Cardinals plan to keep cable TV, add streaming option

St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III explained a "direct-to-consumer product" for fans to stream games as a new way to get revenue from local media. Video by Allie Schallert, [email protected]

Reporter

Bally Sports Midwest broadcaster Jim Hayes watches as the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman, right, and Alec Burleson pour ice water on Lars Nootbaar to congratulate him after the team beat the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at Busch Stadium.

The recent announcement that the parent company of what had been longtime Cardinals telecaster Bally Sports Midwest might drop those broadcasts next season as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy has put some of the team's fans on edge, thinking they might lose access to the games.

But Cardinals senior vice president of business operations Anuk Karunaratne said this week that the contests will continue to be available on cable television throughout the region. He added he's confident that for the first time the productions also will be offered for direct purchase via streaming throughout the club's broadcast territory, with a subscription to the telecaster no longer being necessary to receive them via that method. That would end in-market blackouts.

"In any scenario, it still is going be available on cable TV," he said. "For people that are comfortable watching it that way, they’ll be able to watch it that way. For the people that either are more comfortable streaming it or don’t have any other option but to stream it, we’ll have a new option for those people. Many people like to do both.

"We need to supplement the existing (cable TV) model. The existing model is still robust. I don’t think despite what some people say that it’s going away in the near term."

The Cardinals now are weighing two options for their telecasting future:

One is to remain with Diamond Sports Group, owner of what was Bally Sports Midwest before being rebranded this week as FanDuel Sports Network Midwest. If they stay, it would be under a renegotiated deal that will be worth less money than had been in the original agreement. That had been worth about $78 million for next season, Post-Dispatch Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold has reported, but a reduction of at least 20% would seem likely for the team to stay put.

The other possibility is moving the games to an MLB-run operation that televised the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres this year and already has added the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins for next season, byproducts of the regional sports network financial distress situation.

"In all cases, we’re going to be looking at a significant reduction," in rights fees, Karunaratne said.

He said money is just one factor in the team's decision on which broadcast option to take, a list that includes the number of people who can be reached, the desire to limit disruption to fans and the appeal of continuing to be on a network that also carries the Blues' local telecasts.

"There are a lot of other considerations outside of financial that are important," he said.

Karunaratne said a key goal is making Cardinals telecasts available to fans who live in areas that have not been able to access them recently. That includes those in rural areas where the only distributor available, such as Dish Network, does not carry regional sports networks. Also affected have been customers of YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and Altice because of financial disputes with Diamond.

"Having a streaming option will provide those people with an alternative," he said.

"We have a very strong regional fan base" that encompasses many states. "... There are people in our footprint, particularly in parts of our market outside metro St. Louis, that we think would really appreciate the ability to stream those games."

The streaming option also would make the Cardinals available again to the large number of people who have dropped cable, the "cord cutters."

"People are still going to be watching it the way they’ve been watching it" on cable television, Karunaratne said. "Our issue is more that some people who are cutting the cord that don’t have access to the cable bundle ... would still choose to want to watch Cardinals baseball. For those people, you need a different option," which would be streaming.

"I think that having both options (cable and streaming) is really an additive in that sense."

Distribution problems, cord cutting and the Cardinals' continued lack of producing a playoff-qualifying team have been factors in the team setting record lows for its local television ratings in each of the past two seasons, among figures that date to 1990. Over that two-year span, Bally Sports Midwest's Cards telecasts lost a whopping 47% of their audience according to figures from viewership-monitoring firm Nielsen.

The next key step in the processes in helping determine the Cardinals' path to their next broadcast deal is set for a federal bankruptcy courtroom in Houston. That's where what is supposed to be the final confirmation hearing for Diamond’s reorganization plan is scheduled for Nov. 14. Because the Cardinals have a stake in FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, they are not part of the bankruptcy case. But they would be impacted if the company collapses.

"It’s frustrating to us to not have more clarity, but the bankruptcy process is not designed to provide clarity to people like us," Karunaratne said. "... It will get resolved before the start of next season. Our games are going to be broadcast. I think the macro story from a fan perspective hopefully is a positive one.

"We're focused on getting this resolved as quickly as possible."

Play-by-play announcer Chip Caray, left, and analyst Brad Thompson have called many Cardinals games together on what was Bally Sports Midwest.

The Cardinals and KMOX (1120 AM) have had a long and rich radio broadcast relationship, with the station's booming 50,000-watt signal making the games available at night to most of the nation east of the Rockies and into Canada.

That was a huge marketing tool in the days before cable television and the internet, augmented by the team's large radio network, with broadcasters such as Harry Caray, Jack Buck, Joe Garagiola and Mike Shannon becoming household names near and far.

KMOX carried the club's games from 1926-40, then again from 1954-2005 before a controversial move to KTRS (550 AM) was scrapped after five seasons. The Cardinals have been back on KMOX since 2011 and appear set to remain there for a considerable additional period.

Although the deal is set to expire after next season, Karunaratne said he expects to extend that agreement.

"That’s our intention," he said. "It’s the 100th anniversary of KMOX (in 2025) and a big part of the history of this franchise and the far-reaching fan base ... ties to that partnership. We hope that it continues.

"We’re not focused on any other alternative. I think that’s going to get figured out in the next few months."

Sent weekly directly to your inbox!

Reporter

“You can play this game only once in your life,” the Dodger great, who died this week, told Rick Hummel after a 1997 trade to Cardinals. Revis…

St. Louis Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III explained a "direct-to-consumer product" for fans to stream games as a new way to get revenue fr…