There was a deal to be had -- be sure -- but the suits who controlled the fate of NBC Sports Northwest just couldn’t bring themselves to do it. As a result, the Trail Blazers are now headed to ROOT Sports in a widely reported regional television deal that will bring our state’s NBA franchise into more households.
A lot of them in Seattle’s footprint.
NBC Sports Northwest?
“It’s a dead-man walking,” said one industry insider.
I don’t blame the Blazers one bit. The organization did the best deal it could find. But I’m told by those familiar with the negotiations that our state’s lone regional sports network fumbled away its early negotiating advantage. The end result is that Oregon will be left without a sports network to house a wide variety of state sports products.
You deserved better.
I’m talking to you now, reader. Our state’s 4.2 million residents deserved to have an RSN that could have continued to serve the Blazers up as a tentpole offering. But also, it should have done a better job featuring rich peripheral content of the Ducks, Beavers, Timbers, Thorns, Hops, Winterhawks and a variety of other sports in our state.
Portland State?
Sure.
University of Portland?
Yup.
How about high school sports and the hungry prep sports audience?
Absolutely.
I’m not fan of a spoon-fed media coverage. NBC Sports Northwest, previously known as Comcast Sportsnet NW, often broke out the pom-poms. It didn’t pretend to be objective and regularly pushed a pro-Blazers agenda. A lot of us shook our heads as the network openly rooted for the NBA team it “covered” and even dismissed employees who spoke or Tweeted critically about the franchise. It wasn’t journalism. It was content. Still, there was a place for the regional sports network in our state and I’ll be disappointed to see the thing die.
The entity isn’t publicly announcing it will shutter. But that’s where it’s headed, be sure. NBC Sports Northwest desperately needed the Blazers to help drive subscriptions and sell sponsorship packages. I’m told by those close to the negotiations that our state’s NBA franchise wanted very much to continue the local partnership but left the early negotiating period feeling as if it had little choice but to listen carefully to ROOT.
The Blazers signed a four-year contract with ROOT. It marked the end of a 14-year partnership with NBC Sports Northwest and left a lot of people wondering what went sideways.
“There was an early deal to be done,” said one industry executive. “I mean, it may have not been as lucrative a deal as NBC Sports Northwest would have hoped for but it would have been better than a certain death.”
This feels a little like one of those Greek myths now. The entity overplayed its hand, forgot that it couldn’t thrive without the Blazers and in the end, essentially negotiated itself out of existence.
I give the thing three months.
The aim here isn’t to bash a media business for misplaying its early negotiating advantage. Rather, to lament that our state now doesn’t have a regional sports network to serve our residents. Apologies to ROOT, which broadcasts across five states, but it’s basically Seattle’s sports network. Seeing the Blazers positioned alongside the MLB Mariners and NHL Kraken won’t sit well with a lot Oregonians. It shouldn’t. But that’s where we are today and no amount of shoulder programming will make ROOT ever feel like its our state’s own network.
The Blazers are pleased because they’ll be seen in roughly double the households now. That’s the spin. Fans will be happy to hear that ROOT is now in discussions with Hulu and YouTube to explore streaming options. Also, ROOT is available on DirecTV. In the end, though, I’m more concerned with the larger message: Our state needed its own television network. One committed to the state.
This isn’t a positive development for any of our state’s sports entities. It’s not good for industry employees who will have to find new jobs. It’s not productive for viewers, who could have enjoyed rich content had NBC Sports Northwest ever really bought in to serving the state’s television audience the way it deserved all along.
In four years, maybe a broadcast entity located in Oregon will get another shot at the negotiation. Or maybe a MLB franchise in Portland would ignite the launch of a regional network that would serve the rest of the state. But that feels far away today. Meanwhile, the Blazers will march on. So will the other entities. They’ll be fine, I guess. But I can’t help but think about the lost opportunity for Oregonians this week. There was a deal to be had. But NBC Sports Northwest just didn’t get it done.
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June 12, 2021 at 01:07AM
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Canzano: State sports scene deserved more from NBC Sports Northwest - OregonLive
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