NBA Commissioner Adam Silver gave insight into how the league is approaching its future local game broadcasts, with what he says is “a broken RSN model,” as millions are cutting the cord.
Silver was asked how that would affect the local games during the BOG press conference. Silver answered that 18 of their RSNs were defunct or in bankruptcy, and the “decline in the number of homes covered by those RSNs and decline in revenue,” was something that they were paying a lot of attention to.
As those numbers decline and viewing habits in streaming sports and events are increasing, Silver stated:
“But I think coming out of this, when we look at the interest of streaming services to carry local games and all the additional functionality that will come to that, there will be a transition and transition for our viewers, as well, in terms of how they discover those games and how they watch them, that I think the end result will be a much better consumer experience”
What’s Next for the NBA & the RSN Model?
Going forward, more NBA teams may offer DTC streaming packages or transition to free OTA games. There are reports that Amazon may offer local games from Bally Sports. Discussions are in the early stages, but games from the Bally Sports streaming service could migrate to the Amazon platform. If the deal does happen, this would expand the reach of Bally Sports and establish Amazon as a must-have for many basketball fans.
The NBA’s commissioner said that the current RSN model is broken at the BOG press conference, but it’s looking like the league is innovating ways to fix it.
https://cordcuttersnews.com/nba-says-rsn-model-is-broken-whats-next-as-more-teams-head-to-ota-channels/
