It’s been years since Avs and Nuggets fans have been able to turn on their basic cable and watch their teams, and now the Rockies may be joining that list. Warner Brothers and Discovery own all of the AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks, but yesterday, all the teams were alerted that WB does not have the money to pay for TV rights for the season. Because they have no money, they want to give the rights back to the teams, and the teams can do with them what they want. Warner Brothers plans on transferring the rights back to the team on March 31st, about a week out from Opening Day. That gives the Rockies a week to get a new game plan into place with new rights holders. That’s only if someone wants to buy them. They’re currently worth about $40 Million a season, although the Rockies would probably take considerably less than that. TV rights usually make up about 15% of a teams budget, so expect the Monforts to figure out something before the season begins.
AT&T Sportsnet was operating in Denver, Houston and Pittsburgh, and the teams that will be affected will be four MLB teams (Astros, Mariners, Pirates, Rockies), three NBA teams (Blazers, Jazz, Rockets) and three NHL teams (Golden Knights, Kraken, Penguins). Warner Brothers/Discovery is looking at filing for Bankruptcy this spring, just after the season begins. The other big rights holder across the country, Diamond Sports Group, more commonly known as Bally Sports is also looking at Bankruptcy Protections. They have 19 Regional Sports Networks, with 42 Teams involved, but they say they plan on broadcasting through their bankruptcy.
