SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint Venture Targeting Local-Sports-Media Market

SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint Venture Targeting Local-Sports-Media Market The alliance will provide comprehensive broadcast/streaming solutions for pro sports teams By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Thursday, July 10, 2025 - 1:38 pm

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Yesterday, Monumental Sports & Entertainment and ViewLift announced they were joining forces to offer a comprehensive solution for teams seeking greater control over their media rights and distribution strategies. This new alliance, rooted in a decade-long relationship between the Leonsis family and ViewLift, brings together Monumental's hands-on expertise in building a modern regional sports network and ViewLift's proven capabilities in powering direct-to-consumer digital platforms.

With Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) having rebuilt its entire RSN operation - from production to digital to playout - following the acquisition of MNMT network from Comcast/NBC in 2022 and with ViewLift serving 16 pro teams and six RSNs with robust OTT solutions, the partnership is designed to meet surging market demand. As teams of all sizes reevaluate their local-media future amidst the decline of traditional linear TV, the joint offering presents a turnkey path forward, combining production, digital, transmission, strategic consultation, and more.

SVG sat down with Zach Leonsis, president, media and new enterprises, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and Rick Allen, CEO/co-founder, ViewLift, to discuss why now is the right time for this alliance and how it is already attracting strong interest from across the pro sports leagues.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Zach Leonsis: We think that there's lots of momentum and a great long-term future for live local rights.

How did this deal come about, and why did it make sense from Monumental's perspective?

Leonsis: First of all, we've had a long-standing relationship - both personal and professional - with ViewLift. [My] family co-founded the business with Rick and has been a significant investor in ViewLift for over a decade. We've seen the business grow across a variety of different clients and expand significantly in the sports space.

And we at Monumental Sports Network are a ViewLift client, too. They power our entire OTT presence: all of our subscription and TV Everywhere streaming, on-demand video, and various apps across iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV, AppleTV, Smart TVs, and other connected devices. So we've got a very good working relationship and a high degree of confidence in how ViewLift operates.

Honestly, this was more a case of listening to the demands of the market as opposed to trying to launch a solution and then build a market for it. Obviously, there is a lot of change happening in the local-media space. It's a very complicated world, and these teams often have to move quickly to find alternative solutions. Based on our mutual real-world experience, we thought that this was an exciting opportunity for both companies.

ViewLift's Rick Allen: This has been driven entirely by market needs at a time when there has been fundamental change in how local-media rights are handled and by whom.

And how about from a ViewLift perspective?

Allen: As Zach said, this has been driven entirely by market needs at a time when there has been fundamental change in how local-media rights are handled and by whom. Teams and leagues have unique needs, and each is trying to understand what's possible in terms of solutions. From the 16 teams and six RSNs that we represent right now, we've seen that they have a wide range of different services and needs.

Many of the teams and RSNs that already had the production capabilities in-house are pretty well settled. But Zach and I and our respective organizations saw a particular opportunity in some of the smaller markets, where teams did not already have that production help, or in circumstances where a single team, rather than [an organization that owns] multiple teams in multiple sports, has a need. Monumental has built up expertise and capability in that area, while we are able to spin up powerful DTC and streaming platforms. We're providing what was lacking in the marketplace and offer teams the ability to select those elements that are most necessary for their success.

Why do you believe this new joint offering will be attractive to the regional-sports-media market?

Leonsis: When we bought our network from Comcast and NBC in 2022, we had to go through the process of replacing all of our critical infrastructure in the production plant and studios, as well as build a new digital platform, which we did in conjunction with ViewLift. We also had to handle a rebrand, revamp our programming and production lineup, integrate with our existing organization across shared services like accounting and HR, integrate all our sales and sponsorship [operations], and move our transmission and playout services to Encompass Digital Media, among many other things. We've done our due diligence and can confidently say that we know how to walk that walk. By combining that experience with ViewLift's expertise, we can provide a full suite of turnkey solutions for a team or regional sports network looking for an alternative.

How does this partnership change ViewLift's value proposition and how it will function in the regional-sports market?

Allen: Through this alliance, we are able to provide a broader product offering. We at ViewLift have said from the beginning that digital had to be a complementary distribution opportunity for teams, not necessarily a replacement for it. That's true whether it's an RSN owned by a team or teams, a third-party RSN, or an OTA television station group. We've known that [strea

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/07/10/svg-sit-down-mses-zach-leonsis-...
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