Comcast sells NBC Sports Washington to Ted Leonsis: Now re-branded as Monumental Sports Network

[payitforward]

Good point, Zards.

It's really just the miserable results year on year on year that leave us frustrated with him.

[AFM]

As long as he doesn’t buy the realgm wiz board. This is like the last sane place to discuss this team. Even bulletsforever is mostly full of copium. I was listening to the locked on wizards podcast and the topic of the day was “Do the wizards off season moves make them contenders?” LOL

[montestewart]

Good point, Zards.

It's really just the miserable results year on year on year that leave us frustrated with him.

That and his frequent tone deaf PR. “Double Bottom Line Life” might be an extreme example but it’s not an outlier.

[doclinkin]

Good point, Zards.

It's really just the miserable results year on year on year that leave us frustrated with him.

That and his frequent tone deaf PR. “Double Bottom Line Life” might be an extreme example but it’s not an outlier.

And the hypocrisy and backtracking. When he came into the league he touted himself as being the guy most responsive to his public. He answered fan emails, etc. Shortly thereafter he got stung by criticism and ended with a dismissive and occasionally downright antagonistic relationship with his most loyal customers. Anybody who is complaining about a team is someone heavily invested in that team's success. You can't please everyone, but to tune out all voices but your own seems counterproductive.

[DCZards]

Good point, Zards.

It's really just the miserable results year on year on year that leave us frustrated with him.

That and his frequent tone deaf PR. “Double Bottom Line Life” might be an extreme example but it’s not an outlier.

And the hypocrisy and backtracking. When he came into the league he touted himself as being the guy most responsive to his public. He answered fan emails, etc. Shortly thereafter he got stung by criticism and ended with a dismissive and occasionally downright antagonistic relationship with his most loyal customers. Anybody who is complaining about a team is someone heavily invested in that team's success. You can't please everyone, but to tune out all voices but your own seems counterproductive.

It was probably not a good idea for Leonsis to say he would answer fan emails in the first place. Those things often don’t end well because you’re gonna get emails from a lot of wackos whose comments are more likely to be personal attacks than constructive criticisms.

BTW, Ted definitely doesn’t try to hide from or avoid fans. It’s not unusual to see him walking around the Cap One Arena concourse mingling with fans.

[doclinkin]

Sure, well there are plenty of worse owners (or governors) in sports, worse as human beings anyway, but given that we have been a losing franchise for all of Ted's tenure and many decades before that, and that there are few franchises more hapless in that time: Whatever it is he is doing isn't working.

Maybe it changes, maybe Wes matures into his job, maybe Tommy has built a roster that will be stealth-better on court than it is in data, maybe the focus groups and research on Best Practices done by Ted a few years back will eventually see positive outcome in the product on court. But. Up to now, so far, we have seen a comfort with mediocrity and a loyalty beyond the results and product.

"Consistency" is not a virtue when you are actually bad. I'm frustrated with the Beal contract, in that it freezes us at a time when it would be useful to be nimble. And I was frustrated with the stubborn loyalty to Ernie. Both of these actions (or non-actions) feel like they take the fans for granted, that we will show up even if the team can't contend for a trophy, as long as Ted can sell us some sort of happy story along the way. I like Beal as a person just fine, as a player yeah he's ok, but his contract is a Grunfeldian mistake of Hibachi-Pollin proportions.

[FAH1223]

As long as he doesn’t buy the realgm wiz board. This is like the last sane place to discuss this team. Even bulletsforever is mostly full of copium. I was listening to the locked on wizards podcast and the topic of the day was “Do the wizards off season moves make them contenders?” LOL

I know it’s summer but that’s ridiculous

[verbal8]

The hate for Leonsis on this thread has typically been over the top…and I can somewhat understand given his handling of the Zards and the mediocre results.

I really want to like Leonsis as an owner, but the results and flawed process with the Wizards make it hard.

But Ted seems like a decent guy and sports team owner who genuinely cares about this region. He built the Zards practice facility and the Mystics homecourt in the ‘hood in SE. He gets high marks from me for that move.

One thing about Leonsis is there is no chance he would move his teams to another city.

[80sballboy]

What's the record of the franchise since he took over? He's a businessman and this is a bottom-line business. It's hard to find positives during his Grunfeldian reign. That's 398-527 since he took over full-time in 2010 for a 43% winning percentage. As Steve Spurrier once said about 5-11, "not very good".

[FAH1223]

Looks like the re-brand will happen for the 2023-24 season.

NBC Universal still operating and providing shared resources until April 2024 at the latest.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/10/20/nbc-sports-washington-friday-abernethy/

After Ted Leonsis, whose Monumental Sports & Entertainment owns the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, purchased NBC Sports Washington, the regional sports network that broadcasts Wizards and Capitals games, it was natural to wonder how the acquisition would affect the viewer experience. The short answer, at least for this season: not much.

Media industry veteran Friday Abernethy, who on Thursday was named the general manager of NBC Sports Washington, said the look and feel of game broadcasts and other programming on the network — as well as the ways in which fans can access that content — will be largely the same as it was before the August deal was announced, though enhancements, which will include a new digital streaming platform, are in the works.

“I think in the short term we’re really excited about reimagining our programming slate outside of the live games,” Abernethy, who has nearly three decades of experience in the industry, with a focus on distribution and content licensing, said in a video interview. “I think by us having full ownership of it, it allows us to [ask], ‘How can we go deeper with the teams and bring more of that personal element to the fans?’”

