We have been monitoring Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy. Diamond Sports Group owns and operates regional sports networks under the Bally Sports brand. They cover 12 MLB teams’ games.
Diamond has come to a deal that will keep these games broadcast, according to Brendan Coffey at Sportico. That is partially attributable to an investment from Amazon. This is the important part of the article that is linked:
As part of the deal, Amazon will invest a minority stake in the business. It will provide direct-to-consumer access to MLB, NBA, and NHL games via its Prime Video platform, along with localised pre- and post-game content from its numerous RSNs. Other information, such as the investment’s size, has not yet been released.
Local market subscriptions to these channels would operate similarly to how Marquee Sports Network streaming subscriptions are obtained by Cubs market supporters. This ESPN article goes into additional detail about it:
Customers who own rights to Prime Video channels will be able to view content from their local team. A later time will be notified for pricing and availability. There will still be regional sports programming available on cable and satellite services.
The price would probably be roughly $20 per month, which is what MLB now charges for Padres and Diamondbacks games for which they reclaimed the rights after the Bally Sports networks in those markets flopped last year. That’s the price of a Marquee streaming subscription.
Here’s how it operated in 2023 – select Yankees games are currently available on Amazon. As they now do for some NFL games, this would appear to be a “foot in the door” for Amazon to stream games for other teams and maybe even some national games.
In this country, television is going through a transition—not only for sports, but for all forms of entertainment as well. I believe that most baseball games, if not all of them, will eventually be available on streaming services in the near future.
NEW YORK The New York Yankees and right-hander Marcus Stroman agreed to a $37 million, two-year deal.
There is a 2026 conditional player option included in the agreement.
The 32-year-old, who chose not to play in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, spent 2019 and 2021 across town with the New York Mets. He was born and raised on Long Island, not far from Yankee Stadium.
With Clarke Schmidt most likely in the lineup, Stroman joins a Yankees rotation led by AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón just finished seasons cut short by injuries.
In order to test the market, Stroman chose to forego a $21 million salary in 2024 by opting out of the last year of his deal with the Chicago Cubs. Over his two seasons with Chicago, he earned $50 million and finished 16–16 with a 3.73 ERA.
Following a rib cartilage fracture and discomfort in his right hip, Stroman missed six weeks of the previous season. Although his 3.95 ERA at the end was his highest since 2018, he has always been dependable in his career. It was his second selection to the All-Star team last season.
