We have a resolution to the Rangers broadcast situation for 2024

The ongoing drama and uncertainty regarding Bally Sports, the Texas Rangers, and the 2024 broadcast rights has been put to rest, with Evan Drellich reporting that the bankruptcy judge has approved the agreement reached the broadcaster and the Rangers (along with the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians). Drellich tweeted earlier today that MLB and the broadcast entity wanted to keep the terms for the new 2024 agreements confidential, so we will have to wait until some info leaks in regards to how much of a haircut the Rangers are taking from the $110M that it was previously reported they were going to be due.

The Rangers have had a quiet offseason to date, and while part of that is due to the fact that their payroll was already fairly high — they are current above the Competitive Balance Tax threshold, which they passed for the first time in team history in 2023 — it was also believed that uncertainty as to how much the Rangers would be getting for their TV broadcast rights in 2024 was also a factor. Texas now presumably knows, definitively, what they will be receiving, and to the extent that the uncertainty was a factor in, say, not signing Jordan Montgomery yet, that should no longer be an issue.

As we discussed yesterday, come 2025, the Rangers could be part of a multi-team streaming package to be offered by MLB. As streaming comes more to the forefront, with cable dollars dwindling, MLB appears to be trying to steer to a model closer to the NFL, where there is less disparity in broadcast revenues received by larger markets compared to smaller markets.