Seattle Mariners Deal with DirecTV Estimated at $2 Billion

The Seattle Mariners  have assumed a controlling stake in a regional sports network (RSN), ROOT Sports, a partnership with DirecTV that will run through the 2030 baseball season.  According to sources the deal will total $2 billion over 17 years and  the Mariners will get to shield some of the  income from baseballs revenue-sharing system.

In addition to the Mariners, the network will provide other professional, collegiate and high school sports programming year-round. The notion of teams owning their own RSN’s  as not only caught on in the sports world it has provided a financial windfall for organizations especially in baseball who can shield their money from MLB’s revenue sharing system.

“This is great news for the Mariners and for sports fans in the Northwest,” Mariners executive VP (business operations) Bob Aylward said in a release.

The deal means that the Mariners will own and control their television rights and on air content and distribution of their games. The Mariners  will now be able to compete on a level playing field financially with teams like the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels.  Things are about to change dramatically in Seattle