MLB will take over broadcasting duties for 3 teams in 2025
Ever since Diamond Sports, the parent company of Bally Sports, filed for bankruptcy in March 2023, the fallout has been slow in Major League Baseball.
Fans of three teams formerly televised on Bally Sports regional channels — the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins — learned Tuesday that the league will take over their broadcasting operations beginning in 2025.
MLB announces it will take over broadcasts for Brewers, Guardians, and Twins next year like it did for the Padres, DBacks, and Rockies. MLB will handle production, negotiating cable deals, and streaming packages. Rangers will also leave Diamond Sports.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 8, 2024
MLB also announced the Texas Rangers are officially no longer partnering with Diamond Sports Group and Bally Sports. The Rangers are still considering their options for the 2025 season.
“With the media landscape continuing to evolve, Major League Baseball is committed to serving our fans by ensuring they can see their favorite Clubs, removing blackouts where we can, and ultimately growing the reach of our games,” Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media, said in a statement. “We are proud to bring Guardians, Brewers and Twins games to their passionate fan bases with the same high-quality production that we have demonstrated in Arizona, Colorado, and San Diego.”
Brewers, Guardians, and Twins fans have a useful template for how to stream games in 2025.
MLB took over the broadcast rights for the San Diego Padres last year. For out-of-market fans a streaming subscription was available for $39.99 per month, or $199.99 for the full year. For fans in-market, a Padres.TV subscription was available for $19.99/month or $99.99 for the full season.
Padres games were also distributed on a host of channels depending on the viewer's cable package.
The deal should eliminate blackouts in the Guardians, Twins and Brewers local markets. In a statement Tuesday, Cleveland said "we're excited to work with Major League Baseball to produce and distribute games locally. This is great for our fans, as beginning in 2025, our games will now be more widely available. This will include streaming for the first time ever in our home television territory, essentially ending blackouts for our fans locally."
Statement from the Guardians: pic.twitter.com/MQOBgecVkq
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) October 8, 2024
In other news Tuesday, Front Office Sports reports that FanDuel is set to take over the title sponsor of the Diamond Sports Group-owned regional networks previously known as Bally Sports.