Diamond Sports Group has locked in a new distribution partner, securing a deal with FuboTV that will see the 19 Bally Sports RSNs join the streaming service’s programming roster within the next few weeks.
An expansion of the legacy partnership between Sinclair Broadcast’s linear TV stations and FuboTV, the new streaming deal reinstates the Bally Sports RSNs after what amounts to a three-year absence. Citing carriage fees that were “not consistent with [its] mission to provide value and keep costs low for consumers,” FuboTV dropped the RSNs on Jan. 1, 2020, or four months after Sinclair completed its $9.6 billion acquisition of the Fox Sports-branded channels.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The new deal marks something of a paradigm shift for the virtual MVPD space, which has largely shunned the pricey RSNs in a bid to keep a handle on ever-escalating programming costs. Before FuboTV reunited with the Bally Sports properties, the only vMVPD service to carry RSNs was DirecTV Stream.
The carriage deal comes just two weeks after Diamond Sports installed David Preschlack as its CEO, thereby relieving Sinclair of day-to-day operations at the unit. The former president of NBC Sports’ RSN division joined the DSG board in May, alongside sports-industry veteran (and current chairman) Randy Freer and former NFL COO Maryann Turcke.
FuboTV closed out the third quarter of 2022 with 1.23 million North American subscribers, which marked a 31% gain versus the year-ago period. Subscriptions accounted for 90% of the company’s quarterly revenue, or $196.3 million of a total three-month haul of $218.8 million. Advertising on the streaming platform brought in another $22.5 million.
As FuboTV markets itself as a sports-centric service, the resumption of RSN carriage is of a piece with its brand positioning. More to the point, carriers’ efforts to keep costs down have devolved into an endless game of fiscal Whac-A-Mole, as the fees associated with carrying basic-entertainment channels are also soaring. As a result, the vMVPDs have had to raise their subscription rates; since 2018, FuboTV’s lowest-priced plan has jumped from $44.99 per month to $69.99.
“RSNs are integral to FuboTV’s sports-first content strategy and our mission to super-serve local, passionate sports fans,” said Henry Ahn, chief business officer, FuboTV, before going on to characterize the deal as “meaningful and beneficial for both sides.”
