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Not related to MLB, but Bally has officially lost another NBA team. The New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to a multi year deal with Gray Television to broadcast most of their games free over the air in portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. This just shows that despite the agreement with Comcast, plenty of uncertainty remains about Bally’s future.
 
The Braves really should have their own network. They have a huge region - probably the biggest in the east and probably could afford to prop up their own channel.
 
Nerfherders said:
The Braves really should have their own network. They have a huge region - probably the biggest in the east and probably could afford to prop up their own channel.
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Really could offer Hawks, Hornets, Tennessee teams & some Florida teams and get by really easily.
 
While it doesn't derail Bally's effort to emerge from bankruptcy, it is certainty a blow to them. But they got a dose of more bad news today as the Anaheim Ducks announced they are leaving Bally and will go to free TV. So that's at least six NHL teams along with the NBA's Mavericks and Pelicans. That doesn't sound like much of an endorsement.

While we've heard deals done with teams in the NHL and NBA, we've heard very little recently about any agreements from MLB teams. Now part of that is likely due to the fact those two leagues are weeks away from starting their seasons. But remember this as well: Rob Manfred has very little trust and belief in Bally Sports. At this point, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what broadcasts in MLB will look like next year. I get the feeling that if he had his way, Manfred would tell Bally to take a hike. But there's a lot to figure out before the 25 season, which will be here before we know it.

As far as the Braves starting their own network, I mean, it could be done. The southeast is a large region. You'd be talking about Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi with maybe a few areas on the edge, just outside of the mentioned states. If they joined in with the Braves, Liberty Media has the ability to back it. They are a big Media group with a lot of cash. The problem is the timing. The Yankees with YES, Red Sox with NESN, Mets with SNY, Cubs with Marquee, and Dodgers with their group have gotten ahead of things. The problems with Bally have exposed the issues cable and satellite companies are having. Sports used to drive subscribers, but now traditional ways to watch TV are changing drastically. The cord cutting, which I've done as well, is making that somewhat obsolete. It would seem risky to start a new sports channel in this day and age.

So at this point, I don't think anyone really knows what things will look like in MLB broadcasting after the final out of the World Series. I think we can agree though, whatever happens, hopefully blackouts will be a thing of the past.
 
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If they can figure out how to excise the blackouts, MLB TV is the way to go. I happened to get it for free this year from Tmobile and it's been great. I'd prefer to watch baseball on my DirecTV because I love scan fast forward, but MLB TV is the next best thing.
 
While this is not related to the Bally situation, one of the few platforms that carry Bally is DirecTV and there is a carriage dispute with Disney. If a deal is not reached by September 1, all the Disney owned stations, including ABC and the ESPN networks will go dark. I've basically decided that when the MLB regular season end, I'm ditching DTV. I may be doing that a month sooner.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/media/2024/08/27/directv-disney-dispute-remove-espn-contract-talks/74972454007/
 
I admit, I’m having a bit of trouble trying to figure out what this potential Amazon and Bally deal might mean for the Braves going forward. The things I’ve seen have mentioned the five teams Bally has a digital streaming deal with, and the Braves are not one of them. So I’m not sure what it means in the future. Seems like still more questions than answers.
 
having MLB get rid of the RSN would be the best thing for baseball. These teams with huge influx of money based on tv revenue caused the have and have nots which has hurt the sport...

now, can baseball actually handle this better than they do MLB.tv.. that is very debatable.
 
Honestly there should be no reason why the biggest streamers like Hulu, Prime, and Apple TV don't have at least 1 baseball game per day between them.
 
Thing is - I think a lot of MLB fans - certainly myself included - would rather have our same broadcasting crew do all - if not almost all- of our games. It’s all part of the product - assuming it’s well done. So I’d hate to see the Braves being streamed on a bunch of different platforms each week….. not to mention I doubt I’d shell out the money for all of those different channels.
 
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