NFL Sunday Ticket sets their prices for the upcoming season. David Zaslav reverses course on his NBA comments. Plus: Tony Petitti in as new Big Ten commissioner and Diamond withholds payments to three MLB teams.
Sunday Ticket pricing
On Tuesday, YouTube TV released pricing for the NFL’s out-of-market Sunday Ticket package previously offered by DirecTV. Subscribers to YouTube TV can pay $349 for the base package, which includes all out-of-market NFL games, and a customizable “quad-box” that allows viewers to watch four games on one screen. The price for non-subscribers will be $449.
As an add-on to the base package, subscribers can pay an additional $40 for access to the whip-around coverage offered by the Redzone channel.
Notably, YouTube’s prices are a substantial increase from the DirecTV offering priced at $293.94 last season. Users that decide to subscribe to any of these plans prior to June 6th will receive a $100 discount.
Zaslav NBA comments
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has shifted his rhetoric regarding the retention of NBA rights for TNT. Zaslav made headlines in November after saying WBD “do not have to have the NBA.” On Wednesday, during an event to announce the merger of their Discovery+ and HBO Max streaming services, Zaslav noted that the company is hopeful in being able to extend with the NBA long term.
This would certainly be more in line with some of WBD’s actions, like signing Charles Barkley of Inside the NBA to a 10-year deal worth well over $100m (NY Post 10.17).
The NBA is seen as a vital property in the WBD sports portfolio, which includes MLB, NHL, March Madness, and recently US Soccer rights. With the NBA reportedly seeking to more than double their media rights revenue during upcoming negotiations, Zaslav’s November comments were widely seen as a bargaining tactic, with this week’s comments serving as a mea culpa of sorts.
Petitti tapped for Big Ten job
The Big Ten named Tony Petitti as the conference’s next commissioner on Wednesday, replacing Kevin Warren who departed earlier this year to be President of the Chicago Bears. Petitti is a longtime sports executive, serving as CEO of MLB Network from 2008-2014 before taking the COO job at MLB from 2014-2020.
Petitti joins the conference on the heels of new television contracts with FOX, NBC, and CBS, which may allow for him to ease into the job more than his peer George Kliavkoff over at the Pac-12. Still, Petitti will have to navigate the conference through the seemingly constant changes in college athletics from conference realignment to NIL.
Diamond withholds payments and WBD keeps AT&T SportsNets on life support
Diamond Sports Group, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, is currently withholding payment of rights fees to three MLB teams – the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, and Minnesota Twins. Despite withholding payments, Diamond is still broadcasting games for these teams on their Bally Sports RSNs (Athletic 4.12).
MLB filed an emergency motion on behalf of the teams last week, arguing that Diamond has no right to broadcast games without paying the rights fee. Diamond is seeking to cut the rights fees they owe to these three teams, arguing that the current contracts pay substantially over market value. Judge Christopher Lopez ruled that the matter will be settled in a trial scheduled for the end of May to determine the value of the three contracts (Bloomberg 4.13).
In other RSN news, Warner Bros. Discovery, who announced their intentions to shut down their AT&T SportsNet RSNs, has reportedly reached a deal with MLB to broadcast games and pay rights fees through the end of the 2023 season (SBJ 4.10).
