Kraken Could Expand Reach With Broadcast, Streaming Options
Kraken Could Expand Reach With Broadcast, Streaming Options
Some Seattle Kraken fans have wondered why they should pay attention to the crumbling regional sports network (RSN) TV model. After all, the Seattle Mariners are majority owners of Kraken cable outlet ROOT Sports, so have a vested interest in keeping that channel viable.
However, ROOT Sports isn't immune to the changing national landscape for local TV sports, which we originally detailed here.
As a CNBC.com story explains, "For decades, RSNs have paid fees to leagues and teams, and cord-cutting has hit the model especially hard. That, plus the debt load that stemmed from Sinclair’s acquisition of Diamond Sports in 2019, pushed the network’s owner into bankruptcy earlier this year." Another owner of regional RSNs, AT&T Sportsnet, is also exiting the business.
Traditional over-the-air broadcast stations decades ago ceded the games of local franchises to pay TV. Now, they're expressing a renewed appetite to compete for fans, and potential fans, who don't/can't pay to watch their beloved teams.
“The bottom line is you want to be seen in as many homes as possible and generating new revenues,” CNBC quoted sports consultant Lee Berke. “There’s not just one way to do it, but you can’t be fully devoted to pay TV alone. There needs to be different streams of revenue.”
In Las Vegas, a local Scripps broadcast station will be carrying NHL Golden Knights games this season. Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said, "The distribution of teams only through RSNs had become a really bad business for the teams. The teams and leagues have a reach problem.”
Should the Kraken eventually wish to follow suit, they may have a choice of suitors. "Nexstar’s CW has been increasingly interested in adding sports, with recent deals for ACC college football games and NASCAR, and would be interested in obtaining more sports rights, including for local games," reports CNBC. In Seattle, the CW station is KSTW-11.
NHL hockey could be attractive to other non-network Seattle broadcast stations, which already schedule live sports. Fox 13+ aired nine Seattle Thunderbirds WHL games last season, and shows select Seattle Storm WNBA games. Other Storm games are carried on the local ION-TV affiliate.
Don't be surprised if Seattle Kraken games eventually join them, as well as providing an in-market streaming option. As they say in TV land, stay tuned.