Bally Sports Possibly Declaring Bankruptcy - Latest (Amazon's Pending Streaming Impact)

[dpapo]

Hello, I have a somewhat related question to this topic. I have been a little worried about the Brewers new TV deal as I live in the UK and we don't get the US version of amazon prime video, but the UK version which as far as I know doesn't televised baseball games. 

I do have an MLB.TV subscription which I have used to watch Brewers games over the past few years while living in the UK. I have noticed that at the moment when I look for the broadcast schedule for the regular season games I see a message saying no broadcast available for all the games, expect Cleveland for whatever reason. I have gotten tv broadcasts of the preseason games, but I am unable to get any of the radio broadcast on both my Amazon firestick and Roku player except when the Brewers game is on TV, even though I can with the phone app. 

For people who have an MLB.TV subscription and live in the US, are you seeing broadcast listings for regular season games? Have you been able to listen to radio broadcast of the games on either an Amazon stick or Roku player. Thanks. 

[SeaBass]

2 hours ago, dpapo said:

Hello, I have a somewhat related question to this topic. I have been a little worried about the Brewers new TV deal as I live in the UK and we don't get the US version of amazon prime video, but the UK version which as far as I know doesn't televised baseball games. 

I do have an MLB.TV subscription which I have used to watch Brewers games over the past few years while living in the UK. I have noticed that at the moment when I look for the broadcast schedule for the regular season games I see a message saying no broadcast available for all the games, expect Cleveland for whatever reason. I have gotten tv broadcasts of the preseason games, but I am unable to get any of the radio broadcast on both my Amazon firestick and Roku player except when the Brewers game is on TV, even though I can with the phone app. 

For people who have an MLB.TV subscription and live in the US, are you seeing broadcast listings for regular season games? Have you been able to listen to radio broadcast of the games on either an Amazon stick or Roku player. Thanks. 

I don't have a MLB.TV subscription so can't speak specifically about that but even looking at the Brewers official website (mlb.com/brewers) the regular season schedule does not show the TV broadcasts there either when typically it has in the past. However the spring training schedule does show when the games will be on TV.

The games will be televised one way or another. I think it's just because things with Amazon haven't been finalized yet. I'm guessing it will be by the time the regular season starts.

[Paul77]

1 hour ago, SeaBass said:

The games will be televised one way or another. I think it's just because things with Amazon haven't been finalized yet. I'm guessing it will be by the time the regular season starts.

I could be wrong here, but the way I read about this is that Amazon invested in a minority stake in DSG (AKA Bally) and acquired the streaming rights, but not the broadcast rights to a number of teams (including the Brewers). This clears a path for Amazon to offer a DTC option, but probably not until 2025. 

Bally will still broadcast games in 2024 on TV providers that carry Bally. AFAIK they renewed with DirecTV at the end of 2023, and I think the Charter/Spectrum deal with Bally was set to expire on 02/29/2024 (AKA yesterday), but I never saw (also didn't look for) anything about a renewal, but I assume we would have heard about it if it wasn't. 

As for Bally and DSG beyond 2024... we'll see. 

[SeaBass]

The Brewers TV & radio broadcast schedule was announced a couple days ago. MLB hasn't updated their schedule yet that I can see but I'm sure that takes time. Bally's will televise 155 of the 162 games. The other 7 games will air on exclusive national broadcasts. Fox will air 5 of those and Apple TV+ the other 2.

The schedule can be viewed here:
https://www.cbs58.com/news/brewers-2024-regular-season-broadcast-schedule-is-here

As for Amazon's role in broadcasting, nothing has yet been announced. Per this article:
"According to a Bally Sports news release, all games not airing exclusively on a national platform will air live on Bally Sports Wisconsin and stream on BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app."

"Brewers games on Bally Sports Wisconsin are also available on cable providers such as Comcast, Spectrum, and TDS Telcom; via satellite with DirecTV; and through streaming providers including DirecTV Stream and Fubo."

[Samurai Bucky]

Quote

 

All 162 games will be aired on the Brewers Radio Network, led by flagship Newsradio 620 WTMJ.

 

Is this the only thing sports related that "Newsradio" 620 WTMJ covers anymore?

[SeaBass]

12 minutes ago, Samurai Bucky said:

Is this the only thing sports related that "Newsradio" 620 WTMJ covers anymore?

They are also the flagship for the Milwaukee Bucks radio network. Other than these two I believe you're right.

[CheezWizHed]

WTMJ 620 doesn't have the Packers? (I've not lived in the area for 20 years, but if not I'm surprised)

[SeaBass]

2 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

WTMJ 620 doesn't have the Packers? (I've not lived in the area for 20 years, but if not I'm surprised)

Yep, Packers chose a different radio partner in 2021. This story here provides some insight.

https://www.tmj4.com/sports/green-bay-packers/97-3-the-game-wrnw-replaces-620wtmj-as-packers-radio-partner

[Pugger]

One good thing with this change is those of us outside the Packers' home market we might be able to listen to the radio broadcasts and mute the TV during nationally broadcast games. 

I'm glad Bally is broadcasting 155 Brewers games.  I can get them down here via MLB Extra Innings thru Xfinity.

