Moderators: MickeyDavis, paulpressey25, humanrefutation
JayMKE wrote:This realignment **** I’m seeing with the imaginary divisions is pissing me off
MVP2110 wrote:Is there any legitimate news to the realignment stuff? Or where is all this discussion coming from?
If the deal is signed, ESPN will have the full rights to in- and out-of-market games for five teams. The Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are the clubs under MLB control. Fans would likely need to subscribe to ESPN either directly or through an operator, and then, for an added price, they would be able to receive their local teams’ games.
MickeyDavis wrote:Interesting so if you have cable or YouTube TV or something that carries ESPN you'd have to pay extra for local games. If you didn't have cable or another carrier that has ESPN you'd have to buy ESPN through their app and then pay more for local games. Yuck. If the Brewers hadn't changed their mind and reupped with FD we'd be team 6.
MLB has made no secret that they want all teams included so as RSN deals expire they will move to this new model.
ReasonablySober wrote:MickeyDavis wrote:Interesting so if you have cable or YouTube TV or something that carries ESPN you'd have to pay extra for local games. If you didn't have cable or another carrier that has ESPN you'd have to buy ESPN through their app and then pay more for local games. Yuck. If the Brewers hadn't changed their mind and reupped with FD we'd be team 6.
MLB has made no secret that they want all teams included so as RSN deals expire they will move to this new model.
If you're a fan of one of those five times it looks like you'd have to pay between $50 and $60 a month to watch your local games.
Ron Swanson wrote:God I hate all this dumb ****. Take me back to the days of basic cable where I only had to worry about one annual payment/account and I got all the live sports I needed without having to sign up for 7 different streamers and monthly payments. This era of consumerism sucks.
ESPN's direct to consumer platform debuts tomorrow. Very good article in the Athletic if you subscribe that explains everything.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6560777/2025/08/19/jimmy-pitaro-espn-streaming-app-launch-netflix/
$30 a month, it will be going up to $36 a month. They have bundling options with Disney and Hulu. It will have all content from all of the current ESPN channels and extra stuff (lots of gambling content). Stuff like NFL RedZone will be added once that deal is approved sometime next year.
If you currently have ESPN you will be able to access all of this extra content at no extra charge. The exception right now is YouTube TV, they are still negotiating with ESPN.
You can bet that ESPN, which already charges providers $15 per subscriber, will be upping that and it will be passed along to consumers.
One last thing not in this article but discussed on the Brewers board. MLB currently owns the local rights to 5 teams and starting next season those 5 teams local broadcasts will only be available at an additional charge through ESPN. So you have to have ESPN, either through an operator or the standalone service and then pay EXTRA for your local games. MLB has plans to have all teams on this platform as their deals expire with RSN.
For the Bucks and the NBA I've seen no such plans to have all teams local broadcasts under ESPN control so far. I don't know when the Bucks deal with FD expires but it's going to be real interesting to see what's next. The Suns started broadcasting games on a local channel and offering it on their own streaming service for those you can't access the local broadcast.
MickeyDavis wrote:ReasonablySober wrote:MickeyDavis wrote:Interesting so if you have cable or YouTube TV or something that carries ESPN you'd have to pay extra for local games. If you didn't have cable or another carrier that has ESPN you'd have to buy ESPN through their app and then pay more for local games. Yuck. If the Brewers hadn't changed their mind and reupped with FD we'd be team 6.
MLB has made no secret that they want all teams included so as RSN deals expire they will move to this new model.
If you're a fan of one of those five times it looks like you'd have to pay between $50 and $60 a month to watch your local games.
If you don't currently have ESPN then yes, $30 for ESPN and probably $20-$30 for local. If you do have ESPN you'd pay $20-$30.
ReasonablySober wrote:MickeyDavis wrote:ReasonablySober wrote:
If you're a fan of one of those five times it looks like you'd have to pay between $50 and $60 a month to watch your local games.
If you don't currently have ESPN then yes, $30 for ESPN and probably $20-$30 for local. If you do have ESPN you'd pay $20-$30.
Either way, the fans are getting royally screwed. If you're a Twins fan you watched them through a traditional cable or streaming package that carried Bally Sports Minnesota, or you just got the standalone Bally Sports app and paid around $15 a month. Now no matter what you're either paying for an expensive monthly cable package AND the Twins package, or you're spending $30 for ESPN plus $20-$30 a month for the Twins package.
Not a chance in hell would I ever do either.