North Shore Nine

Beginning on January 1st, 2024 the Pittsburgh Pirates will become joint owners of SportsNet Pittsburgh alongside the Pittsburgh Penguins. The regional sports network will be managed by New England Sports Network (NESN) and should allow fans who watched Pirates baseball on local cable/satellite providers to continue to do so for the 2024 season and beyond. The landscape of cable TV is still undergoing rapid changes, so this may end up being only a temporary solution but this was a major concern heading into the off-season that should be successfully addressed for now.

The deal calls for SportsNet Pittsburgh to carry over 150 Pirates games during the 2024 season.

“The most important thing to us was to ensure that our fans have the same level of access to Pirates game telecasts and the same high-quality production that they enjoy today,” Pirates president Travis Williams said in a statement. “This agreement accomplishes that and more as we enable Pittsburgh sports fans to continue to enjoy a two-team, 24/7 sports channel.”

For the moment, it appears that this won’t change anything for fans who watch games on TV. Jason Mackey at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that we should see the same personnel in the booth going forward.

As for on-air stuff, the talent is expected to remain the same — play-by-play men Greg Brown and Joe Block, as well as the rotating cast of color commentators around them: Bob Walk, John Wehner, Neil Walker, Matt Capps and Kevin Young.

The only difference will be before and after games at the anchor desk, when the new format will call for a shifting of roles and/or talent additions.

As for the value of the TV deal, that part is not yet known — and probably won’t be, at least as far as an exact number.

The last TV deal for the Pirates was believed to be in the $50 million-$60 million range, which is very good when considering market size and the team’s competitive state.

It’s unlikely the Pirates obtained 80% of the previous agreement, but Williams said it won’t impact the team’s payroll in 2024 and beyond.

“I don’t think payroll is a product of our television deal,” Williams said. “Payroll is a product of many different things in terms of where we are in building a team. As I’ve mentioned before, the revenue that comes from these types of deals, whether it’s this or a sponsorship or a jersey patch, any of those topics, that’s part of the overall revenues that we use to invest in the organization, areas where we’re going to make a difference.

“That could be player development, research and development for drafting or trades, any number of things. I don’t tie one deal or one relationship specifically to payroll. I don’t think our fans should, either.”

Williams also insisted that figuring this out has had zero impact on the team’s offseason thus far, which has included $6.2 million allocated to players expected to make the major league roster.

“Not changing anything we’re doing in the offseason whatsoever,” Williams said.

The idea that revenue from the TV contract has nothing to do with payroll seems a bit of a stretch. Revenue is fungible. I do hope, however, that he is sincere in saying that this doesn’t change what they’re doing this off-season. Assuming that previous statements about increasing payroll and shopping in a different part of the store are still what they are doing this off-season.