[brewmann04]

Just purchased the mlb package hopefully no issue watching the crew

[Hambone]

You can buy the cheapest 20-pack for Milwaukee Brewers games for $312 in the terrace reserved sections. With that SSH plan you get a Bally's subscription and an MLB.TV subscription for free along with a ton of other perks from the Brewers. You get to attend 20 Brewers games, get to watch all the Brewers games and Bucks games on TV. You can watch any MLB game on TV at any time. You get first crack at postseason tickets for the Brewers as well. All of this for $312 a year. That's $26 a month for one year and really difficult to beat. Come on people...

[MrTPlush]

8 hours ago, Hambone said:

You can buy the cheapest 20-pack for Milwaukee Brewers games for $312 in the terrace reserved sections. With that SSH plan you get a Bally's subscription and an MLB.TV subscription for free along with a ton of other perks from the Brewers. You get to attend 20 Brewers games, get to watch all the Brewers games and Bucks games on TV. You can watch any MLB game on TV at any time. You get first crack at postseason tickets for the Brewers as well. All of this for $312 a year. That's $26 a month for one year and really difficult to beat. Come on people...

That was one of the rewards you could pick last year...it isn't one of the rewards this year. You do get the free MLB.TV subscription but can't use it in market. 

 

 

 

[patrickgpe]

For our of staters and T-Mobile customers, you can get a year long subscription of MLB TV for free tomorrow on their T-Life app. 

[Austin Tatious]

Can we watch the games on Amazon Prime this year?  

[Samurai Bucky]

17 hours ago, Hambone said:

You can buy the cheapest 20-pack for Milwaukee Brewers games for $312 in the terrace reserved sections. With that SSH plan you get a Bally's subscription and an MLB.TV subscription for free along with a ton of other perks from the Brewers. You get to attend 20 Brewers games, get to watch all the Brewers games and Bucks games on TV. You can watch any MLB game on TV at any time. You get first crack at postseason tickets for the Brewers as well. All of this for $312 a year. That's $26 a month for one year and really difficult to beat. Come on people...

I was waiting for another post that started, "But that's not all...!"  😉

[jsg]

This is the current state of the Bally app on my main TV (no my internet isn't down, yes I reinstalled it, yes it works on all other devices on the same network). I wish Amazon would hurry up.

Edited March 27, 2024 by jsg

[Brock Beauchamp]

45 minutes ago, jsg said:

This is the current state of the Bally app on my main TV (no my internet isn't down, yes I reinstalled it, yes it works on all other devices on the same network). I wish Amazon would hurry up.

Welcome to the site!

I'm sorry Bally is a trashfire.

[jsg]

52 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Welcome to the site!

I'm sorry Bally is a trashfire.

I cut cable thinking it was no big deal because I can subscribe to Bally when my old cable provider authentication stopped working (it still does on every other device). Ugh.

[nate82]

On 3/25/2024 at 7:15 AM, Austin Tatious said:

Can we watch the games on Amazon Prime this year?  

Yes through an MLB.TV subscription and also no if you are trying to watch a team in your home market. 

[valpocrewsader]

I couldn't find a separate thread about streaming in general, so at the risk of being off topic...

What options exist for an out-of-state fan to listen to games? ie, streaming the audio only, preferably the Brewers Radio Network feed.

[ReverendBrewmeister]

27 minutes ago, valpocrewsader said:

I couldn't find a separate thread about streaming in general, so at the risk of being off topic...

What options exist for an out-of-state fan to listen to games? ie, streaming the audio only, preferably the Brewers Radio Network feed.

MLB At Bat gives you that. It’s now $29.99/year to subscribe. You get the radio calls from each team. (Have subscribed since it became available, which has to be at least 15 seasons ago, maybe closer to 20.) 

https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe#

The stream is always a little behind those who get TV coverage by cable or over the air, so if you follow in-game threads while listening, you may notice that when people post reactions. Same if you follow the MLB game tracker online. 

[SeaBass]

12 hours ago, ReverendBrewmeister said:

MLB At Bat gives you that. It’s now $29.99/year to subscribe. You get the radio calls from each team. (Have subscribed since it became available, which has to be at least 15 seasons ago, maybe closer to 20.) 

https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/subscribe#

The stream is always a little behind those who get TV coverage by cable or over the air, so if you follow in-game threads while listening, you may notice that when people post reactions. Same if you follow the MLB game tracker online. 

Radio broadcasts are also included with MLB TV packages. Just in case you already subscribe with MLB to watch out of market Brewers games you also have the option to listen to radio feeds.

I should add, Sirius XM also has a package where you can access MLB radio broadcasts of games (and NBA and NFL etc.) It can be pricey but sometimes you can get a decent deal if it's your first time subscribing. You don't have to listen in your car, there's also an app you can use to listen anywhere.

[nate82]

Tunein also allows you to stream MLB games.  It is $3.99 a month or $2.99 a month if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber.  I used that app in the past and it was OK quality wise.  They used to have the NFL which was an awesome deal in the past where you could get NHL, MLB and NFL all for $4 a month.

The MLB At Bat app is a better app for Radio IMHO. 

[brewmann04]

what effect does this have the MLB Package that I just renewed

[BrewCrewForever]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:05 AM, MrTPlush said:

That was one of the rewards you could pick last year...it isn't one of the rewards this year. You do get the free MLB.TV subscription but can't use it in market. 

 

 

 

I picked the free Bally sub for one of my reward last season. But this season it was not a reward you could pick. But a week or two ago I got an email from Bally that the Brewers gifted me another season free. And I was just about to subscribe for the $20 per month. I wondered if all season seat holders got that? Or just one's that picked it last year?