MLB focusing on media rights plan for all teams
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — For Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, the recent conclusion of Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy created an “overwhelming sense of relief” with short-term certainty as the league eyes its long-term media rights plan.
“I think the good news is that we did a pretty good job in terms of maximizing the economics for the clubs,” Manfred said Wednesday during the owners meetings. “We never lost a game. And we have a lot of flexibility come 2028, which was our primary focus.”
A bankruptcy judge approved Diamond’s reorganization plan last Thursday, setting the country’s largest operator of regional sports networks to emerge from bankruptcy 20 months after initially filing for Chapter 11.
Diamond moves forward with at least six MLB teams, while MLB, at the moment, possesses the local media rights — linear TV rights and in-market, direct-to-consumer streaming rights — for seven teams. The six clubs that negotiated new deals with Diamond — the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays — will all have their contracts expire by 2028, when MLB’s major national deals with ESPN, Fox and Turner are slated to end. That is not a coincidence.
MLB hopes to have roughly half its teams’ broadcast rights to negotiate with companies then. The league’s ultimate goal is to hold linear and digital rights for all 30 clubs to have available for negotiations with networks. MLB believes nationalizing the broadcast rights would maximize revenue and eliminate local blackouts, which would expand reach. But that would require compelling clubs with stable regional sports networks, a few of which at least partially own the networks, to eventually relinquish their control and join MLB’s cluster. That group includes the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
“Everything that we do, we believe we have to convince the clubs that it’s in their economic interest to do that,” Manfred said. “And I think a big piece of that is the changes that have taken place in the media landscape. We had a long conversation about this [Wednesday]. More games on national outlets is an important key to maximizing your revenue. Once you realize that, you can begin to build a consensus around the idea that we need to be more national.”
MLB will broadcast games for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres in 2025, though the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals are still undecided and could technically join as well. The Seattle Mariners are expected to join in some capacity in the near future.
Adding Diamond’s teams to that mix could ensure that at least 14 to 16 teams are part of a national umbrella, with others possibly joining within these next four years.
But the biggest question surrounds the big-market teams who would make MLB’s offering far more appealing to buyers but would also be far less willing to split local-media revenue evenly. On Wednesday, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, whose club owns 25% of the YES Network, said discussions had not yet begun on the matter.
“We just haven’t gotten into it enough that I could give you an intelligent answer to that,” Steinbrenner said. “We haven’t gotten into it. We only own 25% of YES. We got a lot of other owners. And, you know, that’s a discussion to have at some point with them — or not have with them. But we’re not there yet.”
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen declined to comment on the subject this week. Unlike the Yankees with YES, the Mets don’t own a portion of SNY, which controls the rights to Mets games through 2030.
Packaging teams together would also require approval from the players’ union because it would mark a change to revenue sharing. But getting there requires the heavy lifting of getting all 30 teams on board.
“Now there are mechanics and existing agreements that we’re going to have to work through,” Manfred said. “But if you’re making a change that you believe is going to substantially increase your revenue over the long haul, it gives you that great thing that helps you solve a lot of problems. It’s called money.”
The 150th running of the Preakness won’t have the fanfare of previous years.
There will be no Triple Crown on the line and no rematch of the 1-2 finishers in the Kentucky Derby after trainer Bill Mott elected to point Sovereignty toward the Belmont and bypass the Preakness.
Just three horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby will run in the Preakness on Saturday — Journalism, who finished second to Sovereignty, American Promise (16th) and Sandman (seventh). Nine horses will enter the race, including several newcomers to the Triple Crown trail.
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While a Kentucky Derby winner skipping the Preakness is a rarity over the history of the race, it’s become more common in recent years. Country House, who won the 2019 Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified, was not entered into the race by Mott due to a cough. Other ailments ended his career early and he never raced again.
Rich Strike was not entered in the 2022 Preakness and neither was 2021 winner Mandaloun, who was not declared the official winner of the Kentucky Derby until Medina Spirit was officially disqualified after failing a postrace drug test.
The modern order of the Triple Crown races, with the Kentucky Derby first and the Belmont last, was established permanently in 1932, with some exceptions. Notable Kentucky Derby winners who skipped the second leg are: Grindstone (1996, career-ending injury), Spend a Buck (1985), Gato Del Sol (1982), Tomy Lee (1959), Swaps (1955), Determine (1954), Hill Gail (1952), Count Turf (1951) and Lawrin (1938).
This will be the final Preakness run at Pimlico for several years, as the 155-year-old track is set to undergo renovations for the next several years, including the replacement of the current grandstand for a smaller version. The Preakness will move to Laurel Park until renovations are complete.
Betting the Preakness
by Katherine Terrell
What’s the big draw now that the Kentucky Derby winner is out of the race? Journalism, who went off as the betting favorite in the race, gets a chance for redemption.
While putting Journalism on top of our Kentucky Derby bets didn’t quite pan out, he’s certainly going to be a worthy, and heavy, favorite in this race. Don’t take his second-place finish as a knock on his talent — he’s the most accomplished horse in this field.
What about Sandman, who drew significant attention in the Kentucky Derby due to his name? Sandman was named after the Metallica Song “Enter Sandman,” and the band recently posted a video cheering him on ahead of the Preakness.
Sandman’s trainer Mark Casse said the horse had tender feet going into his last race, causing him to sport glue-on shoes, but he has since been switched back to normal horseshoes. Sandman is a closer, meaning he would need a fast pace up front to be able to pass tiring horses and win this race.
Some of the more intriguing newcomers are Goal Oriented, trained by Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen trainee Clever Again. Both are lightly raced, and bettors who are looking for better odds than Journalism provides might hope one of these two horses takes a step forward.
That’s the same situation as Gosger, who is 20-1 on the morning line but recently won the Grade III Lexington Stakes. He will also have to take a step forward or hope Journalism runs poorly off two weeks rest.
Journalism can sit back off the pace and hope the leaders get into a speed duel, a possibility with a lot of speed in the race. Either way, he’ll be a tough favorite to bet.
About the above chart: A Beyer number is a ratings system for speed during races. Some think horses need at least one race where they run a 95 Beyer number or over to be competitive in the Derby. Many of these horses have races where they’ve run over a 100 Beyer number or better.
The logical bet: Journalism to win (8-5) but will require a large bet to get a decent return.
The slightly better odds bet: Clever Again to win (5-1)
Two suggested bets:
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Exacta box: Journalism/Clever Again
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Trifecta: Journalism over Clever Again over River Thames, Gosger.
Best plays
by Anita Marks
No. 2 Journalism (8-5) is favored and rightfully so. He ran a great race in the Derby, but Sovereignty was just the better horse that day. With such a small field (nine horses), along with his pedigree, Journalism should dominate.
Other horses I fancy in the Preakness:
Clever Again (5-1) is a unique animal with a lot of talent. I believe he is the second-best horse in the race. Son of American Pharaoh — who won the Triple Crown — and trained by Steve Asmussen, an excellent trainer. He is super fast, is in great form and is training well.
Goal Oriented (6-1): A Bob Baffert horse. and will have one of the best jockeys on his back in Flavien Prat. He has the speed to come out of the No. 1 post and will be sent hard. Son of Not This Time and was the winner of a 1 1/16-mile race on the Kentucky Derby undercard. This will be his third race.
Preakness Plays:
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To win or place: Clever Again
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Exacta box: Goal Oriented, Journalism, Clever Again
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