The Grill Room

The Apple of MLB’s Eye

May 27, 2025
Jon Kelly, co-founder of Puck and Dylan Byers' boss, dives deep into Major League Baseball's media rights negotiations, spotlighting potential deals with NBC and Apple. They explore the complex landscape of sports broadcasting and how traditional media is adapting to new viewing habits. The conversation also reveals the political ramifications of Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson's book, ‘Original Sin,’ exposing fractures within the Democratic Party and the Biden administration's media strategies.
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INSIGHT

MLB Media Rights Complexity

  • Major League Baseball's media rights negotiations reveal tensions between traditional broadcast and streaming models.
  • MLB's franchise structure complicates unified deals unlike NFL and NBA's collective bargaining model.
INSIGHT

Challenges of MLB Securitization Plan

  • MLB's move to securitize smaller teams' media rights could lead to lower total deal values.
  • This approach risks making baseball viewing harder, counteracting efforts to increase the sport's popularity.
INSIGHT

Streamers Shift Focus in Sports Media

  • Sports media business models are evolving similarly to entertainment streaming's peak TV era.
  • Streamers are shifting from aggressive content spending to focusing on viewer retention and cost discipline.
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