JYDog90 said:

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So I've turned away from the Aggies to the Astros for comfort and I feel like I'm hearing the same thing from them that I'm getting out of College Station.

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insert lol wut meme

I guess Bregman and it didn't give me ANYTHING green, so I was confused.

n_touch said:

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What is keeping them from going direct to consumer? Is it something with Baseball and the front office? There are a lot of cord cutters out there that would pay for a monthly sub just to have baseball games. This would increase revenue monthly as well as another avenue for advertising dollars.

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IDK enough about how it all works, but this makes the most sense to me.

Keep it in packages with local cable providers at a somewhat discounted amount, but also offer it directly to consumers with MLBTV with a big fat charge. It's the best of both worlds.

How much would you be willing to pay for Astros games only per month? I think I'd gladly do $30-40 a month.

Mathguy64 said:

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30-40 a month is insane money. You are talking about a single use stream.

For a one off channel? $5 a month. Maybe $8.

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Right now it's $19.99 for a single team on MLBTV. I would happily pay that and more. Its like a dollar and change to watch each game. That's 3 hours of entertainment a night. Sign me up. I pay for FuboTV for 6 months of the year and 90% of what gets watched are the Astros. I am basically paying over $60 now for it.

Farmer1906 said:

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JYDog90 said:

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So I've turned away from the Aggies to the Astros for comfort and I feel like I'm hearing the same thing from them that I'm getting out of College Station.

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There are levels to this.

Our beloved football team is mediocre at best and going through a transition where there have been some major losses to the roster. They have never tasted anything close to what the Astros have and likely never will.

Our baseball team was 1 win from the WS, returned every key member, and is projected to have a top 2 team thus far. Sure, we'd like to add more and spend more, but our perception is so warped we don't fully appreciate what we have right now.

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Great point. Thanks for the perspective.

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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30-40 a month is insane money. You are talking about a single use stream.

For a one off channel? $5 a month. Maybe $8.

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Right now it's $19.99 for a single team on MLBTV. I would happily pay that and more. Its like a dollar and change to watch each game. That's 3 hours of entertainment a night. Sign me up. I pay for FuboTV for 6 months of the year and 90% of what gets watched are the Astros. I am basically paying over $60 now for it.

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Why not just give it at the discounted rate that they sell it to the cable companies. I think it is a 15 or 20 monthly fee. I dropped cable but would love to have the games on in the background at night when doing other things. I would gladly pay for a stand alone and not have to pay the additional $100 month for cable, then boxes and all of the fees just to watch my local sports team.

The problem is the cable companies would not like it since I am sure they would lose out on people that are just wanting to watch games that do pay those monthly fees.

AustinCountyAg said:

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from a financial standpoint it would make a **** ton of sense, but not sure I believe that,

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That's an understatement.

Going out on top is hard to do, but if you make this year your last year as owner, that's exactly what he can guarantee himself to do and make a metric **** ton of money on top of it.

Bought for $680MM in 2012ish
Valued at $2.25B in 2023

• Primed for one more year or 2 of a good run before free agency and a potential rebuild.
• Commercial project already in motion around the stadium.
• Legacy as one of the most successful 10 year rebuild and run in sports history in general.

I guess it's a question of it the Stros are a business deal or a passion project for him.

Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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30-40 a month is insane money. You are talking about a single use stream.

For a one off channel? $5 a month. Maybe $8.

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Right now it's $19.99 for a single team on MLBTV. I would happily pay that and more. It's like a dollar and change to watch each game. That's 3 hours of entertainment a night. Sign me up. I pay for FuboTV for 6 months of the year and 90% of what gets watched are the Astros. I am basically paying over $60 now for it.

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So double what you pay for a month of Disney plus Hulu. Or Peacock. Or Paramount+. Or Apple TV

Look. Streaming services have gone nuts. I get it. But $20 a month for a single use channel isn't going to be a money maker.

Off season topic on your personal Astros history (seen in person)

First game you went to: Not sure, but it was in 1977 with my grandparents and Cesar Cedeno waved at me and probably 500 other people, but mostly me!

Most recent game you've been to: August 12, 2023 - beat the Angles 11-3.

