Sinclair/Bally's standalone soft opening tomorrow! (not in the Twin Cities though)

[Original_JB]

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/21/sinclair-to-launch-20-mo-direct-to-consumer-streaming-service-bally-sports-on-june-23/  $20/mo

[SF Twins Fan]

I hope the product tanks.  MLB and NHL need to find another company to work with for broadcasting games.

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, they do the bare minimum and their current app is inconvenient and buggy for me.

I've never liked the idea that a casino owned the broadcast rights to MLB either. I don't have a problem with gambling, but considering Pete Rose, it's pretty hypocritical. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't wish success on Sinclair for pretty much any reason but I'll take damned near anything over paying DirecTV Stream $90/mo to watch Twins games.

[Tjwalsh65]

Yes I will hand over my $20 a month if I can get the Twins.

[baul0010]

So, still no Twins is what I'm getting from the article.  I wonder why Tampa Bay.  They have no fans. 

 

[lecroy24fan]

7 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, they do the bare minimum and their current app is inconvenient and buggy for me.

I've never liked the idea that a casino owned the broadcast rights to MLB either. I don't have a problem with gambling, but considering Pete Rose, it's pretty hypocritical. 

Bally does not own the rights. Sinclair owns them. Bally pays Sinclair for the naming rights of the RSN's.

[Brock Beauchamp]

19 hours ago, baul0010 said:

So, still no Twins is what I'm getting from the article.  I wonder why Tampa Bay.  They have no fans. 

Tampa Bay has fans, they don't have fans who attend games. Their TV contract is actually better than the Twins contract right now. Not a ton better but it's better.

But yeah, it's up to each team to agree to these terms. In my case, I'm interested if they're going to allow out of market purchases. Once the Twins sign up, I'll happily buy both the Twins and Brewers packages if allowed.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Read into this more. No out of market sales because MLB blackout rules are in place because baseball is awesome and smart.

The reason these five teams were chosen is because their contracts already included verbiage to give direct-to-consumer rights to Sinclair. 

[Mortimerkenny21]

So just not in the Twin Cities or Twin Cities viewing area? What about greater Minnesota?

[baul0010]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Read into this more. No out of market sales because MLB blackout rules are in place because baseball is awesome and smart.

The reason these five teams were chosen is because their contracts already included verbiage to give direct-to-consumer rights to Sinclair. 

I'm not smart.  Will this happen for the Twins?  Or will verbiage keep this from happening for us?

[lecroy24fan]

3 hours ago, Mortimerkenny21 said:

So just not in the Twin Cities or Twin Cities viewing area? What about greater Minnesota?

It's only available in 5 markets to start with. I believe, as mentioned a few posts above, that these are the only teams with verbiage in their deals that includes streaming rights. As more teams sign new deals with SInclair it will expand.

[lecroy24fan]

1 hour ago, baul0010 said:

I'm not smart.  Will this happen for the Twins?  Or will verbiage keep this from happening for us?

When a new tv deal is done.

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 hours ago, baul0010 said:

I'm not smart.  Will this happen for the Twins?  Or will verbiage keep this from happening for us?

I think it will happen but it will require a new negotiation. I suspect Bally will be VERY invested in making it happen for next season. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

23 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

In my case, I'm interested if they're going to allow out of market purchases. Once the Twins sign up, I'll happily buy both the Twins and Brewers packages if allowed.

Why would you need this out-of-market? Would you be looking to replace MLBTV?

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

29 minutes ago, Otto von Ballpark said:

Why would you need this out-of-market? Would you be looking to replace MLBTV?

Pre- and post-game content. MLB.tv is really unreliable in that regard.

[Vanimal46]

The go-live date for the Twin Cities is September 26. Wolves and Wild games will be available. The Twins likely for 2023 season.