January 9, 2026 • 11 mins
Maury Brown from Forbes joined us to answer questions about the Reds TV situation.
Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. There's no five after four.
This is ESPs sixty thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Lots more on the Duke Toobin Mega Press Conference in
just about fifteen minutes. But I wanted to spend a
few time on this because I think folks have questions.
So the Reds have opted out of their TV deal
with the FanDuel Sports Network, and so I guess they're
in limbo, and in limbo in terms of we don't
know what the TV coverage is going to look like
(00:31):
this year, but also that TV money they need, that
TV money, are they gonna get it?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
How much will they get? Where's it gonna come from?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
When this sort of thing comes up, and it has
often in recent years, we reach out to our guy
Maury Brown on X at Bisball. Moury senior contributors to
Forbes always kind enough to join us when we have
questions about TV contracts in the Red So I feel
like we do this every year.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Mory, It's good to have you. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm great? How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm well. I feel like we did this a year ago.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The Reds opt out and then they go back to
FanDuel Sports Network the season plays out and they make
the playoffs. But this feels different from where we were
a year ago, is it?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It is in the sense that by opting out, I think.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
That there's obviously the realization that they're not going to
get the revenues that they expected that they were contractually
obligated to by. You know, once again, we've we've gone
through several iterations of this.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Now it's you know, now branded fan Duel, But.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
The bottom line of it is by these clubs, and
the Reds are one of them, right out of nine
opting out it doesn't preclude them from coming back to
Fan Duel, but it does set it up to where
they would go when you know, we're theoretically under with
less revenues, and that's obviously a concern.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
The upside to this, if they do go back, right,
would be that that money is then lock in.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
And that's a key factor with the RSN model and
why the clubs like it. No matter how they're performing,
no matter how things are going, that money gets locked in. Now,
if they don't come back, then that can change, and
that could have a couple of different looks. What would
those looks be, Well, I think the one that you're
(02:24):
most likely to see at this stage now would be
for Major League Baseball to take over the rights. And
this has happened. It's not like it's anything new. They've
picked up other clubs and done this. They would go
ahead and produce it. They would go ahead and reach
out to the likes of and Exminity and work new
(02:45):
carriage deals distributors, and then also the streaming deal that
ostensibly in theory, well not in theory, it does remove
blackouts right in some areas where they don't have it,
fans will be able to reach it that way. But
the difference here is is that in twenty twenty four,
the league said, oh, you guys were supposed to get
(03:06):
this much under your TV deal. You're not going to
be able to get that anymore. We're going to backstop
that money with revenue sharing money, and we'll go ahead
and make sure that you keep those revenues. That model
has now changed. So whatever the clubs pull in, and
that would include the Reds, right, whatever they pull in,
you know, through the TV deals they get reached and
(03:28):
whatever streaming is, that's what they're going to get. They
would not expect to get the money that they have
seen or were expecting under this deal that's currently FanDuel networks.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
How much of a financial haircut would they be taking.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Yeah, this is the question that nobody can really answer
because I think that what happens here is it depends
on your club. And you know, Okay, so if I'm
in Cincinnati, right, it's not like it's a huge market. Okay,
but you did mention that the outset, right, they made
the playoffs. You know, you're on a bit of an
(04:06):
upswing here. You can feel pretty good about it. But
you know, I don't know how less it would be.
That would be something that really couldn't be answered until
the end of the season, right, but you would expect
it to be less, and that, you know, is going
to be a concern.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And I think the biggest concern.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
For all the clubs, and look this is this, this
reaches now to almost the majority of all the regional
sports networks, is there's just unpredictability. And what happens when
we get into unpredictability, you tend to go ahead and
you go, well, we're not going to take as much risk.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
We're going to have to hold back and see how
this thing goes. You know, remember we're in the.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Last season before we potentially go into a lockout. The
owners and players don't know what's going to come out
of the end of that. The expectation is a off
season lockout at best. At worst, it starts to eat
into the beginning of the season. So there's just an
awful lot of unpredictability. And when you get into that,
(05:08):
clubs tend to go either risk neutral or they go
risk averse and they just like, WHOA, We're not going
to do any long term contracts or anything like that.
It just sets this whole thing up, and I think
that that has played in largely to why we've had
such a cold offseason.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It's just not been what you might normally expect.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Nationally, Major League Baseball has new TV contracts and they've
redone their deal with ESPN, and one thing they've done
is they've Baseball has sold off MLB dot TV to ESPN.