Best game you've been to: 2005 NLCS Game 4, the Everett/Bruntlett double play to end it.

Worst game you've been to: I had to do a lot of research but I found it. May 10 1989. My dad had come home the week before from 3 months working overseas and we went to the Dome. Jim Clancy started for the Astros and gave up 7 earned runs in 1.1 innings. It was 8-1 after 1-1/2 innings and 10-1 by the bottom of the third; and the power went out for a while in all that.

Favorite game you've been to: 1994, Astros 15, Cardinals 12. Got down 11-0 after 3 innings, scored 11 in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead. 17 guys batted in the 6th. Cards used 4 pitchers in 1 inning.

Favorite memory: Scotty's no-hitter to win the West in 1986.

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros: Eddie Johnson beating the Jazz on a three-pointer at the buzzer. My rother and I had seats on tne floor and he ran right at us after hitting it.

Mathguy64 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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30-40 a month is insane money. You are talking about a single use stream.

For a one off channel? $5 a month. Maybe $8.

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Right now it's $19.99 for a single team on MLBTV. I would happily pay that and more. It's like a dollar and change to watch each game. That's 3 hours of entertainment a night. Sign me up. I pay for FuboTV for 6 months of the year and 90% of what gets watched are the Astros. I am basically paying over $60 now for it.

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So double what you pay for a month of Disney plus Hulu. Or Peacock. Or Paramount+. Or Apple TV

Look. Streaming services have gone nuts. I get it. But $20 a month for a single use channel isn't going to be a money maker.

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I get what you're saying. Those streaming services usually have 1-2 things worth watching a month for me that I would put on the same planet as the Astros. The shear volume and variety make it worth it enough, I guess. But those services are trying to appeal to millions to make billions. This is very different.

All I do is Nguyen said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Astro alert.

https://www.mlbpickle.com/

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took 4 guesses

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2 for me but it was total luck.

First game you went to: Not sure, but it was in the late 80's as a kid. I'll have to ask my parents.

Most recent game you've been to: 2023 ALDS Game 1 - the only home playoff game we won this year.

Best game you've been to: 2017 ALCS Game 2 - Correa's walkoff double in the bottom of the ninth. JV goes nine innings with 13 Ks.

Worst game you've been to: The Pujols bomb, but looking back I respect it as a MLB moment and not so much an Astros memory. Or maybe the frustration I had against the A's this year where Pressly blew the no hitter in the 9th? So freaking close to seeing a no-no in person.

Favorite game you've been to: My first game at MMP the year it opened. Walking in from Union Station I was blown away at how small it seemed and how close the seats on the first base side seemed to the Crawford Boxes. Years of games in the massive Dome had me jaded as to what an intimate ballpark was.

Favorite memory: My kids are now Astros Buddies, so that's just special to see.

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros: Tracy McGrady's 13 points in 33 seconds against the Spurs. Or every A&M home game in 2012, just watching Johnny run circles around the college football world.

Beat40 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Looks like last night Astros twitter was dropping #s about how much was lost from AT&TSW going under and the Astros/Rockets taking it over.

A person with knowledge of the lack of spending by The @astros shared with me that the team has lost and is losing significant money with their new TV deal.
As shared with me they lost 20 million on the tv deal last year and had to pay out a significant amount of money in…

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) December 18, 2023

The Astros are losing $73M per year in broadcast rights fees, after leaving ATT SW Sportsnet in November.

With owning their own network with the Rockets, Space City Network, the Astros will most likely only get close to $50M per year from the channel as it starts.

This…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) December 18, 2023

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This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really.

Necessity is the mother of invention & innovation. With these current TV deals having gone south, the owners are going to have to quickly innovate TV with regards to the MLB.

As long as the owners and the league continue to view the sport as regional only, they will fail. They cannot think they are all like the Cubs or Yankees with their own channels.

The owners need to kick Manfred out and get a new commissioner in who can actually grow the game in other ways than just changing rules.

There are markets these idiots aren't even tapping into with MLB TV.

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That's hard to read and understand.

Is he saying they're actually losing money as part of the new deal

or

They are making less than they did before with the new deal?

