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Sources: MLB, Fox Closing In On Local-Streaming Deal That Will Start In '16

Local streaming "is coming" to many MLB markets next season, as the league "is drafting deal documents with Fox, which holds the local media rights" to 15 teams, according to sources cited by Ourand & Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. An agreement to offer authenticated local streaming of live games "is expected to be in place" by the start of the '16 season. Fox "has been in active negotiations with the league for several years over the streaming service." MLB "moved off of its insistence that it host local games through MLB.com, something league executives wanted so they could ensure the quality of the video streams is high." That stance had "proved the biggest roadblock to a deal." As part of the agreement, MLB is "requiring" that Fox RSNs use MLBAM "as the vendor to manage the live streams through its new stand-alone BAM Tech operation." Sources said that the requirement, in addition to a rights fee that is around 4% of a team’s overall media deal, "would cost RSNs in the mid-to-high seven figures per team." For MLB, the requirement to use BAM Tech "will ensure that the streams’ video quality will be secure." But sources said that the requirement "remains a significant sticking point for other RSNs" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/17 issue).

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