They have the rights ESPN does to a handful of
teams local in market games. Eventually down the road is
(05:50):
that are they going to own the local rights to
all thirty Big League clubs?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And what's that going to look like. If the answer
is yes.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Yeah, I don't think it's gonna be all thirty. I
think you're gonna have a hard time convincing the Dodgers,
the Yankees, your big brand, big you know, big market teams.
I think you're gonna have a hard time with that.
Can Manfred wrestle the majority, you know, maybe with a
few exceptions. I do, And I think that that's where
(06:19):
they're gonna go. And that's the other wild card in
the midst of this. It sounds like, for whatever reason,
and it may again come up to the fact that
we are coming to the end of a you know,
of a season and going into a labor a potential
labor stoppage that ESPN is not going to pick that
up until.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
So again, and all of this is to bridge to
get Fox and TBS and all the national rights along
with whatever package of local rights you can get all
lined up together at the end of the three years
that we have here that they you know, happened with
the ESPN backing out of it, They filled that gap
(07:01):
with ESPN, NBC and some streaming deals. Right, that stuff
is kind of the bridge for three years. When that
all lines up, then you're going to start to look
at something entirely different. So there's just again we're in
this kind of tweeener state where streaming is starting to
take more of a position of power. More people continue
(07:21):
to leave traditional televisions, mostly boomers right that are still
watching traditional TV, and it just lends us uncertainty to
the entire media landscape, and it's all playing out.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Of course, for baseball it's worse.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Of course, you know, it doesn't affect Cincinnati, but you know,
for the NBA and NHL right there in mid season.
At least Baseball has a little bit of time here.
Although they see this as something that's critical to have
happen now. They want to get this out of the
way so that fans know where they're going to wind
up on the dial come the start of the season.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So there's where I was going to go next.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If there's a Reds fan listening to this, who's going
you know what? Last year was pretty good because I
could stream the games on the on the fan dual app.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I didn't have to have traditional cable.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So kind of wondering where I'm going to watch the
games in twenty twenty six, what's the answer.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah, I think that you know, again, if it goes
some Major League Baseball, your streaming options are still going
to be there, and you're going to go ahead and
have it on your traditional most of your traditional TV carriers,
and that to Baseball's credit, they've been very good at it.
They've been able to go ahead and make those things
happen pretty rapidly, and it's been pretty good. I would
(08:37):
fully expect with the branding right the FanDuel would be gone.
I would expect if they hold the model that they've
been that your on air personality will remain the same
that you would get that now. The question would be
how pregame and postgame goes. That may look a little
bit different, but for the most part, your game broadcast
(08:57):
will feel what the graphics, the exception the same, And
they've even gone so far as to contract out the
people that have been doing camera work and whatnot. A
lot of the production people there. Again, you're in studio.
Stuff will likely change. Those people would be impacted if
this happens, but again, the actual game broadcast should feel
(09:20):
largely the same.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Can I just book you now for December first? When
the lockout starts?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, it doesn't feel very good right now?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I mean this is the stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Look this, you know and laughing about it all aside.
This stuff with television has a huge impact. It's it's
money is that the clubs have had guaranteed and it's
been a cash cow for them for a long time.
And so all of this uncertainty creates this you know
thing about, hey, we need to go ahead and talk
(09:54):
about a cap. The players, of course, are dead set
against it, whether we're going to have a floor, whether
we address off like you know, deferred compensation, which has
been a huge loophole for the likes of the Dodgers
to go out and continue to run ram shot.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
And I think there's going to.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Be an awful lot at stake with this labor deal
coming up, and both sides are girded for it. It'll
be a fun And I say that in quotes offseason.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah. Well, well, I'm sure we'll chat often.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You're always kind of enough to join us when I
have a dumb guy questions about the Reds TV deal.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Mory, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
All right, man, you take care, Thank you for having me.
Have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Most definitely you two. That's Maury Brown.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Follow him at bisbal Moury's Senior contributor to Forbes. It's
quarter after four. I'm oegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Robert Wintrob reacts to Duke Tobin's mega press conference. Next
on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center. U SEE Health's
Weight Loss Center offers surgical and medical obesity care and expertise.
Call five one three nine nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three nine two two sixty three. Eastbound Westwood
Northern Boulevard. There's an accident between McFarlane Woods Drive and
Montana Avenue. Police are directing traffic around that scene on
(11:15):
southbound seventy five. Another accident that's off on the off
ramp to Norwood Lateral. Police and fire blocking the right
lane on the highway. I'm at ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
This report is sponsored by
Fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. There's no five after four.
