Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal reports that the Texas Rangers will launch their own Regional Sports Network and sever ties with Bally Sports.
Following Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers’ agreement with Bally Sports comes to an end.
Rangers games might have been broadcast on Amazon Prime if Bally Sports’ parent company, Diamond Sports Group, had consented to a debt restructuring earlier in the year.
The team joins the Dallas Stars and Mavericks, who have secured new broadcasting arrangements for their upcoming seasons, as the most recent DFW sports team to depart Bally Sports.
Bally Sports reportedly offered the Rangers a competitive rights fee to stay, but the team chose to pursue their own project instead, which is anticipated to be distributed by Charter and DirectTV, according to Friend’s sources.
The Rangers would own and run the Rangers RSN, which would include pre- and post-game programming in addition to the actual game.
During Sports Business Journal’s AXS DRIVE, which took place in Frisco from September 16–19, Rangers President of Business Operations & COO Neil Leibman made a statement stating that the team needed to increase viewability.
Just 16% of the 16.5 million households in our five-state zone, or slightly over 2 million people, are able to view our games, according to Leibman. “We have to fix that.”
The Rangers’ ownership of their own RSN could be the first step in expanding said viewership availability.
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