Because while both would be a negative change in revenue, it's also a big difference between the 2.

tjack16 said:

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Off season topic on your personal Astros history (seen in person)

First game you went to:
Most recent game you've been to:
Best game you've been to:
Worst game you've been to:
Favorite game you've been to:
Favorite memory:

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros

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First game you went to: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU199508110.shtml
Most recent game you've been to: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU202309130.shtml
Best games you've been to: 2017 ws game 5, 2019 alcs game 7
Worst game you've been to: 2019 world series game 7
Favorite game you've been to: 2017 alcs game 7
Favorite memory: spraying a bottle of champagne in my backyard after 2017 ws

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros: going to every (home, road, and neutral) Aggie football game in 2012

First game you went to: Early 90's. The dome was the best.

Most recent game you've been to: Game 7 2023 ALCS (insert puke emoji)

Best game you've been to: 2022 World Series Game 6. Won't ever forget being inside MMP to see us win it all. Plus how loud and raucous it got when Air Yordan went yard.

Worst game you've been to: Game 7 2023 ALCS, partially because its the most recent, and also because of how confident I was that it would be a good game. Ended up being laughably bad.

Favorite game you've been to: The series I went to in Kansas City in 2022 was awesome. Loved the town, loved the ballpark.

Favorite memory: Being with my family at game 6 of the 2022 World Series so we could enjoy it together. Priceless.

Bonus, favorite sports memory in person not involving the Astros: I have a few, but probably sitting with my brother in the American Club for the Calzada/Seth Small upset of Alabama. That and Nebraska 2010.

AgLA06 said:

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Beat40 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Looks like last night Astros twitter was dropping #s about how much was lost from AT&TSW going under and the Astros/Rockets taking it over.

A person with knowledge of the lack of spending by The @astros shared with me that the team has lost and is losing significant money with their new TV deal.
As shared with me they lost 20 million on the tv deal last year and had to pay out a significant amount of money in…

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) December 18, 2023

The Astros are losing $73M per year in broadcast rights fees, after leaving ATT SW Sportsnet in November.

With owning their own network with the Rockets, Space City Network, the Astros will most likely only get close to $50M per year from the channel as it starts.

This…

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) December 18, 2023

---

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really.

Necessity is the mother of invention & innovation. With these current TV deals having gone south, the owners are going to have to quickly innovate TV with regards to the MLB.

As long as the owners and the league continue to view the sport as regional only, they will fail. They cannot think they are all like the Cubs or Yankees with their own channels.

The owners need to kick Manfred out and get a new commissioner in who can actually grow the game in other ways than just changing rules.

There are markets these idiots aren't even tapping into with MLB TV.

---

That's hard to read and understand.

Is he saying they're actually losing money as part of the new deal

or

They are making less than they did before with the new deal?

Because while both would be a negative change in revenue, it's also a big difference between the 2.

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Here is how I read it (plus some outside info):

AT&T paid 110 M to the Astros (73) & Rockets (37).

Of that, 73 M, 35 M gets paid to revenue sharing. I am sure they get a share back, but with other teams' deals going to hell, the money returned from the revenue sharing is less than what was paid into it. Maybe in year's past we got 30 M back, but last year it was only 25 M. (just making up #s for my example)

Since the Astros and Rockets have taken over, they handle more cost now. That 73 M is now 50 M.

My guess is Crane was expecting to get around 73 M in 2023, but got more like 53 M. Now, the number keeps dropping and he's only expecting 40-50 M for 2024. They're not losing money, but the budgeted amount from TV deals is tens of millions lower.

Ok. That makes sense and was what I thought.

But that dude kept saying losing money (instead of revenue) and I was trying to figure out how it was a greater than $80MM hit. (actually losing money).

