Regional sports networks across the country are pressing Major League Baseball to get the rights to stream local games to portable devices, The Post has learned.
Currently, baseball fans can’t watch live games on their tablets or smartphones outside their home, and the RSNs fear they could be losing viewers who are moving more and more to watching video, entertainment and sports on mobile devices.
MLB, which currently owns all rights to stream games, is said to be sympathetic to the RSNs and aware of current streaming trends.
“The talks have intensified” of late, said a source close to the situation, who added that there has been recent progress. “We are hopeful something will get done this year.”
MLB sells about 1.5 million subscriptions a year — for as much as $130 a shot — that allow fans to stream every out-of-market game through MLB.TV. Home and away games of local teams are blacked out.
The league shares much of the MLB.TV profit equally with the 30 teams.
Part of the talks between MLB and the RSNs concern how to protect that revenue stream and maintain some control over all streaming rights while placating the local sports networks, sources said.
Baseball teams are generally supportive of the RSNs in their talks with MLB because giving their cable rights holders more options could lead to tens of millions of added dollars in rights fees over a multi-year rights deal.
At the same time, if RSNs don’t get streaming rights, teams could see their rights fees fall as fewer people watch the games from their homes.
The pay-TV industry, already buffeted by cord-cutters opting to stream, is trying to salvage itself by promoting TV everywhere, said a source.
That is part of the reason Dish agreed to stop using its ad-hopper technology for three days to get a landmark deal done with Disney this week — it got the right to stream Disney-owned content, including ESPN, the source added.
Chris Bevilacqua, who negotiates sports media rights, said if the RSNs get the right to stream in-market games they will seek to raise the fee they charge cable companies.
“RSNs will likely take the position that they are delivering more value, thus they should get more compensation,” he said.
The RSNs charge cable companies about $4 a subscriber, on average. If they get streaming rights, that prevailing rate will likely rise 10 to 15 percent, a source close an RSN said.
Fox, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV own the most RSNs and are each pressing their case with MLB independently, a source close to the situation said.
In New York, Fox controls the Yes Network, which owns Yankees rights, and the Mets owners
control SNY, which owns rights to air Mets games.
MLB, YES and SNY declined to comment.