Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company behind AT&T SportsNet has confirmed that they intend to shut down their RSNs by the end of 2023. This was announced during today’s Q2 earnings call. They are reportedly working with MLB, NBA, and NHL to transfer the rights to the teams allowing them to stream the games in market or find new partners to replace AT&T SportsNets.
Currently, it only looks like one AT&T SportsNet may be saved as the Houston Rockets, and Astros have reportedly started talks to buy AT&T SportsNet Southwest from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Warner Bros. Discovery says they expect all RSNs to be sold or shut down but didn’t list which ones would be sold and which ones will be shut down.
This news will affect the Pittsburg Penguins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Jazz, Las Vegas Aces, Houston Rockets, Houston Astros, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Mariners, and Seattle Kraken.
Some of these teams including the Utah Jazz and Vegas Golden Knights have already reached new deals to air for free on OTA TV in their markets.
Back in July 2019, it was reported that AT&T was looking to sell its regional sports networks AT&T SportsNet. It was unable to do so and the networks ended up being sold with Time Warner to the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery.
Now it seems that Warner Bros. Discovery has decided that these networks are not profitable and it would be best to just shut them down instead of trying to sell them again or find ways to make them profitable.
This move comes as a growing number of RSNs are looking for ways to reach new markets with streaming services. It also comes as Bally Sports is in the middle of bankruptcy that has seen several teams leave for new networks.
For cord cutters, RSNs have been vanishing recently on DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo offers RSNs to cord cutters. Several RSNs now offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option but they are not cheap averaging about $20 each.
The way people are watching sports is changing and it seems AT&T SportsNets being shut down is one more sign of how big that change has been.