This is ESPs sixty thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Lots more on the Duke Toobin Mega Press Conference in
just about fifteen minutes. But I wanted to spend a
few time on this because I think folks have questions.
So the Reds have opted out of their TV deal
with the FanDuel Sports Network, and so I guess they're
in limbo, and in limbo in terms of we don't
know what the TV coverage is going to look like
(00:31):
this year, but also that TV money they need, that
TV money, are they gonna get it?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
How much will they get? Where's it gonna come from?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
When this sort of thing comes up, and it has
often in recent years, we reach out to our guy
Maury Brown on X at Bisball. Moury senior contributors to
Forbes always kind enough to join us when we have
questions about TV contracts in the Red So I feel
like we do this every year.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Mory, It's good to have you. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I'm great? How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I'm well. I feel like we did this a year ago.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
The Reds opt out and then they go back to
FanDuel Sports Network the season plays out and they make
the playoffs. But this feels different from where we were
a year ago, is it?
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It is in the sense that by opting out, I think.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
That there's obviously the realization that they're not going to
get the revenues that they expected that they were contractually
obligated to by. You know, once again, we've we've gone
through several iterations of this.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Now it's you know, now branded fan Duel, But.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
The bottom line of it is by these clubs, and
the Reds are one of them, right out of nine
opting out it doesn't preclude them from coming back to
Fan Duel, but it does set it up to where
they would go when you know, we're theoretically under with
less revenues, and that's obviously a concern.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
The upside to this, if they do go back, right,
would be that that money is then lock in.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
And that's a key factor with the RSN model and
why the clubs like it. No matter how they're performing,
no matter how things are going, that money gets locked in. Now,
if they don't come back, then that can change, and
that could have a couple of different looks. What would
those looks be, Well, I think the one that you're
(02:24):
most likely to see at this stage now would be
for Major League Baseball to take over the rights. And
this has happened. It's not like it's anything new. They've
picked up other clubs and done this. They would go
ahead and produce it. They would go ahead and reach
out to the likes of and Exminity and work new
(02:45):
carriage deals distributors, and then also the streaming deal that
ostensibly in theory, well not in theory, it does remove
blackouts right in some areas where they don't have it,
fans will be able to reach it that way. But
the difference here is is that in twenty twenty four,
the league said, oh, you guys were supposed to get
(03:06):
this much under your TV deal. You're not going to
be able to get that anymore. We're going to backstop
that money with revenue sharing money, and we'll go ahead
and make sure that you keep those revenues. That model
has now changed. So whatever the clubs pull in, and
that would include the Reds, right, whatever they pull in,
you know, through the TV deals they get reached and
(03:28):
whatever streaming is, that's what they're going to get. They
would not expect to get the money that they have
seen or were expecting under this deal that's currently FanDuel networks.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
How much of a financial haircut would they be taking.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Yeah, this is the question that nobody can really answer
because I think that what happens here is it depends
on your club. And you know, Okay, so if I'm
in Cincinnati, right, it's not like it's a huge market. Okay,
but you did mention that the outset, right, they made
the playoffs. You know, you're on a bit of an
(04:06):
upswing here. You can feel pretty good about it. But
you know, I don't know how less it would be.
That would be something that really couldn't be answered until
the end of the season, right, but you would expect
it to be less, and that, you know, is going
to be a concern.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And I think the biggest concern.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
For all the clubs, and look this is this, this
reaches now to almost the majority of all the regional
sports networks, is there's just unpredictability. And what happens when
we get into unpredictability, you tend to go ahead and
you go, well, we're not going to take as much risk.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
We're going to have to hold back and see how
this thing goes. You know, remember we're in the.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Last season before we potentially go into a lockout. The
owners and players don't know what's going to come out
of the end of that. The expectation is a off
season lockout at best. At worst, it starts to eat
into the beginning of the season. So there's just an
awful lot of unpredictability. And when you get into that,
(05:08):
clubs tend to go either risk neutral or they go
risk averse and they just like, WHOA, We're not going
to do any long term contracts or anything like that.
It just sets this whole thing up, and I think
that that has played in largely to why we've had
such a cold offseason.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
It's just not been what you might normally expect.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Nationally, Major League Baseball has new TV contracts and they've
redone their deal with ESPN, and one thing they've done
is they've Baseball has sold off MLB dot TV to ESPN.
