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Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart
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On the Mavericks’ TV broadcast situation...
Cuban: “Bally Sports, Sinclair, Fox Sports, they own the rights to broadcast the Dallas Mavericks’ games and video, regardless of platform. So it’s up to them to do what they think is right. We don’t have as many options as we used to, but with AT&T Now, people can stream it and can get an over-the-top provider. Honestly, I think YouTube TV and some of the others will come to their senses and realize in Dallas-Fort Worth, North Texas, you’ve got to carry the Mavs. From my perspective as a businessperson, I understood why they cut off the deal and didn’t renew because there were no games being played. But now that there are games being played and obviously it’s a big deal to a lot of people, and they’re hearing that from their customers, I think there’s a lot of incentive for them to fix that.”
How widespread is Fox Sports Southwest’s coverage being dumped?
Cuban: “It’s not just Fox Sports, it’s throughout the [regional sports networks], it’s not specific to Fox. It was more ‘look, there’s no games, why would we renew our contract? We’ll wait until there’s games being played.’ So now with games about to start, all those contracts are, hopefully, being renegotiated.”
On if he and other owners are involved with the broadcast negotiations...
Cuban: “There’s not a whole lot we can do, honestly. We’re talking to them and they’re telling me exactly what I convey to you. That they feel really strongly that those platforms are going to have to come around for all the reasons that you guys are hearing that fans want the games, period, end of story. And that’s not good for their business, particularly when you’ve got, particularly, Hulu saying ‘Hulu has live sports’ and now they don’t. So that’s really a strategic branding issue that they’re going to have to address. It’s great for AT&T Now, particularly their month-to-month. You can go and add AT&T Now and do the monthly with it and get the games — and actually, you can even wait a couple days because the first couple ones are ESPN and then TNT and then NBATV, so if you have them, you’re covered for the first three games and can buy some time.”