As far as I can recall, it’s been a while since a major-market big league team has chosen to put a sizable portion of its games on free, over-the-air TV. There have been some recent examples of it happening by virtue of circumstances foisting it upon teams, but the conscious decision to risk devaluing your cable (or streaming) inventory by giving away your games for free? The big boys of MLB simply don’t do it anymore, at least not since the Chicago Cubs moved all of their games to their home network, Marquee Sports Network.
But we already know that things are changing in the sports broadcasting world, and the opportunity to get your product in front of more fans may start looking pretty appealing to clubs whose cable (or streaming) value is taking a hit by the erosion of traditional bundled subscriptions.
That’s why I see this announcement by the Atlanta Braves as so significant:
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— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) December 18, 2024A minimum of 15 regular season games and 10 Spring Training games will be made available as simulcasts to fans with a plain ole TV antenna across the Braves’ footprint in the southeast. From the press release:
‘The games will broadcast over-the-air on Peachtree TV Atlanta’s CW (WPCH 17.1) and Peachtree Sports Network (PSN) in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast through Gray’s network of broadcast stations, including Palmetto Sports & Entertainment Network, the Tennessee Valley Sports & Entertainment Network, and portions of the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network. A select number of games will air on some of Gray’s ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and CW affiliates.
“We are thrilled to partner with Gray Media to offer our fans more opportunities to watch a simulcast of certain games and access our content all across the Southeast,” said Atlanta Braves President & CEO Derek Schiller. “This partnership makes Braves baseball even more accessible, allowing fans throughout Braves Country the ability to watch in a way that best suits them, whether that is on cable, local TV, or streaming.”
“Gray Media is thrilled to partner with the Atlanta Braves to bring baseball back to local broadcast television across the Southeast,” Gray Chairman and CEO Hilton Howell said. “We are proud to give Braves fans a new way to watch their favorite players and one of the best franchises in baseball history.”’
Although it is highly likely that the Braves are receiving a nice payday from Gray Media for these rights, the fact that they are concurrently broadcast on the home RSN – the newly-branded FanDuel Sports Network – means that the Braves are risking some of the value of their cable and streaming rights in exchange for growing the distribution of their games. The bet is a very freaking smart one from where I sit, and is a recognition that those cable and streaming rights fees are likely to continue taking a hit in the years ahead regardless. Moreover, if MLB has its way and creates a national streaming package, the Braves will have already secured a foothold among their fans who don’t want to subscribe to Netflix or Amazon or whatever product ends up being home to the national package.
In other words, the Atlanta Braves are stepping out on a limb to secure – and maybe even extend – the size of their fan base. It’s pretty hard to stay a passionate fan of a team you can’t actually watch, and now in the southeast, you’ll very easily and freely be able to watch 10% or more of the Braves’ season. It’s small for now, but it’s a start.
You can probably sense where I’m going with this: the Chicago Cubs absolutely need to be proactive in thinking ahead about possibly distributing some games over-the-air.
You may remember that Marquee/the Cubs have already announced that they’re doing this with one Spring Training game, so they are clearly at least interested in finding out how this might work. And you will no doubt also remember that the Cubs previously had a long history of making a number of games available over-the-air on WGN-9 and ABC-7. In the current era, it’s likely to become a significant component of the smart organizations’ distribution/fan engagement/fan retention plans. I really hope the Cubs and Marquee are one of those smart organizations.
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