MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Pulls No Punches on State of RSN Market, Considers League's Direct-to-Consumer Future Why friction-less digital access to games is critical and where gambling entities fit in By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, October 18, 2021 - 2:42 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With ratings up and matchups living up to their billing (see the epic Dodgers-Giants NLDS series), Major League Baseball is enjoying a prosperous postseason so far. But, in a rapidly evolving media landscape, what does the future of America's Pastime look like?
At SportsBusiness Journal's World Congress of Sports, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed some of those topics, including where the sport stands on the regional-sports-network business, what he would like a direct-to-consumer MLB product to look like, and what production enhancements are making the game a more enjoyable watch?
On this MLB Postseason:
We were due for a little bit of good luck. The last couple of years have been a real challenge with the pandemic. We've been very fortunate this year with great teams and great rivalries early in the playoffs, which is important in terms of capturing people's interest. I think the east-west piece of it has been really good, too. Having Boston, Tampa, San Francisco, L.A. has made this really good for us.
On the future of regional sports networks:
The cord-cutting phenomenon has made the RSN business one that is declining, by definition. Fewer subs makes the business more difficult. I think that the negativity surrounding the RSNs has increased exponentially as a result of the situation with the Sinclair subsidiary, Diamond.
Part of their problem is cord-cutting. The other part of their problem is that there is excessive leverage on that business when you think about what they paid for it, how much debt they have on it. That leverage has produced headlines that are more negative. There are RSNs that may not be thriving or growing, but they are going to survive.
MLB's future as a result of the RSN decline:
I think the key for us is the development of direct-to-consumer products to increase our reach. The biggest problem for us on the RSN side is that, even within the cable bundle - particularly with the Diamond subsidiary - is that their reach, within the bundle, is not what it used to be. It's important for us to develop digital products that allow us to get to our fans in a friction-less way. That's really your future.
On whether MLB's future is with Sinclair:
Our view of digital rights is that they are our future and it's something that the league and the clubs should control. We do have a pretty good track record on the digital side. MLB.TV was one of the first over-the-top products and has continued to grow and at a really impressive rate. Who exactly the partners will be I'm not prepared to [discuss], but we see those digital rights as very valuable and crucial to our future.
On what a direct-to-consumer service looks like:
It has to be friction-less: easy for the consumer to get in and buy what they want. It also has to be flexible. I see that flexibility, in the context of baseball, as buying an out-of-market package, buying up into your local rights, buying just your local rights; the consumer gets to decide what he's buying.
On having an ownership stake in a future direct-to-consumer product:
I think ownership stake probably understates it. We believe those digital rights are crucial, and we want to own and control the platform on which they are delivered. We may have partners in that process. This idea that, late in the discussions, we somehow demanded an equity stake is just not accurate. We've told [Sinclair] that from day one.
On the remaining package of national games still available:
We re fortunate. We have multiple major entities that are interested in that package. That's great for creating competition from a financial standpoint. More important for us, we want that package to be forward-looking. What does the future look like? How are we going to deliver games digitally in a way that is friction-less. There are two big opportunities there: not only additional revenue but the opportunity to take a step forward in the way we're delivering games to fans.
On potentially selling those rights to a sports-gambling company:
Our thought, with respect to the gaming entities, is that there is a place for them in the media lineup for Major League Baseball. I think the important thing is that, whatever we do with a gaming company, we're always going to have that clean, family-friendly broadcast that isn't going to have a gambling overlay to it. We're going to have to find a gambling entity with the flexibility to adhere to that larger strategic thought.
I'm not saying you're never going to see odds on a national broadcast. I'm talking about a gambling-focused feed where it's not once or twice per game and it's every inning and every pitch where there's [betting] material. If we ever go that far, we're going to have a clean feed as well.
On production enhancements that can be expected in future MLB broadcasts:
I think you're going to see a continuation of some of the things that we've been doing. Microphones and in-game interviews are at the top of that list. We saw that at the All-Star Game, where you were having conversations with players in the field. Fans seemed to love that. We're going to do more and more of that. I think the opportunity for supplemental information as either a second-screen experience or integrates into the broadcast is really important to us. Statcast is the best example of that. It provides the fan the opportunity to understand the game in a way that they might not otherwise. We
North America Stories
03/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on the proposed $6.2 billion Nexstar acquisition for Tegna and set deadlines f...
03/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
03/12/2025
NEW YORK Great American Media said it plans to launch Pure Flix Familia, a dedicated Spanish-language platform, in 2026....
03/12/2025
SOUTHPORT, Conn. Main Street Sports Group has announced that the FanDuel Sports Network app is now available directly on Vizio and on smart TVs with Vizio OS. T...
03/12/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Telia, the second-largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's c...
03/12/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. Sinclair said Jay Zollar, vice president and general manager of WLUK-WCWF here, will retire Dec. 31 after 26 years running the stations. Station...
02/12/2025
Case Study: How Mid-Atlantic Sports Network Moved to All-IP Distribution in 60 D...
