Baseball broadcasts are getting ahead by staying where they are.

Viewership numbers for MLB games on regional sports networks are essentially flat this year — but that’s a win, given that cable subscribers are steadily dropping.

Additionally, more than half the league’s teams are either the top or second prime time broadcast in their areas.

Three AL West teams showed the biggest year-over-year increases: The Texas Rangers, who spent big in the offseason, topped MLB with 42% growth, followed by Shohei Ohtani’s Los Angeles Angels and the ascendant Seattle Mariners, both with 33%.

• Regional sports network viewership for the 29 U.S.-based teams are collectively down 0.4% year-over-year.
• Of those, 13 are up from last year, 15 are down, and the Pittsburgh Pirates posted identical numbers.

The Yankees’ household impressions grew 13% year-over-year by the All-Star Break to an MLB-best 22,597,400. The team’s Subway Series loss on Wednesday to the New York Mets drew 2.1 million average viewers, a 15-year high for a weekday MLB game on ESPN.

Regional Stream Networks

MLB and its teams are looking to adapt to a future in which they are less dependent on regional sports networks, as is Sinclair, which owns and operates the 21 Bally networks.

In June, Sinclair rolled out broadcasts for five MLB teams on Bally Sports+, a $19.99-per-month streaming service. MLB offers out-of-market games on its MLB.tv service.

Boston Red Sox and Bruins broadcaster NESN launched its own streaming service in June for $29.99 per month, while the Yankees’ YES Network indicated it intends to follow suit.

Car companies racing in Formula 1 use the series in part to show off what their vehicles are capable of. Now F1 is doing the same thing with fuel.

F1 announced on Thursday that the series will use 100% sustainable fuel, beginning in 2026.

• F1 is working with fuel specialists from FIA and ARAMCO to develop a novel fuel that works with current F1 engines.
• The series also claims the new fuel will be usable by “most road cars around the world.”
• F1 cars currently use an E10 fuel, which is 10% ethanol.

“We’re working on an E fuel where the carbon circle is completely neutral, so the carbon utilized to produce that fuel is the same quantity as the carbon emitted from the internal combustion engine,” said Ross Brawn, F1’s managing director of Motorsports. “It means that the engines do not add anything to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

F1 has tested 39 fuel blends with ARAMCO as it seeks a formula with the same energy-density as gasoline, so that it does not affect performance.

Sustainable Pace

F1 has pledged to go fully carbon-neutral by 2030. The company has been reducing single-use plastics and assessing travel and freight logistics to reduce its environmental impact.

The shift to sustainable fuel dovetails with Porsche’s deal to acquire a 50% stake in Red Bull’s F1 operations. Porsche has been developing synthetic fuels for consumer vehicles.

The European Union will ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines in 2035.

Amazon reported a 7% increase in second-quarter net sales to $121.2 billion, beating analysts’ estimates of $119.09 billion.

Amazon’s Web Services division reported $19.7 billion in revenue, outpacing estimates of $19.56 billion. AWS teamed up with Riot Games during the quarter to bring its data analytics integration to esports broadcasts for the first time, and will also power Riot’s cloud-first remote broadcast centers.

The company’s entertainment segment announced the addition of a number of sports personalities for its “Thursday Night Football” package. Amazon acquired the rights last year for $1 billion per season.

• Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez will be joined by former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman as analysts for Prime Video’s pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage.
• Charissa Thompson was announced as host during the quarter.

Prime Video debuted more than 25 local Originals and live sporting events, including Roland-Garros French Open tennis in France, the Australian Swimming Championships, and live boxing in Japan.

Amazon’s Empire

Amazon won a majority of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 rights last year for a reported $279 million annually. Earlier this month, French network L’Équipe struck a deal with Amazon to co-broadcast one Ligue 2 match each week during the 2022-23 season and announced a new pricing structure to watch Ligue 1.

The company is competing with Apple, Google, and other media giants for NFL Sunday Ticket. The league is reportedly looking for $2.5 billion per year for the rights.

Madison Square Garden is staying in place — at least for now.

Related Companies, a Hudson Yards developer owned by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, reportedly pitched an arena design that would be housed above a casino in Hudson Yards, but MSG directors turned it down.

Documents published in 2021 by Reinvent Albany estimated it would cost $8.6 billion to relocate the home of the New York Knicks and Rangers, but relocation isn’t completely off the table.

MSG sits above Penn Station, the country’s busiest transit hub, which saw around 650,000 travelers each weekday pre-pandemic. Its operating permit at the site expires in 2023.

• On July 21, the Empire State Development board approved a $7 billion redevelopment of Midtown Manhattan around Penn Station. The Public Authorities Control Board still has to approve the proposal.
• The plan would construct 10 towers in the area, up to 1,800 residential units, around 18 million square feet of mostly office space, and more. 
• The development would provide developers an estimated $1.2 billion in tax breaks.
• It’s unclear how MSG would be affected by the project.

Penn Project’s People

Gov. Kathy Hochul reportedly shut down further talks between the arena and Hudson Yards this year to avoid conflicts with Penn Station’s redevelopment plan. A Penn Station redevelopment was originally introduced by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The plan is backed by mayor Eric Adams, but other officials and community members have objected to it.