Jim Crane: “People will always refer to the window (to win championships), the window may be closing. Listen, while I’m here the window is always going to be open. We’ve got the resources to put into the team. We’ve shown that with the payroll we’ve carried.” pic.twitter.com/xkFbFu9c2Z

— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) October 7, 2021

I'm just genuinely curious as to what has changed since this video

tjack16 said:

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Jim Crane: “People will always refer to the window (to win championships), the window may be closing. Listen, while I’m here the window is always going to be open. We’ve got the resources to put into the team. We’ve shown that with the payroll we’ve carried.” pic.twitter.com/xkFbFu9c2Z

— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) October 7, 2021

I'm just genuinely curious as to what has changed since this video

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"As long as I'm here". Clearly he meant once the window closed, he was gonna sell the team

Do you think our window is closed?


This seems pretty much in line, no?

Per spotrac

In 2021 our payroll ranked 5th at 194 M / 7th at 206 M luxury tax (under by 3.3 M)

In 2024 our payroll is ranked 6th at 188 M (does not project arb #s) / 6th at 237 M luxury tax (does project arb).

agproducer said:

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Nothing. He's committed the resources. They will probably wait until the ASB, see where we are and commit more. Right now, we have a series of "what ifs" and question marks. What are we going to get from LMJ? LuAce? Can Blanco transition to the bullpen? Is Whitley going to do anything?

We were one win away from the WS last year and we played lackluster ball all year. If we play under our potential, we are still right there.

This is all added drama.

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The problem with only adding major pieces at the ASB is that will continue to deplete what little farm system we have currently. Signing free agents just cost him money which he has plenty of. Even with losing the money on the tv network, I'm willing to bet he's still operating at a pretty good net profit.

AgLA06 said:

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tjack16 said:

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Jim Crane: “People will always refer to the window (to win championships), the window may be closing. Listen, while I’m here the window is always going to be open. We’ve got the resources to put into the team. We’ve shown that with the payroll we’ve carried.” pic.twitter.com/xkFbFu9c2Z

— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) October 7, 2021

I'm just genuinely curious as to what has changed since this video

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I guess you're going to have to define what changed.

Because he's tripled our payroll since he bought the club. He's provided the resources to go from a bottom 3 payroll team to a top 6 payroll team. And next year is no different.

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I wasn't point to his mentality changing I was asking about the money. The consensus in this video from him was we would spend and spend to keep the window open but now the rumors are we are out of money.

That wasn't a shot at crane or the sky is falling I was just asking is it a combo of aging guys making more money, tv deals or just lack of revenue.

Farmer1906 said:

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Do you think our window is closed?


This seems pretty much in line, no?

Per spotrac

In 2021 our payroll ranked 5th at 194 M / 7th at 206 M luxury tax (under by 3.3 M)

In 2024 our payroll is ranked 6th at 188 M (does not project arb #s) / 6th at 237 M luxury tax (does project arb).

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No I think the window is open through 2025 (aka the off-season we will likely lose Framber, Tucker, JV, Pressly and be without Bregman). Potentially open longer if we can have a smart rebuild in 2026. I was posting it to ask what has changed with the money situation.

I think we win the AL this year personally.

tjack16 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Do you think our window is closed?


This seems pretty much in line, no?

Per spotrac

In 2021 our payroll ranked 5th at 194 M / 7th at 206 M luxury tax (under by 3.3 M)

In 2024 our payroll is ranked 6th at 188 M (does not project arb #s) / 6th at 237 M luxury tax (does project arb).

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No I think the window is open through 2025 (aka the off-season we will likely lose Framber, Tucker, JV, Pressly and be without Bregman). Potentially open longer if we can have a smart rebuild in 2026. I was posting it to ask what has changed with the money situation.

I think we win the AL this year personally.

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I think we're in a similar position at 2021/22. We signed old man JV to a reasonable deal coming off TJ. We let Springer walk the year before and Correa that offseason. We extended a past its prime Gurriel & signed Neris to a cheaper deal than Graveman got.

We didn't go make any splashy moves. We largely brought back what we had then won a WS.

Looking forward, the window will slam shut if we let everyone walk without spending to keep/replace. Is there anything that makes you think we won't spend close to the 150+ M coming off the books after 25 and 26?

What are your thoughts on this projected #Astros lineup in 2024? @TxBaseballRpt pic.twitter.com/3Idt7pohCF

— Rip Griffin (@RipGriffin3) December 18, 2023

Who would hit at DH when Yordan is in LF (which he should be majority of the time)?