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SALT LAKE CITY — The good news for Utah Jazz fans: At long last, the Jazz have entered into contract talks with potential new broadcasting partners.
The bad news: Change won't come until next season.
The broadcasting deal that was signed in 2009 with AT&TSportsNet has aged terribly. As cord cutting has become more of a norm, it has left many Jazz fans without viable (at least legal ones) ways to watch games.
Last season, there were some improvements made for streaming options with a FuboTV or DirecTV package, but that still forced fans to pay for expensive monthly bundles in order to gain access to games. For a fan base that was once accustomed to free broadcasts on KJZZ — albeit a long time ago — that's been hard to stomach.
A new deal, the Jazz hope, will prove to be a balm for a large portion of the fan base that has been growing frustrated with a lack of options.
The Jazz have entered negotiations with three goals clear in mind:
- They still want to have a traditional television broadcast. It may be dying, but it isn't dead yet and most fans still want access to games this way.
- They want a pay-per-view option — and one filled with plenty of flexibility. They want it to include a season package, single-game options and plenty in between.
- They want the provider to be included in a "skinny bundle" — or smaller bundles of live TV stations. That'll give fans access to semi-traditional models with smaller price tags.
The hope is that by giving fans more options, it will help combat the rise of illegal streaming. Like older fans of the team who grew up watching games on KJZZ, the newer generation has grown accustomed to streaming illegally online. The team asked a recent focus group of 50 participants if they had watched the Jazz through an illegal streaming service; every single hand went up.
The team signed a 12-year deal with what was then Fox Sports Nets (now AT&T SportsNet) in 2009, which expired in 2021. Team officials explained on Wednesday that AT&T SportsNet has had an exclusive negotiating window for the rights to Jazz games on TV, which led to the team being on the channel for the last two years.
As of now, there's no timeline for a new deal to be in place, and officials said they are going to take the time to get it right — and not just for the 2023-24 season, but for future ones as well.
The Jazz don't want another situation where they are locked into an undesirable deal. Team officials said there has been plenty of interest for the team's rights, and the Jazz are keeping all options on the table. It's possible the Jazz could have a traditional TV partner and a different one for streaming.
Utah also comes with the attractive addition that it produces all games in-house.
As for the 2022-23 season, though, nothing will change. Utah games will remain on AT&T SportsNet and the fans will have the same set of options they did last season.
The regional sports network is available for Comcast and DirecTV subscribers, but not Dish Network, which has recently dropped all regional sports networks. That's provided a glaring example of how poorly the 2009 deal aged over the last decade-plus. The channel can also be streamed on DirecTV Stream and FuboTV to local audiences.
Next year, though, there should be more options.
