Are Streaming RSNs and Local OTA Channels the Ticket for Local Sports Fans?
As live sports streaming rights continue to complicate the viewing experiences of fans who need to subscribe to more and more channels to watch the games they want to see, is making regional sports available through team-owned streaming networks and local OTA channels the best of both worlds? Or is this approach just another barrier to watching for out-of-region fans and a throwback to blackout rules? Tata Communications’ Corey Smith, SVTA’s Jason Thibeault, evision’s Sunil Joy, and Omdia’s Michael Frank debate the issue in a conversation from Streaming Media Connect 2025.
‘Taking Their Future in Their Own Hands’
Omdia Principal Analyst, Media & Entertainment Michael Frank tells the panelists that
teams in local markets are increasingly taking control of their media rights, which allows them to reach a broad audience through traditional TV while also offering streaming options, effectively combining the best of both worlds. “They’re cutting deals with their local over-the-air pay broadcasters, and at the same time as cutting deals with their local TV station, their local DMA. They’re also creating their own OTT platform. So in essence, they’re taking their future in their own hands, right?” he says. They’re basically streaming on their own without one of the big streamers, and OTA broadcast is giving them massive reach, Frank notes. He asks, “What do you think about that strategy, about teams taking their own media rights into their own hands and not leaving it up to big tech companies?”
Tata Communications’ Deputy General Manager, Media Enabled Services Corey Smith replies that RSN issues have been “messy.” He comes up with the hypothetical example of someone living in Dallas, Texas, who’s a Seattle Seahawks fan. “I can never watch the Seattle Seahawks because I will never get it in my local market, and I’ll have regional blackouts if I try to watch it online in certain areas.” That DMA approach takes sports back to the archaic, “carve up the world kind of thing, … because it’s all based on your ad revenue bands in different regions.” In this example, nobody wins, Smith laments. “I can’t watch whatever I want to watch when I want to watch it because I’m now restricted to all of the access rights holders on who’s doing what.”
‘Channel What?’
Frank reiterates that regional blackouts and restrictive access rights continue to frustrate fans who want to watch out-of-market games, and Smith agrees that these practices are hurting sports fandom.
Smith continues to channel his hypothetical Texan: “If you want to watch the Texas Rangers, by all means be a Texas Rangers fan and buy an a la carte subscription to watch your team at every single stadium in the country. But you can’t really do that because you’re restricted by the regional networks.” Smith calculates that purchasing MLB packages to watch every game isn’t realistic either; it would cost $300−$400 a year.
Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA) CEO Jason Thibeault agrees with Smith, citing the difficulty of finding the game you want to watch. “You can’t just deliver content into every area you want because the local broadcaster also has rights deals and carriage rights for that area. And so you go to watch your online stream and it’s like, ‘I’m sorry, this is blacked out. You have to go watch it on Channel 14.’ You’re like, ‘Channel what?’ So again, sports rights are hurting fandom.”
Smith chimes in with one way fans can still watch their games: “I go to a bar; I’ll watch Channel 14 there.”
A Measured Take
evision Senior Director of Content Strategy and Head of Content Sunil Joy points out that each market is different: There are markets where streaming has decreased the prices. “[T]hey’ve actually started making it available at no extra cost to customers,” he reminds the panelists. The sports rights purchased by the streaming services “goes back into sports, making it available. There are sports that previously did not travel outside a certain region that’s now traveling globally. So there are pluses and minuses to it. Again, each market is reacting depending on how much the consumers can spend.”
Thibeault jokes, “Moderator, moderator, question. I have a question. Sunil is making way too [many good] points. Can we censor him for like five minutes? Logic does not belong in a debate. Hey, can we just mute him?”
Joy laughs. “I can mute myself.”
Join us in May 2025 for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media Connect.
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