NBA owner warns regional sports networks ‘unviable’ with new TV deal

As we lurch toward another bankruptcy hearing involving Diamond Sports at the end of July, one that figures to finally (probably?) provide clarity on whether there is a path forward for the large regional sports network parent company, we might have been given an early snapshot of the future.

Some details of the NBA’s unfathomably massive new 11-year, $76 billion TV/media rights deal emerged last week. But even more was contained within a blistering counterpoint to the deal’s parameters offered up by Knicks owner James Dolan in a letter sent to the NBA’s board of governors and obtained by ESPN.

His critique reads as interesting and self-serving all at once, with the crux seemingly that the Knicks as a large-market team are going to have to share more of the league’s incredible wealth with smaller market teams and that printing money every year thanks to the massive TV deal will be sort of, um, boring?

But as I talked about on Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast, the most interesting specific charge from Dolan is that the expanded new media deal, which includes rights for streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, threatens the current business model for regional sports networks and could make them ― in his words — “unviable.”

Writes Dolan, per ESPN: “The increased number of exclusive and non-exclusive games means that national partners would have the ability to air nearly half of the regular season and all postseason games. This reduction in available games for [regional sports networks] risks rendering the entire RSN model unviable. The inclusion of streaming partners in the proposal allows fans in all NBA markets to bypass their RSN to watch certain games in their local market. The proposal offers no local protections for RSNs.”

Minnesota fans, particularly those with Comcast who are frustrated after the cable giant dropped the Diamond-run Bally Sports North in early May, are probably scoffing at the idea that this is a problem.

But there also is a simplicity to having virtually every game on one RSN. Watching the Wolves on some combination of several channels and streaming services might be good for casual fans and less so for diehards.

The new deal would start a year from now during the 2025-26 season. (Get ready, by the way, for half-billion dollar player contracts in a decade as the salary cap skyrockets along with the TV deal).

What most of us would agree on is that the current RSN model is broken. What remains elusive is the answer to how best it should be replaced.

Here are four more things to know today:

*The Star Tribune’s Marcus Fuller joined me on Tuesday’s show to talk about the future of college athletics and Gophers sports — particularly the changes foreshadowed last week by AD Mark Coyle.

*Ten years ago, Target Field hosted the MLB All-Star Game. Here is a look back at the event.

*Northwestern is going to play football this fall in a temporary, 15,000-seat stadium.

*Emailer Mark makes a good point about Monday’s podcasts with Patrick Reusse: “I look forward to my run and listen to you and Pat talk about the stories of the week. But when Pat said why does everyone complain, I almost lost it. What would Pat be without complaining?”