9/9:
    Rarity: 73
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
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    Play at:
    https://immaculategrid.com
    @immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

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  65. Perkins

    Rice Cube,

    I used Wong and when I looked down the list after submitting, could not believe I forgot that Cardinals legend Jeff Suppan also pitched for Milwaukee. (dying laughing)

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  66. Author
    Rice Cube

    Rumblings are that Cubs are likely out on Ohtani since he has narrowed down his choices, and Soto is about to be traded to the Yankees, so Cubs will have to pivot like Ross and the couch

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  68. berselius

    Craig Calcaterra
    @craigcalcaterra
    I had no opinion about Ohtani wanting secrecy re: his negotiations until I saw some reporters bitching about how Very Bad a Thing His Desire For Secrecy Is and now I’m 100% for it.

    Buster Olney still undefeated in carrying water for management

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  69. Smokestack Lightning

    Rice Cube: Rumblings are that Cubs are likely out on Ohtani since he has narrowed down his choices, and Soto is about to be traded to the Yankees, so Cubs will have to pivot like Ross and the couch

    Looks like the new Cubs video presentation to beguile potential free agents doesn’t have quite the same enchantment quality when the World Series drought is 8 years rather than 108.

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