Four Lessons from NESN

IN THIS ISSUE:

  • Four takeaways from a Regional Sports Network coming to streaming

  • Universities are getting into the streaming sports business

  • đŸŽ”"Never made it as a wise man." Couldn’t break the losing streak with Nickelback.

The Main Event: Four lessons from NESN

Now that NESN has launched the first streaming regional sports network, NESN 360, there are lessons to learn and more changes to come. Let’s jump right into my four main lessons from NESN’s streaming plan.

1. Start of a trend? That’s no sure thing.

It would be easy to assume that now that one Regional Sports Network (RSN) has expanded into streaming that a wave of more streaming RSNs will follow. I don’t believe it will be quite that simple. NESN has the advantage of being 80% owned by Fenway Sports Group, a.k.a. the Boston Red Sox, and having big money and a bigger fanbase behind them. Bally Sports Network is set for a streaming launch in June, but many of the others are only investigating or planning. I don’t expect the majority of dominos to fall as fast or clean as NESN has.

2. It’s pricey, but not as much as cable.

NESN 360’s price of $30 a month is higher than a lot of people expected. But that is still $70 less than the average cable bill, so it is a win for any customer who was keeping cable just for Red Sox games. CNBC reports that these streaming RSNs have to charge five times more for the streaming service than they charge cable companies per subscriber due to contracts. That could put a potential YES Network streaming plan at $35 a month for New York Yankees fans.

Still, a Boston area sports marketing professor called the price acceptable for “must have content”. I’d call it good data on how much non-sports fans were carrying the costs of sports in the bundle. The MLB.TV out-of-market single team plan breaks down to about $20 a month for the season. So the local tax here is about an extra $10 a month.

3. This will lead to more national exclusives, not less.

There is one huge drawback in this move, and the pain comes for the teams and leagues in charge. This problem is why we will see more of the national exclusives like the ones MLB signed with Peacock and Apple TV+. The casual and non-sports fans that had a RSN would occasionally stumble on the game while changing channels. If the game was exciting, they’d stick around. Being on the guide with 90 Day FiancĂ© and Breaking Bad helped grow the games’ audiences especially when a playoff push was on. No one flips into a $30 paid app by accident, so even local sports need to find a way to reach potential fans where they are. From now on, that’s the big streaming apps.

4. Regional Sports Networks are unsustainable for fans and teams.

NESN and the other RSNs only exist because of limitations and restrictions that used to make sense but don’t anymore. Fans no longer need special cable systems or dedicated 24 hour channels just to see daily game broadcasts all season long.

RSN companies can no longer make huge profits from big subscription fees hiding inside cable bundles as those bundles shrink. Teams and Leagues value the rights to their content much more than the license fees the RSNs pay, and they’re realizing they can have more control if they own it all themselves.

I expect more drastic changes as contracts run out, and eventually the middlemen will get pushed out of this part of the sports world. There is a reason NBC and AT&T have explored selling off their RSNs.

Streaming Sports News of the Week:

"Netflix, start your engines" According to Business Insider, Netflix has bid on rights for Formula 1 broadcasts starting in 2023. It’s far from a sure thing with bids also coming in from ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. But this means Netflix is serious about getting into sports, considering rights are expected to cost close to $100 million.

These bids are quickly becoming streaming first and networks second.

STREAM.EDU Colleges are starting their own streaming services, but most of them will have no live games. Some schools, including LSU and Oklahoma State, are charging $9 a month. Other schools, including Maryland and Clemson, make it available only to donor and booster club members.

All of these offer behind the scenes clips, podcasts and interviews along with classic games, but are lacking live sports of any kind. I'll pass for now, but keep an eye on this trend.

It LIVs? The new LIV Golf Invitational tour has landed the streaming service DAZN as an official broadcast partner. LIV Golf is the competitor to the PGA that just launched this weekend. It’s been surrounded by controversy due to Saudi Arabia's financial backing and fights between participating players and the PGA.

DAZN is a sports streaming service that has tried and failed for years to land big sports in the US, with mostly just boxing broadcasts so far. DAZN has been desperate for big sports names on the level of Phil Mickelson & Dustin Johnson. Also DAZN has already done a boxing title fight in Saudi Arabia, so this seems like a perfect fit.

Golf fans would be a new audience for DAZN, but will those fans pay $20 a month for that sport’s “B” team?

Watch. Learn. Stream.

What I Watched:

I watched the first three games of the NBA Finals, searching for a close finish or competitive game. I’m still searching. I watched Devin Haney absolutely starch George Kambosos to win the undisputed lightweight boxing championship. It was fun to see Kambosos swing at air as Haney dodged, ducked, dipped, dove and, um, dodged.

What I Learned:

I learned that the Los Angeles Angels tried to break out of a 13 game losing streak by playing Nickelback songs for every player’s walk-up music. Someday, this might be a good idea but better for a Rockstar than a ballplayer because they lost that game too. This Photograph
 I mean tweet is how you remind me to never try this to fix writer's block.

What I Will Be Streaming: 

I will be streaming boxing with Berlanga vs. Angulo on ESPN+ this Saturday. I’ll also stream some of UFC 275 the same night, and the free Twins vs. Mariners game on YouTube Wednesday. I’m likely to look in on the rest of the NBA Finals but I hope we get more drama and less blowouts.

The Streaming Sports Schedule: June 10-16

Select key events shown. All dates and times are subject to change. (* if necessary)

NBA Finals:

Golden State Warriors vs Boston Celtics

All games available on ABC

Game 4: Friday June 10 at 9 pm

Game 5: Monday June 13 at 9 pm

Game 6*: Thursday June 16 at 9 pm

ABC available with an antenna or streaming on YouTube TV ($65 / month), FuboTV ($70 / month), Hulu with Live TV ($70 / month) & DirecTV Stream ($75 / month)

MLB:

Friday June 10

Tampa Bay Rays vs Minnesota Twins 8 pm on Apple TV+

New York Mets vs Los Angeles Angels 9:30 pm on Apple TV+

Sunday June 12

Oakland Athletics vs Cleveland Guardians 11:30 am on Peacock

Wednesday June 15

Minnesota Twins vs Seattle Mariners 4 pm on YouTube’s free MLB channel

Combat Sports:

June 11

UFC 275: Teixeira vs. Prochazka, Prelims 8 pm on ESPN+ and ESPN2, Main Card 10 pm on ESPN+ Pay-Per-View

Boxing: Edgar Berlanga vs. Roamer Alexis Angulo 11 pm on ESPN+ and ESPN

Gratitude

Thank you for reading this week’s Streaming Sports Newsletter. I am so excited to have the newsletter available far and wide, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. If you haven’t already, please subscribe so you won’t miss an issue and share this issue with anyone you think might enjoy it.

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