Fox RSNs Rebrand to Bally Sports, Just in Time for MLB Opening Day

Farewell, Fox Sports West and Fox's other regional sports networks. Say hello to Bally Sports Networks. Nearly two years after Sinclair Broadcasting bought 21 Fox regional sports networks from Disney, the company has completed the RSN rebrand, which includes adding Bally Sports to most of the network's names and rolling out a Bally Sports interactive streaming app, just in time for Major League Baseball's Opening Day. Sports fans can watch 42 teams across the NHL, NBA and MLB on 19 regional networks, available to all or part of the 50 states across the U.S. Changing needs of the fan base On Wednesday, the new Bally Sports logos and monikers replace the existing Fox Sports regional logos and brands, meaning that Fox Sports West becomes Bally Sports West and Fox Sports Wisconsin becomes Bally Sports Wisconsin. Sinclair had always planned to debut Bally Sports alongside Opening Day, which the company said gave Sinclair enough time to orchestrate the app and signage. The rebrand included over 500 new pieces of artwork, more than 2,800 network, team and player animation graphics and more than 3,000 new sponsorship graphics. “It's one iconic name change for another iconic name, but this is the foray into sports in a big way,” Rob Weisbord, Sinclair’s head of broadcast and CRO, told Adweek. “I look at it as an evolution. The RSN world has never really changed because it’s been a lucrative business, but the fan base is changing, so we have to change with the needs of the fan base.” While there were 21 Fox RSNs, two channels in the South region—Fox Sports Carolinas and Fox Sports Tennessee—have been discontinued in an effort to streamline programming. Content from those networks is moving to Bally Sports South (previously Fox Sports South) and Bally Sports Southeast (previously Fox Sports Southeast). “When you look at everything from brands to ads.. we want to sell the scale and the largeness of Bally, but also the largeness of Sinclair," said Weisbord. "We have over 12 billion sports impressions. We look at it as national coverage with local activation, so it helps us fulfill our brand promise to the advertisers as well.” To better reflect their target markets, Sinclair is also rebranding networks Prime Ticket and SportsTime Ohio to Bally Sports SoCal and Bally Sports Great Lakes. The company is looking at the relaunch of the networks as “RSNs 2.0,” said Weisbord. “The previous RSNs looked at it as just pregame, game and postgame, whereas we look at the whole ecosystem. We believe that it has to be an omnichannel approach.” Marketing a new brand Sinclair and Bally’s first teamed up last November as part of a long-term strategic partnership that combined sports-betting technology and local broadcast stations and RSNs. Bally’s initially began as a pinball machine-maker before pivoting to health clubs and now the landmark Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas. With the rebrand, Sinclair aims to target intergenerationally. The new logo was created with Interbrand, Bally’s marketing consultancy group. “This is the iconic mark that we want to build against,” said Weisbord, referencing the “B” in the Bally Sports logo. Expect to see Bally Sports appear on platforms like TikTok and Snap, along with traditional media campaigns. Weisbord described it as a “whole different approach” to how the company will market and showcase the brand. While the networks will increasingly focus on mobile sports gaming as it becomes legal in more states, Weisbord said the short-term focus is on the “Xbox and Fortnite generation.” “We’ll superserve the boomers, but we really want the Fortnite crowd coming in to become the next-gen fan,” said Weisbord. “Sports is really generational. But the pandemic has led to more ADHD and ADD and everything, so we have to get that second screen involvement.” Weisbord emphasized that Bally Sports is not trying to “build a gambler,” but rather encourage fans to not be passive and participate. “That's the whole thought process. Let's really get the fan into the game, let them have that chance to play along with the team,” said Weisbord. Developing a DTC app The Bally Sports DTC app, first announced in December, will launch in the coming weeks. Part of the larger gamification initiatives from the Bally's and Sinclair partnership, the app will feature several news stories and a journalistic approach, with a focus on social media. “We also will look at making the channel a 24/7 channel that will be live and interactive over time,” said Weisbord. “We want the Bally Sports brand in the hand,” said Weisbord. He noted that while the app will coincide with the beginning of baseball season, it’s complicated to launch due to MVPD authentication. “We didn’t want to rush the app, it still has some testing to be done,” he said. While Bally Sports was initially marketed as a streaming app, Sinclair is now emphasizing an omnichannel approach. Weisbord said the company is looking at doing a pre-pregame show on Facebook or other social media channels and a post-postgame show to allow fans to participate along with the game. “We want the Bally Sports to be known as the interactive interactivity network,” he said. The app will include free-to-play games with predictability and options to win virtual prizes and merchandise. “And then we’ll also look to do more in the community, because that’s our background from broadcast, being community oriented,” said Weisbord. Targeting local With the new brands, Sinclair will sell integrations and features in addition to regular spots. “It’s more of how we create branded content,” said Weisbord, referencing an upcoming branded content campaign with New Balance for The Tennis Channel. “We see more and more in-game branded content to go along with the spots. Because that integration between our tentpole and our brands, we want that synergy.” The RSNs will be sold as standalone networks, but will also be available as part of Sinclair’s larger house of brands. “Always in the articles, it's about a national trend, but that fandom and the work that the local fan is significant,” said Weisbord of the sports space. “We’re partnering with the teams to launch it and build that community.” Distribution struggles continue Struggles with distribution agreements have long plagued RSNs. Virtual MVPD fuboTV dropped the channels in January 2020, and YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV followed suit in October of last year. “All the real major providers that have the subscribers we have long-term deals with,” said Weisbord. “And those that don’t, we haven’t thrown in the towel, we’ll continue to have conversations.” The Bally Sports app is part of Sinclair’s solution to these carriage disagreements. “We have not given up hope, we always will try to get to the table,” said Weisbord. “But eventually we will have our own direct-to-consumer to be able to give the fan a chance to be able to just subscribe. We have to do it with thought, because we don't want to disrupt our deals with the distribution partners that are all in on the sports as well.” Sinclair Buys 21 Regional Sports Networks From Disney in $10.6 Billion Deal