MLB Plan for Televising Texas Rangers
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So if Bally Sports Southwest does have to stop broadcasting the Texas Rangers, how exactly might fans get to watch games?
That was just one of the topics ESPN dove into Tuesday as Bally’s parent group, Diamond Sports Group, continues to go through bankruptcy.
Both Diamond and Major League Baseball have assured fans that the 14 teams whose games are broadcast by Bally Sports will be able to watch games.
But if Diamond fails to make its scheduled payments to teams like the Rangers, those teams could begin to break free of their contracts. The Rangers reportedly sent a letter to Diamond stating the franchise would terminate its local TV rights agreement if the company became insolvent.
Bally Sports also has the local broadcast rights to the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and NHL's Dallas Stars.
Diamond Sports has already defaulted on rights payments to two teams — the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. It’s not entirely clear if Bally Sports will broadcast their games now.
But if they don’t, MLB has a strategy in place, per ESPN:
The short-term plan would be to offer streaming through its MLB.TV app at a yet-to-be-determined price (it'll be cheaper than the current price to stream out-of-market games, according to a league source) and also air games on a yet-to-be-determined cable channel.
Theoretically, if the Rangers were to extricate themselves from Diamond, it could make its games available through MLB’s streaming app and strike a deal that would take care of cable subscribers and broadcast television users.
In the long term, MLB would like to own the broadcast rights of all 30 teams under one umbrella.
But first things first. Teams like the Rangers have to determine if they have a future with Diamond.
More From SI’s Inside The Rangers:
- Jose Altuve Injury Potentially Helps Texas Rangers Playoff Chances
- Texas Rangers Terminating TV Rights if Bally Sports Goes Bankrupt
- Texas Rangers TV Uncertain in RSN Bankruptcy
- Rangers Must Lock Up Two Big Stars Before Season
- Rangers Ace deGrom Honest Thoughts on Pitch Clock, Organization
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