They have the rights ESPN does to a handful of
teams local in market games. Eventually down the road is
(05:50):
that are they going to own the local rights to
all thirty Big League clubs?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And what's that going to look like. If the answer
is yes.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
Yeah, I don't think it's gonna be all thirty. I
think you're gonna have a hard time convincing the Dodgers,
the Yankees, your big brand, big you know, big market teams.
I think you're gonna have a hard time with that.
Can Manfred wrestle the majority, you know, maybe with a
few exceptions. I do, And I think that that's where
(06:19):
they're gonna go. And that's the other wild card in
the midst of this. It sounds like, for whatever reason,
and it may again come up to the fact that
we are coming to the end of a you know,
of a season and going into a labor a potential
labor stoppage that ESPN is not going to pick that
up until.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
So again, and all of this is to bridge to
get Fox and TBS and all the national rights along
with whatever package of local rights you can get all
lined up together at the end of the three years
that we have here that they you know, happened with
the ESPN backing out of it, They filled that gap
(07:01):
with ESPN, NBC and some streaming deals. Right, that stuff
is kind of the bridge for three years. When that
all lines up, then you're going to start to look
at something entirely different. So there's just again we're in
this kind of tweeener state where streaming is starting to
take more of a position of power. More people continue
(07:21):
to leave traditional televisions, mostly boomers right that are still
watching traditional TV, and it just lends us uncertainty to
the entire media landscape, and it's all playing out.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Of course, for baseball it's worse.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Of course, you know, it doesn't affect Cincinnati, but you know,
for the NBA and NHL right there in mid season.
At least Baseball has a little bit of time here.
Although they see this as something that's critical to have
happen now. They want to get this out of the
way so that fans know where they're going to wind
up on the dial come the start of the season.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
So there's where I was going to go next.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If there's a Reds fan listening to this, who's going
you know what? Last year was pretty good because I
could stream the games on the on the fan dual app.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I didn't have to have traditional cable.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So kind of wondering where I'm going to watch the
games in twenty twenty six, what's the answer.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah, I think that you know, again, if it goes
some Major League Baseball, your streaming options are still going
to be there, and you're going to go ahead and
have it on your traditional most of your traditional TV carriers,
and that to Baseball's credit, they've been very good at it.
They've been able to go ahead and make those things
happen pretty rapidly, and it's been pretty good. I would
(08:37):
fully expect with the branding right the FanDuel would be gone.
I would expect if they hold the model that they've
been that your on air personality will remain the same
that you would get that now. The question would be
how pregame and postgame goes. That may look a little
bit different, but for the most part, your game broadcast
(08:57):
will feel what the graphics, the exception the same, And
they've even gone so far as to contract out the
people that have been doing camera work and whatnot. A
lot of the production people there. Again, you're in studio.
Stuff will likely change. Those people would be impacted if
this happens, but again, the actual game broadcast should feel
(09:20):
largely the same.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Can I just book you now for December first? When
the lockout starts?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, it doesn't feel very good right now?
Speaker 3 (09:30):
I mean this is the stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Look this, you know and laughing about it all aside.
This stuff with television has a huge impact. It's it's
money is that the clubs have had guaranteed and it's
been a cash cow for them for a long time.
And so all of this uncertainty creates this you know
thing about, hey, we need to go ahead and talk
(09:54):
about a cap. The players, of course, are dead set
against it, whether we're going to have a floor, whether
we address off like you know, deferred compensation, which has
been a huge loophole for the likes of the Dodgers
to go out and continue to run ram shot.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
And I think there's going to.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Be an awful lot at stake with this labor deal
coming up, and both sides are girded for it. It'll
be a fun And I say that in quotes offseason.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah. Well, well, I'm sure we'll chat often.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
You're always kind of enough to join us when I
have a dumb guy questions about the Reds TV deal.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Mory, thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
All right, man, you take care, Thank you for having me.
Have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Most definitely you two. That's Maury Brown.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Follow him at bisbal Moury's Senior contributor to Forbes. It's
quarter after four. I'm oegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty.
Robert Wintrob reacts to Duke Tobin's mega press conference. Next
on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Traffic from the uc Health Traffic Center. U SEE Health's
Weight Loss Center offers surgical and medical obesity care and expertise.
Call five one three nine nine two two sixty three.
That's nine three nine two two sixty three. Eastbound Westwood
Northern Boulevard. There's an accident between McFarlane Woods Drive and
Montana Avenue. Police are directing traffic around that scene on
(11:15):
southbound seventy five. Another accident that's off on the off
ramp to Norwood Lateral. Police and fire blocking the right
lane on the highway. I'm at ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
This report is sponsored by
Mo Egger News
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.