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Brewers games will be broadcast by Major League Baseball in 2025

Posted on by Kennedy
Brewers games will be broadcast by Major League Baseball in 2025

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(This story has been updated to add new information.)

The Milwaukee Brewers' telecasts will be produced and distributed by Major League Baseball next season, signaling the end of the relationship with Diamond Sports Group, the club that broadcast games on Bally Sports Wisconsin.

MLB announced in a press release that it will also operate broadcasts for the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins next year. This doubles the current portfolio of MLB teams it covers broadcasts for, joining San Diego, Colorado and Arizona. The Texas Rangers have also left Diamond Sports Group, and the future venue for their broadcasts has yet to be announced.

“From our perspective, the first thing is what’s best for the fans,” Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger said Tuesday. “How can we make our television programs available to the widest possible audience? How can we communicate the quality and production value of our show to our audience? How can we have opportunities to expand our offerings with ancillary programs and additional programs? How can we benefit from MLB’s technological advances and expertise? And frankly, we just have more ownership, control and influence over a really important part of our brand, which is the approximately 145 television shows that we air each year.

The Brewers had the option of returning to Diamond after their contract expired in 2024, but Diamond was embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings and MLB has long sought to reclaim streaming rights from each team in order to offer games without market failures in the MLB's own app.

It's all part of the crumbling regional sports network (RSN) model, and Diamond's bankruptcy has created uncertainty over broadcasts for a number of MLB, NBA and NHL teams.

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Here's what it all means for you.

How will the Brewers' broadcasts change in 2024? Will the team have new announcers?

The broadcasts probably won't look or sound all that different, although the appearance of the on-screen graphics may change.

The announcers would be mostly the same (most are team employees, anyway). Schlesinger said he expects pregame and postgame programming to remain, although the length of those shows and their features are still uncertain.

The channel location will move to satellite and cable to a Brewers-specific channel (Schlesinger called it BrewersTV), but there will be no additional fees for fans who already watch the games on cable and satellite. Schlesinger said the station will offer opportunities for additional non-game programming in the future, but there are no immediate plans.

The games may be available in other locations (the Padres games, for example, will be broadcast on Fubo in addition to cable and satellite), but Brewers fans won't be short of options to watch them.

MLB's release of the new agreement boasted some innovations that might be new to Brewers fans, including UMP cameras, live insights with the MLB Replay Operations Center and increased access to in-game interviews.

Will it be more affordable for fans to watch Brewers games?

Fans will still pay about the same, but MLB's native technology will likely have fewer glitches than what fans have often complained about with Bally's app. Aside from a likely channel change, cable and satellite customers shouldn't notice a difference either, without incurring any additional costs to watch.

For example, Padres games can be found on the MLB.TV app for those in San Diego. Fans can pay $99 per year to get Padres games only (called the Padres.TV option), but fans who buy the full package for $200 can also watch Padres games in addition to every other game in baseball. View games on the market are out of stock.

For those who receive the MLB.TV app each year, it will be essentially the same product, with no outages for the Brewers.

Will some games be available “over the air” on channels that can be viewed without a subscription?

Schlesinger left the door open that the team might offer some broadcasts on “over-the-air” television, available with a standard signal receiver.

“I know some teams in other leagues are hosting a few games over the air,” he said. “I’m not ruling anything out. This is the first day of an official announcement. … We’re looking at a lot of different ways to broadcast the shows.”

Again, this applies regardless of cable or satellite customers, who won't see a dramatic change in their ability to watch Brewers games.

Will the MLB takeover impact the Brewers team payroll?

Yes, it is possible, but the extent of the impact remains unclear.

“Whatever the revenue for television is, for me that is a different issue. “Mark (Attanasio, team owner) and Matt (Arnold, Brewers general manager) will find out what the payroll is,” Schlesinger said. “They haven’t even finished all these conversations and decisions yet. The payroll is fixed and I wouldn't jump to conclusions based on the revenue there is on TV (that it necessarily means something in the payroll). These are part of a larger ecosystem for the Brewers. We look at everything, all income, all expenses. We run a big business, it's not just about player payroll… we also have many revenue streams beyond television.

Milwaukee won't be alone across the MLB facing the short-term challenge of declining revenue.

Baseball already has a revenue-sharing policy, distributing money to clubs through lucrative national contracts that offer game packages to providers like ESPN or Apple TV+. These deals reportedly helped MLB achieve record revenue in 2022.

The Brewers have already taken a lower salary share in the 2023 and 2024 seasons compared to last year and, strangely, won more games in each season than the previous year.

Schlesinger acknowledged that the short-term forecast will require the team to take a hit in revenue, but emphasized the longer-term benefit of offering the games to a wider audience.

Is this just for 2025 or will Brewers air this way for years to come?

Schlesinger said he believes this is a long-term play, even without a concrete contract tying the Brewers to him.

“We believe this is the future of local media in Major League Baseball,” he said.

What about the Milwaukee Bucks games?

Bucks games are expected to continue airing on Bally Sports Wisconsin through the 2024-25 season.

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