On Thursday, Monumental Sports Network announced that its contracts with both Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV are set to expire in the coming weeks, and the channel could go dark on both streaming services before the start of the basketball and hockey seasons.
MSN has local TV rights to games from the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
Axios was first to report on the potential dispute.
Being dropped from both digital pay-TV providers would impact “hundreds of thousands” of Washington-area sports fans, according to Zachary Leonsis, President of Media and New Enterprises for Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
MSN is owned by Zachary’s father, D.C. sports magnate Ted Leonsis, through Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
The younger Leonsis told Axios that neither YouTube nor Hulu has meaningfully engaged with MSN on contract renewal proposals, despite Monumental’s willingness to reduce economic terms for both providers.
Meanwhile, a YouTube spokesperson told Axios, “We know how important live sports are to YouTube TV subscribers, but we will not ask them to pay more to continue carrying a channel that very few of them actually watch.”
“YouTube TV’s suggestion that they’re shielding subscribers from cost increases is disingenuous,” Monumental Sports Network’s General Manager, Friday Abernethy, said in an email statement to TheDesk.net. “If they drop Monumental Sports Network, will they lower the price of their service for Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics fans who can no longer watch their teams, or will they continue charging the same price — or more — for less?”
MSN might be willing to weather any dispute, as they also sell streaming access to live games through their own app for $20 per month or $200 per year.
YouTubeTV, however, might not want the extra headache, as its carriage agreement with NBC expires this month and its contract with Disney expires next month. This just adds insult to potentially catastrophic injury.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.