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MLB

rob manfred
John Ourand • October 21, 2024

A Serious Manfred

A candid chat with the commish about Major League Baseball’s evolving local media predicament, its strategy of pooling games, and the challenges inherent in iterating a national pastime.
John Ourand • October 10, 2024
The War of the Rosenthal Column
Ken Rosenthal
The silly and petty saga of a column, a pissed-off Major League Baseball team, and a strange power-sharing agreement between the Times and Fox—none of which will matter one iota if the Dodgers and Yanks make it to the World Series.
John Ourand • October 7, 2024
ESPN & MLB Prepare for Couples Counseling
mlb rangers blue jays fight
ESPN, understandably miffed by the league’s much cheaper deals with other platforms, wants it both ways—to decrease the cost of its current rights package and also get its mitts on local broadcasts to power its forthcoming streaming service. Can both sides coexist happily?
mlb miami marlins
John Ourand • October 3, 2024
No R.S.N. in Sight
The latest news, notes, and twists in the Diamond Sports telenovela.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro warms up before catching a ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston
John Ourand • August 29, 2024
MLB’s Brewing Bidding War
I’m told that several of the world’s biggest media and technology companies—Amazon, Apple, Google/YouTube, and NBCUniversal—are checking in with MLB on a regular basis about the possibility of getting local rights as they come available.
rob manfred
John Ourand • July 18, 2024
Iron Manfred
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expounds on the pitch-clock, the multiplatform problem, and the challenge of getting Gen Z to love the game.
mlb new york yankees
John Ourand • May 13, 2024
Roku at the Bat
The streaming device slash platform, now in more than 80 million homes, makes its maiden voyage into Major League Baseball.
david preshlack
John Ourand • March 25, 2024
Preschlack in the Sky with Diamond
After rescuing Diamond Sports Group from bankruptcy, C.E.O. David Preschlack now faces the unenviable task of cutting deals with various cable providers and leagues to satisfy the courts that this thing is a going concern. Here, for the first time, he chatted candidly about his burden.
major league baseball
John Ourand • February 29, 2024
Blood Diamond
Yes, yes, Diamond is emerging from bankruptcy with that $115 million Amazon dowry, but the industry’s largest owner of regional sports networks has a whole new slew of problems to solve now.
trevor story mlb pantsgate
John Ourand • February 26, 2024
MLB’s Pantsgate
News and notes on a shocking, stupid, and increasingly serious micro-scandal.