I think this is going to turn into a big deal for sports broadcasting.
ESPN now owns local rights to half the MLB teams as well. They also own the mlb.tv and NHL Game Center.
They see their current model of being bundled into basic cable as dying, so this is their response.
They have already said they have a grand plan of having a standalone sports streaming app. I can see them selling ESPN everything direct to the customer that includes all games to all teams including in-market. Anyone who wants to watch sports of any kind is going to have to subscribe to ESPN is probably their strategy.
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