In what can effectively be referred to as a branding measure, the NBA’s Houston Rockets and Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Houston Astros will soon televise games on the “Space City Home Network.”
That will be the new name of the regional sports network currently known as AT&T SportsNet Southwest, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery indicated its plans to fully exit the RSN business as soon as possible.
Space City Home Network will debut with the 2023-24 Rockets season, according to Michael Shapiro of Chron.com, and it will continue into the 2024 MLB season for the Astros. Jason Bristol of KHOU, Houston’s CBS affiliate, was first to report the new name.
Shapiro shares more details in his latest story:
The Rockets and Astros are set to act as joint owners of the newly-named RSN, per a Rockets’ source. Though for consumers, the launch of Space City Home Network won’t impact their ability to watch local games. The network will operate as a traditional RSN available via cable providers, and via streaming options currently available.
In the short-term, the Astros and Rockets inherit the existing regional carriage agreements that AT&T SportsNet Southwest had with distributors such as DirecTV, Comcast and fuboTV.
Can confirm the @JBristolKHOU report regarding the Rockets’ newly-named regional sports network.
Astros will also have their games broadcast on the ‘Space City Home Network’ beginning next season.
More ⬇️ @chron:https://t.co/I2OBRXCw5t
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) September 16, 2023
In the longer term, once existing carriage agreements expire, the transition to local ownership might allow teams to explore direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming options. But that’s a number of years away, and each sports league is poised to have many conversations with its teams before then regarding the best path forward.
Many teams and their broadcast partners are experiencing similar challenges as they attempt to recoup falling revenues due to cord-cutting trends and its impact on the traditional cable business model.
The AT&T SportsNet branding will continue through the end of the Astros’ 2023 regular season, which finishes on Sunday, Oct. 1. From there, MLB postseason games are national-only broadcasts, and the network can effectively turn its focus to the upcoming NBA season.
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