PALM BEACH, Fla. — About $1 billion of Major League Baseball’s revenue is at risk if a cable television company fails to make payments for local broadcasting rights to 14 teams, and the sport is preparing to take over telecasts.
“I think you should assume that if Diamond doesn’t broadcast, we’ll be in a position to step in,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday after an owners’ meeting. “Our goal would be to make games available not only within the traditional cable bundle but on the digital side, as well.” Asked whether $1 billion or $2 billion was at stake, Manfred said: “Closer with the first number than the second.”
Baseball executives met at The Breakers, a 97-year-old Renaissance Revival style hotel. The lobby was filled with a mix of baseball executives and women in pink floral summer dresses, some in hats, attending the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Palm Beach Hot Pink Luncheon and Symposium. Rays ballpark Tampa Bay announced plans on Jan. 30 to build a ballpark near Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The team has been searching for a new stadium for 15 years, and owner Stu Sternberg says the Rays can’t afford to stay in their current ballpark when their lease expires after the 2027 season.