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There are a bunch of legal obligations that make that impossible, at least in the short run. As somebody noted above, ESPN itself is locked into very expensive
by fernly 10y ago
There are a bunch of legal obligations that make that impossible, at least in the short run. As somebody noted above, ESPN itself is locked into very expensive exclusive-carriage contracts with various leagues. And the providers like Comcast and DirecTV are locked into contracts with ESPN and other content providers. There's just no price flexibility, and won't be until things get so bad companies start failing.
- Retra 10y agoIt's not unheard of for contracts to be renegotiated, especially when it is so obviously beneficial to all parties involved.
- heisenbit 10y agoYou are right but my reading of the situation is that there is a systemic imbalance and counter-parties in the business are also under pressure making them unwilling and worse unable to be flexible. Renegotiation can work well if there are deep mutual dependencies e.g. manufacturing chains. If the cord cutting dynamic accelerates there will be little time to hammer out such deals. The quickest and fairest route may well be bankruptcy court. Sports has been in financial bubble territory for some time. Huge escalating contracts. Rampant corruption. Often a collapsing phase follows.