02/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Lee Corso, Coach, Commentator, FirebrandBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | S...
02/12/2025
SVG All-Stars: Dan Nabors, Senior Director, Remote Engineering, TNT SportsThe veteran tech leader is helping guide Warner Bros. Discovery's at-home' re...
02/12/2025
National Lacrosse League Opens Season With New Cloud-Based Official Replay-Revie...
02/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: The Cinematic Look in Live Production - Bridging Aesthetic...
02/12/2025
SVG India Announces Advisory Board; JioStar's Prashant Khanna Named ChairmanBy Ken Kerschbaumer
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 11:15 am
Print This Story |...
02/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: New AI Production Tools Workshop' Features ESPN, F...
02/12/2025
Written and directed by Hailey Gates, Atropia won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival....
02/12/2025
The lightweight and highly portable CORVUS-RAVEN, recently demonstrated at the V...
02/12/2025
The lightweight, rugged Panther 2 tri-band VSAT delivers high-speed data communications for Internet, VPN connectivity and video transmission over commercial an...
02/12/2025
NGID volunteers in the United States
NGID volunteers in Mexico
NGID volunteers in India
NGID volunteers in Spain
NGID volunteers in Australia
NGID voluntee...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics today introduced the Alpha 7 V (ILCE-7M5), the fifth generation of its Alpha 7 full-frame mirrorless lineup, powered by the newly dev...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has opened a docket for comments on Nexstar Media Group's proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna and se...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters has added a trio of media executives, Veronica Rodriguez, Matt Schnaars and Jeff Warshaw, to its board of di...
02/12/2025
MILAN, Italy Brightcove has released seven new features designed to expand global reach, improve audience engagement, enhance live-streaming quality and streaml...
02/12/2025
BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced a new Service Provider Partner agreement with NPC Media, the Australian managed p...
02/12/2025
DPA Microphones today announces the immediate availability of its new N-Series Digital Wireless Microphone System for customers throughout the U.S. In addition ...
02/12/2025
Hiltron Communications reports a well attended and successful Space Tech Expo exhibition, held at the Messe Bremen from Tuesday November 18 through Thursday Nov...
02/12/2025
The beginning of September saw Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust, in association with Channel 9 and Triple M, kick off the 2025 Brisbane Festival in spec...
02/12/2025
SGM Lighting is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with ACT Entertainment, under which ACT will serve as the exclusive distributor for SGM's ne...
02/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that Telia, the second largest telecom operator in Norway, is modernizing its broadband network with the company's i...
02/12/2025
European cloud data protection specialist Keepit is expanding its sales network in the DACH region and has gained TIM AG, one of the leading value-added distrib...
02/12/2025
Featured products at ISE 2026
This year s ISE 2026 theme "Push Beyond" reflects Calrec s direction of travel. The company is dedicated to supporting the AV an...
02/12/2025
Czech Television, the national public broadcaster, has deployed one of the largest LiveU live production projects in the region for live sports and news coverag...
02/12/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced the release of v8.2 software for its ZEN and ZEN-W Series, bringing advanced cinematic camera se...
02/12/2025
Global provider of video streaming software and services, Accedo, and OTT platform provider, Magine Pro, have signed a binding agreement to carve out and merge ...
02/12/2025
With proven success in broadcast, OTT, and content supply chains, K.S Avinash set to scale Skandha's service-first approach across APAC
Skandha Media Servi...
02/12/2025
AJA Video Systems has joined the RAVENNA community, a network of partners devoted to advancing the RAVENNA standard for distributing real-time audio over intern...
02/12/2025
HUNT VALLEY, Md. Sinclair and its wholly-owned subsidiary One Media Technologies have released a new report focused on how ATSC 3.0, the IP-based NextGen TV sta...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau has issued a reminder that stations in DMAs 111 through 120 must implement its audio descrip...
02/12/2025
WASHINGTON Members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee have elected four industry veterans to three-year terms on the organization's board of direc...
02/12/2025
A new survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan highlights how important social media is for younger consumers, with Gen Z spending 5.1 hours a day on so...
02/12/2025
Faculty Notes: Fall/Winter 2025 Recent accomplishments, releases, and events by Berklee faculty.
December 1, 2025
By
Editorial Staff
The cast of Kind of M...
02/12/2025
Today, Mistral AI announced the Mistral 3 family of open-source multilingual, multimodal models, optimized across NVIDIA supercomputing and edge platforms.
M...
02/12/2025
Ring In The Holidays With Our Biggest Sale Ever On Ivory II Pianos!From now until December 31st, you can save 50% or more on every Ivory II piano and collection...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in America: How Stranger Things' Electrified the US Economy
Entertainment
02 December 2025
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to cl...
02/12/2025
Back to All News
Culinary Class Wars' Season 2 Trailer Teases New Rules, R...
02/12/2025
At AWS re:Invent, NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services expanded their strategic collab...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Pulls No Punches on State of RSN Market, Considers League's Direct-to-Consumer Future Why friction-less digital access to games is critical and where gambling entities fit in By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
