The collapse and decline of regional sports networks has been at the forefront of many sports media discussions, and the president of Scripps Sports believes the situation could ultimately turn into a positive one.
While speaking on “The Future of Sports on TV” panel at TVNewsCheck’s conference during the NAB Show in Las Vegas Sunday, Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor shared that, in his view, it’s obvious the regional sports network model is no longer sustainable.
“We’re at a moment in time where the model doesn’t work for teams and leagues anymore,” said Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor. “That was built on cable and satellite reaching 80% or more of households and markets. Now with cord-cutting, sports are reaching less than 50% or 40% of households in a market. That’s a broken business model.”
Diamond Sports Group — which operates the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — purposely missed a $140 million debt payment earlier this year that began bankruptcy proceedings for the company. It has failed to pay its scheduled rights fees to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, and Minnesota Twins.
Warner Bros. Discovery told the professional sports teams it holds the local television rights for that it would exit the regional sports network business and close down its AT&T SportsNet operations in Pittsburgh, Denver, and Houston later this year.
Additionally, NBCUniversal sold its 67% stake in NBC Sports Washington to Monumental Sports & Entertainment — the owner of the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, and Washington Mystics.
Lawlor continued by noting that the restrictive nature of regional sports networks was ultimately part of its downfall, and more broad distribution will be the key to a successor’s success.
“We have an opportunity to reset what reach looks like and within that an opportunity to reset the economics,” Lawlor said. “Those RSN deals were so restrictive, they were exclusive — only distributed on cable and satellite. There’s a top-of-the-funnel issue that broadcasters can solve. There’s an opportunity to build a direct-to-consumer business together that allows teams to own the data and own their fans. I don’t think it has to be ‘either/or’, it can be ‘Yes, and’.”
