The Los Angeles Dodgers and Time Warner Cable put the squeeze play on against AT&T/DirecTV and other cable providers by slashing their asking price to carry SportsNet LA by 30 percent.
TWC spokesperson Andrew Fegyveresi explained the decision as one tied to 2016 being a “historic season” as it’s Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully’s 67th and final in the booth. “There could be no better way to honor Vin in his final year than for them to quickly accept this offer and get the games on TV,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a released statement.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred also invoked Scully’s name and forthcoming retirement as further reason to end the stalemate.
Scully, who has shrugged off attention and notoriety throughout his career, said there’s some unease over being the focal point but also attempted to find a silver lining, via Bill Shaikin of the LA Times:
“It’s really kind of embarrassing for me. If it will serve in any possible way to get the fans to see more games, that is the thing I would be rooting for.”
At present time, SportsNet LA, the exclusive home of the Dodgers, is available to Bright House Networks, Charter Communications and TWC subscribers. Meanwhile, AT&T/DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS remain among the industry’s largest holdouts.
The Dodgers signed the record 25-year, $8.35 billion exclusive rights holder agreement with TWC in January 2013. The network officially launched on Feb. 25, 2014 and has faced resistance in gaining more distribution in the years since.
