NYPost - FCC taking a look at pro sports streaming TV deals, NFL especially

Or they don't raise costs at all and just make money on the extra volume.

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pro sports streaming

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I saw a video this week about an MLB Team and how they are creating their own streaming avenue and unfortunately the money is not the same with the TV deal.

For instance they were getting nearly 40 million a year in a TV deal before the regional sports networks imploded.

Now with direct team streaming the subscription fees might bring in 5 million. Now the team would get to keep all the advertising revenue, but they also bear the cost of producing each game and paying talent in front and behind the camera. Plus you have the cost of streaming which isn’t cheap if you are having to stream to multiple devices and resolutions and keep archival content for on demand viewing.

Now Facebook and YouTube streaming is free for hosting, but no way are you going to generate the revenue needed to pay all the costs.

Too many variables at play now. With ad supported TV withering, and streaming not being as lucrative as it was made out to be, teams maybe forced to end broadcasting every game to get people back in the stands.


Now this isn’t the case in all markets or teams with a large fan base, you take the large markets where there is no shortage of advertisers lining up and potential subscribers. You probably could make the numbers work, but smaller teams with smaller fan bases good luck making the numbers work.

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The broadcasting has never been free. It's always been paid for by the advertisers who pass the cost along in their products or directly by the viewer.

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I can remember the dark days of Saints football when blackouts were common place. Sometimes a big advertiser would drop some coin to ensure the blackout was lifted and the Saints game could be televised and their ads run during the game.

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I pull up WWL app on my phone. And it says there is an NFL blackout for me and I can't listen to it.

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That’s there to protect the Titans network and their advertisers. If you’re listening to the Saints, then you’re not listening to the Titans and their advertisers can’t reach you.