After 20 months, the company that held the Angels’ television rights emerged from a federal bankruptcy court Thursday, still intact as a company and still holding the Angels’ television rights.
Much ado about nothing? To the contrary.
In the next four years, that company will discover just how many fans are willing to pay for a streaming subscription to watch their favorite team, and how much they are willing to pay for it. Major League Baseball will run the same experiment, with a different handful of teams.
By that time, and informed by that data, MLB should have a pretty good idea of what national media outlets — not just the usual suspects of ESPN, Fox and TBS, but technology giants such as Apple, Amazon and YouTube — might be willing to pay the league for broadcast rights. How you watch baseball beyond 2028 could be very different from how you watch next year.
How can I watch the Angels next year?
All the same ways you did this year, and more.
The Angels agreed to a new deal with FanDuel Sports Network, the new name for Bally Sports. You can watch via a cable, satellite or streaming service, just as you could last year.
FanDuel also secured the rights to offer the Angels on a streaming-only basis — that is, you don’t have to subscribe to anything else. You can sign up directly with FanDuel or via Amazon Prime, although the fee would be added to your Amazon Prime bill, not included in it.
No pricing has been announced, although San Diego Padres games were streamed by MLB last season at $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
How can I watch the Dodgers next year?
The same ways you did this year: with a subscription to a cable, satellite or streaming service that carries SportsNet LA, or with a streaming-only option that requires getting broadband and television service from Spectrum.
Spectrum has no changes to announce, a company spokesman said Thursday. In order to minimize losses from the Dodgers’ record $8.35-billion local television contract, Spectrum markets itself as the exclusive way to see the Dodgers and leverages that exclusivity to sell subscriptions for other packages and services.
SportsNet LA is not one of the FanDuel channels, so it was not part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
What if I want to watch the Dodgers or Angels but I do not live in the L.A. market?
You’ll still need to buy an out-of-market subscription to mlb.tv, priced this year at $29.99 a month or $149.99 a year. That provided access to every out-of-market game; access for only the games of a single team cost $129.99 a year.
Why can’t I pay one price to watch the Dodgers or Angels, wherever I live and however I want to watch, and without any games getting blacked out?
For Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, this is the holy grail.
In exchange for lavishing billions of dollars upon MLB teams over the last couple of decades, local television providers demanded exclusivity. If you wanted to watch your home team, you paid up, with a cable or satellite subscription that required you to pay for dozens of other channels you did not watch.
That golden goose is dead. In the brave new world, you do not have to pay for CNN or the Hallmark Channel just to see your favorite baseball team.
The parent company of the FanDuel channels declared bankruptcy, and Manfred hoped the MLB teams would take back their broadcast rights and grant them to the league.
Of the 14 teams under the Bally’s banner last year, the Angels and five others agreed to new deals with FanDuel. MLB now holds the rights for the Padres and six other teams, with the Kansas City Royals still undecided and the Texas Rangers planning to launch their own broadcasts.
Why is the year 2028 so important?
In court papers, the parent company of the FanDuel channels projected streaming revenue would jump so greatly that the channels would be profitable even as cable and satellite income fell by nearly half in the next four years.
MLB isn’t convinced. However, the Angels signed a three-year deal, and the five other FanDuel teams also agreed to short-term deals that expire no later than 2028, according to a person familiar with the matter.
At that point, the league’s national broadcasts with ESPN, Fox and TBS expire. Streaming rights could entice one of those broadcasters to pay up to retain MLB games — and could lure the likes of Apple, Amazon or YouTube to bid as well.
So long as the Dodgers and other marquee teams such as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees continue to generate big bucks on their own, it is unlikely they would grant their broadcasting rights to MLB.
Come 2028, however, if MLB can pool the teams it now airs with the FanDuel teams, a package of roughly half the league’s teams could be attractive — and, for fans of those teams, potentially blackout-free.