With the recent news of MASN offering direct-to-consumer functionalities for viewers to watch Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals broadcasts without a traditional cable subscription, 29 out of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises have entered into the space. Yet the Houston Astros, who are the only remaining team that does not provide this ability for its audience, will not be entering the space this season because of existing deals pertaining to Space City Home Network and its distributors. The company currently has contracts with DirecTV and Comcast through 2032, and its deal with FuboTV is slated to expire at an earlier date, according to Michael Shapiro of the Houston Chronicle.
Shapiro explained that while launching direct-to-consumer streaming would not “immediately invalidate the DirecTV and Comcast deals,” there is the possibility of a similar fallout ensuing soon. The likelihood is that both distributors would legally be permitted to “tear up the existing deals” following this time and later return to the network at a reduced price. Although cord cutting continues to take place in the market, Shapiro notes that the cable business is a “much more profitable engine for teams compared to DTC products.”
“Due to long-term affiliation agreements that have been a consistent mainstay of the RSN through the many ownership iterations since 2010, we are not able to provide direct-to-consumer streaming at this time,” Space City Home Network said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. “As always, we will continue to work to provide our fans with the best viewing options, including broad-based streaming when appropriate.”
The Houston Astros and Houston Rockets launched Space City Home Network in October 2023, but both teams are affected by this current fate. With both teams not available through direct-to-consumer products, fans are not afforded the ability to view games without subscriptions to cable services that carry the product.
A source cited in the Houston Chronicle report indicates that Comcast and DirecTV are facing “massive subscriber loss” and that the mathematics would eventually indicate the launch of a direct-to-consumer product and subsequent return to the two cable providers for less money. Before purchasing the regional sports network and rebranding the product, the Astros and Rockets were televised on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Warner Bros. Discovery, however, chose to exit the RSN business, leading several teams to begin work on finding a new broadcast home.
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