Warner Bros.Discovery Sportsis a little more than a month away from unwinding almost all of its regional sports network business.https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co.../28/media.aspx
When the current baseball season ends, WBD Sports is set to sell its RSNs in Pittsburgh and Houston to some of the teams in those markets and all signs point to the shuttering of its Denver-based channel,AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Soon after the Oct. 1 conclusion of the MLB season, WBD Sports’ only RSN asset will be a 29% stake in the Seattle-basedRoot Sports Northwest. The Seattle Mariners have been the majority owner of that RSN since 2013.
WBD Sports already has agreed to a deal to allowFenway Sports Group, which owns the Pittsburgh Penguins, to take overAT&T SportNet Pittsburgh. Specific financial details about the deal are not known, but it is expected to close within the next several weeks.
Fenway Sports Group has a lot of experience in the RSN business, as it co-owns one of the country’s most successful regional sports networks inNESN. The deal to take over the RSN ensures that the Penguins will remain on linear television in the Pittsburgh market.
It’s likely that Fenway Sports will launch a direct-to-consumer service around the Penguins, especially considering that NESN launched one around the Red Sox last year. But nobody is prepared to offer specifics about how a Fenway Sports-owned RSN will look in Pittsburgh.
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Not a closely guarded secret. Been speculated much of the year. Interesting to see it finally getting done.