Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed it planned to shut down all of its regional sports networks or RSNs. It has been known for some time now that they have been in talks to sell a few of them. Earlier this month we learned a deal had been reached to sell AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh to the Fenway Sports Group. This is the same ownership group that owns the Pittsburgh Penguins. The channel will now be rebranded to SportsNet Pittsburgh.
Now it looks like a deal has been reached to save AT&T SportsNet Southwest and rename it to Space City Home Network. According to Chron, this is the new name for AT&T SportsNet Southwest currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The new network will launch in October before the start of the Rocket’s new 2023-2024 season. It will also air Astro games starting in 2024.
So far no official announcements have been made but KHOU 11 has confirmed that a trademark for Space City Home Network has been filed for by the Houston Rockets.
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 would be shut down. This likely means the rumored deal for the Astros and Rockets to buy the AT&T SportsNet Southwest has become a reality.
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.