The rivalry between Florida's cable television sports channels has become as fierce as any of the games they broadcast most evenings.
Sunshine Network remains the dominant player in coverage of sports of interest to fans throughout the state, while SportsChannel Florida is challenging with exclusive cable rights to both its Major League Baseball franchises.
Besides viewers and teams, the networks are scrapping for rights to off-the-field team programs, channel position on cable systems and advertising revenue.
Sunshine reaches 4.6 million homes throughout Florida, either through coaxial cable or small satellite dishes, while SportsChannel makes its way into 3.7 million. Sunshine's territory covers all of the state except for a small chunk of the Panhandle, while SportsChannel is missing what it considers two vital puzzle pieces — Sarasota and Orlando.
Neither network will disclose how many millions of dollars it pays for rights to cover Florida's teams, nor are they willing to discuss what they charge cable viewers each month. But they do talk about what they carry, and that's their most powerful marketing tool.
SportsChannel has exclusive rights to broadcast Florida Marlins baseball and Florida Panthers hockey, both of which were first carried on Sunshine. That's because H. Wayne Huizenga, the majority owner of SportsChannel, moved both his teams there when he bought the cable service in 1996. Even though Huizenga sold the Marlins earlier this year, his channel is carrying 70 Marlins games this season.
Huizenga's relationship with other MLB owners may have helped him land rights to the Devil Rays.
Jim Liberatore, vice president and general manager of Sunshine, said the network had been paying $6.3 million for rights to Marlins games before they moved to SportsChannel and made a similar offer to Rays owners that was never considered.
"We submitted a bid, and that was it," he said, adding that the Rays ended up accepting SportsChannel's $4.5 million bid.
SportsChannel is using the Rays to persuade cable systems in Orlando and Sarasota to add the channel to their lineups.
The marketing effort in Sarasota targets Rays fans, who are only getting "half the picture" because they're being blocked from seeing 64 Rays games this season. Sarasota viewers are able to watch other Rays games on two broadcast stations, along with games on ESPN.
SportsChannel is generating a campaign to persuade Comcast Cablevision of West Florida to add its service in Sarasota and Charlotte counties. Comcast has resisted, saying viewers aren't willing to pay the $1 a month extra the system would pass along to add the channel.
Carl Cronan writes for The Business Journal in Tampa.
