By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on Facebook & X.
Former editor of 4 TV magazines. Author of TV Dot Com.
TV Answer Man, I got one more question for you. When Amazon starts selling Bally Sports, how much will they charge? — Jimmy, Detroit.
Jimmy, Diamond Sports, the owner of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, announced yesterday that Amazon has agreed to invest in the company. If the deal is approved by Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy court, it will allow Amazon’s Prime Video to sell the streaming version of the Bally Sports RSNs. (Diamond Sports declared bankruptcy last March and is nearing completion of a reorganization plan.)
It’s difficult to estimate what Prime Video would charge for a Bally Sports RSN because we don’t know which teams will be available in the service. As of now, Diamond Sports has the streaming rights to roughly 24 NHL and NBA teams and five MLB teams (Tigers, Marlins, Brewers, Rays and Royals). It’s possible that with Amazon’s investment, and the proceeds of a lawsuit settlement with Sinclair Broadcasting, a newly fortified Diamond Sports might persuade MLB to allow more teams to provide streaming rights. But that’s speculation for now. (Bally Sports’ streaming plan would be more valuable with more MLB teams because some markets would have multiple teams where now they have just one.)
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So let’s look at what Amazon’s Prime Video could offer today and how it might use that to set a price.
Bally Sports Plus, the cord-cutting app for the Bally Sports channels, currently costs $19.99 a month with the current lineup. That’s a good starting point for Prime Video. But I would expect Amazon to offer a discount for Prime members, perhaps $5-10 a month. For Prime members, that would bring the price from somewhere between $9.99 and $14.99 a month.
It’s also possible that Amazon could create a sports tier, combining Bally Sports with Thursday Night Football. But I would think it would need to acquire a few more sports properties before doing that. And that’s certainly possible with news reports saying it’s interested in NBA TV rights.
The situation is fluid but that’s my guess as of now. And take note that it’s highly likely that Bally Sports will still be available on pay TV services, such as cable and satellite.
Jimmy, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.
