Cord-cutters, rejoice! You will no longer need a cable subscription to watch the Braves on an in-market stream.
We’ve got yet another turn in the Diamond Sports Group saga and it appears as if we’re reaching the end of this thing. Evan Drellich of The Athletic is reporting that Diamond has been given the “green light to get out of bankruptcy.” Part of the new plans includes the Atlanta Braves, who will have a new wrinkle in their tv and streaming coverage going forward.
Drellich is reporting that the Braves have granted Diamond Sports Group streaming rights (along with six other teams) and fans in-market will be stream the Braves on a standalone subscription for the first time ever.
This means all those teams, including the Braves, will be available *in-market* as a standalone subscription product (via Prime Video or the FanDuel Sports Network app and probably other means). Pricing hasn’t been announced yet. https://t.co/CgJrGJ7iD3
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) November 14, 2024
The Prime Video part comes from an announcement yesterday that the FanDuel Sports Network RSNs would be available via Prime Video as a standalone subscription. Essentially speaking, if you’re a cord-cutter who lives in the Braves market (which covers a vast swath of the Southeast) and you have Prime Video and you’re willing to pay whatever the subscription fee may be, then you’ll actually be able to stream the Braves without having a cable subscription. Needless to say, this is a pretty big deal and another step away from the dark ages of the local blackout days.
This deal came about after both Major League Baseball and the Braves quickly withdrew their objections to what Diamond had planned, so it’s pretty clear that everybody’s okay with what’s going on at this point. The Braves join the Angels, Cardinals, Marlins, Rays and Tigers, with the Braves joining St. Louis and Los Angeles (of Anaheim) in handing their in-market streaming rights to Diamond. The Brwers, Guardians, Rangers, Reds and Twins will all be looking for new broadcast partners.
This case has taken a bunch of twists and turns but in the end, it seems like the cord-cutting fans are going to come out ahead in this thing — assuming that the subscription price isn’t exorbitant or anything like that. With that being said, these leagues and companies already have plenty of proof that sports fans will pay a pretty penny to watch their favorite teams. Hopefully it won’t be too much of an attack on the wallet once it becomes clear how much it’ll take to finally be able to watch the Braves on an in-market stream.