Abernethy mentioned Meghan McPeak’s addition as a sideline reporter for Wizards games as one of the few changes made to the Capitals and Wizards broadcasts this season, and she said new team-focused programming is expected to debut by next season.

After the acquisition, which was completed last month, Zach Leonsis, Monumental’s president of media and new enterprises and Ted’s son, said Monumental was interested in exploring a direct-to-consumer streaming option for Capitals and Wizards games that would give fans access to the broadcasts without requiring a cable subscription. According to a release, Monumental has hired digital platform ViewLift to “design, integrate, develop and launch a robust digital experience for Mid-Atlantic sports fans across all major streaming devices.” While Abernethy said the network is focused on supporting its traditional linear TV experience for the time being, it will have a potential model to follow when it decides to go the digital route.

This week, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer launched “ClipperVision,” a direct-to-consumer streaming platform with six live viewing options, including an augmented reality stream with shot probability graphics and statistics, live commentary from former players and Korean- and Spanish-language broadcasts. The service, which does not require a cable subscription, costs $199.99 for 74 games this season and includes access to a library of past games and highlights.

Abernethy, who will be tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations of NBC Sports Washington while helping lead its integration into Monumental’s existing platform, said she will be watching the response to ClipperVision “really closely.” She also will be keeping an eye on Bally Sports, which launched a stand-alone subscription streaming service in September, and New England Sports Network (NESN), which became the first regional sports network to live stream NHL games in 4K High Dynamic Range this season.

“I think it’s sort of the tip of the iceberg in terms of where sports rights can go,” said Abernethy, who spent seven years in executive-level positions at Univision and fills the role at NBCSW previously held by Jackie Bradford, who remains the president and general manager of NBC 4 and Telemundo. “. . . I think alternate feeds are super interesting. There could be a betting feed. There could be multiple languages. Those are all things that we’re exploring.”

Monumental, which acquired a one-third stake in NBC Sports Washington from Comcast in 2016 and also owns the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming, has experimented with gambling-focused alternate TV broadcasts before.

In addition to its Capitals and Wizards coverage, NBC Sports Washington airs extensive pregame and postgame coverage of the Washington Commanders, as well as a daily Commanders-focused, half-hour show hosted by Julie Donaldson, the team’s senior vice president of media and content. Abernethy said the network hasn’t made any decisions about how it will cover the Commanders or any of the other local sports teams not owned by Monumental beyond this season.

“We’ll be exploring all of the opportunities that we have in the local market,” she said.

Monumental also announced that D.C.-based agency HZ will support its rebranding effort, and Diversified, a technology solutions provider, will oversee the development of a new production facility near Capital One Arena. Construction is expected to be completed by next season.

[FAH1223]

Re-brand is complete

Watch on YouTube

So long to this theme song

Watch on YouTube

and this

Watch on YouTube

[daSwami]

Zach has his dad's voice. The new streaming technology sounds promising to a couch potato like me. No talk of urinal cup-holder upgrades whatsoever. Very promising.

[W. Unseld]

Is there a chance we get something akin to "Comcast Sports Night" or other DMV localalized sportscenter type show?

[FAH1223]

Is there a chance we get something akin to "Comcast Sports Night" or other DMV localalized sportscenter type show?

Don't think so

https://monumentalsports.com/2023/09/monumental-sports-network-is-live-for-the-upcoming-2023-24-nba-and-nhl-seasons/

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

Neil Dalal did what all sports observers do, and now he won’t be able to cover the Washington Wizards in-person anymore.

Following a snafu between Dalal and the Wizards that reached starting point guard Tyus Jones over him not being included on a promotional billboard put up by the team, Washington has revoked Dalal’s press credential.

He explained more in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

“Last month, I tweeted an observation that I quickly regretted,” Dalal wrote. “I have always strived to be player-friendly, and never meant to offend anyone, but I dropped the ball.”

Anyone with a keen eye will match up a team’s marketing efforts with its future personnel plans. Dalal is no different as an independent reporter covering the Wizards out of Washington, DC. Earlier this season, Dalal tweeted a photo of a Wizards promotional billboard which did not feature the recently acquired Jones. Given early reports out of Washington after the trade indicated the team planned to sign Jones long-term, his absence from the billboard was noteworthy.

Jones would later retweet the post, according to Wizards fans online.

Read on Twitter

Given the team itself was responsible for the billboard, punishing Dalal for talking about it is pretty silly.

The Wizards recently left their deal with NBC Sports, which axed full-time, external coverage of their team. In its place, team governor Ted Leonsis launched Monumental Sports Network, which is run in-house by his company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The network has already reportedly exerted influence over coverage of the team.

While The Athletic and Washington Post still have full-time Wizards writers, the team has not made it past the first round of the playoffs in nearly a decade. The Wizards are, controversially, likely to move to northern Virginia in the coming years.

So it’s no surprise the Wizards are paranoid. But banning reporters is only going to bring more negative attention.

[TGW]

Sounds like something Leonsis' petty ass would do...

[AFM]

Yeah, right up there with magically discovering the championship trophy in his mechanical room and refusing to drink fireball with Dat

[Frichuela]

Talk to 'em Kevin!

Read on Twitter

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[Frichuela]

Read on Twitter

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