Diamond Sports Group is looking for new deals from the baseball teams which they currently carry. I don’t understand why they think they have leverage:
MLB holds long-term plans to house liner and direct-to-consumer rights under a national umbrella, seeing it as a long-term pivot to a cable model that has become increasingly volatile. Assuming none of the 11 teams in danger of getting dropped by Diamond agree to new deals, MLB — which took over broadcasts for the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks after they were dropped last year — could technically hold the rights to nearly half the league.
ESPN.com
MLB proved itself very good at doing business online in the last 25 years. If they do take over a number of teams and deliver good revenue, the RSNs are going to slowly disappear.
I’m not sure they think they have leverage. Instead, they no longer want to move forward with most of the deals as they are currently structured and are asking the court to cancel them so they can try to negotiate new ones. If they can negotiate a new deal with terms they like, great. But if not, they see not broadcasting any games as better for them than broadcasting games under the current contracts.
Thanks, Lou.