In recent months, baseball fans who are Comcast subscribers have experienced changes in their ability to watch games on television. The agreement between Comcast and Diamond Sports Group, which owns 18 regional sports networks, expired this week. As a result, Comcast customers in more than a dozen markets were unable to watch their local Major League Baseball teams on TV.
The traditional business model for local sports involved sports teams selling their rights to regional sports networks who would then sell carriage rights to cable companies. However, with the rise of streaming services, consumers now have more options and can choose to purchase only what they want instead of a whole bundle. Some fans have turned to pirating games as a result of these changes.
Recently, some sports teams have started selling their rights to local broadcasting affiliates rather than regional sports networks. This allows fans to access games through cable or even with a basic antenna, providing free access to a broader audience. This shift towards local broadcasting affiliates is reminiscent of how sports were watched in the ’70s and ’80s.
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