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Local Sports Become Lucrative Market

Published March 20, 2015 at 12:40 PM CDT
Regional sports broadcasters have become a big source of revenue for local teams. Pictured, the Arizona Diamondbacks play a game against the Oakland Athletics on March 10, 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Regional sports broadcasters have become a big source of revenue for local teams. Pictured, the Arizona Diamondbacks play a game against the Oakland Athletics on March 10, 2015 in Mesa, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

If you’ve been watching March Madness, you’ve probably been watching on CBS, TNT, TBS or Tru-TV. Those networks have the TV rights to the games until 2024.

But if you’re a local sports fan, chances are you do a lot of your sports TV viewing on regional sports networks.

Those networks have become an important source of revenue for the teams whose games they broadcast, and if you pay for cable — you’re probably paying more for your regional sports network than almost any other channel.

Neal Pilson is a sports industry consultant and the former president of CBS Sports.

He joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to discuss the business of local sports broadcasting.

Guest

  • Neal Pilson, sports industry consultant and the former president of CBS Sports.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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