A Bet on Sports Programming Gone Wrong

When Sinclair Broadcast Group (NASDAQ: SBGI) acquired Fox's regional sports networks (RSNs) for $9.6 billion as part of Fox's partial sale of some media assets to Disney (NYSE: DIS) in 2019, which included movie studios and characters, it could have been seen as a big win for the company. Regional sports networks were very profitable -- they charged high fees to cable carriers, and generated advertising revenue. What could go wrong? 

Two years later, it seems that Sinclair's bet on regional sports has been a disaster. The company is losing cable subscribers alongside the broader industry, and has been shut out of most streaming TV packages, including Hulu, which is majority-owned by Disney. Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube TV hasn't been willing to pay a price for RSNs that Sinclair deems acceptable. Sling and Fubo also don't carry the RSNs. This could be a disaster for Sinclair and its investors. 

Image source: Getty Images.

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