The Reds reached a surprise agreement with Main Street Sports/FanDuel Sports Network (the rebranded entities formerly known as Diamond Sports Group and Bally Sports) yesterday — a one-year cable and streaming rights deal that’ll take care of the team’s broadcasts for the upcoming 2025 season. With Diamond Sports Group in bankruptcy proceedings, the Reds had turned their broadcast rights over to the league (as have several other clubs) in a less-lucrative arrangement. It’s still not clear how much extra revenue Cincinnati will pick up in the wake of this new agreement, but president of baseball operations Nick Krall told the Reds beat yesterday that there will be a positive impact on the team’s payroll, which had been close to maxed out.
“Just getting a little bit more money is great,” Krall stated (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer). “We can work a little bit more in both the free agency and the trade market.”
Reds fans will surely welcome the news of additional resources at the front office’s disposal. Krall didn’t make any definitive statements about what’s to come on the horizon, but it’s a change in tone from last week, when after the Gavin Lux trade he noted that the Reds did “not [have] a ton” of flexibility with regard to the payroll.
At the moment, RosterResource projects the Reds for a $106MM payroll — about a $6MM increase over where they finished the 2024 season. That’s generally been considered the top end of ownership’s range; Krall implied following the Lux acquisition that the inclusion of the team’s competitive balance draft pick in the swap was a creative means of fitting Lux’s modest $3.325MM salary onto the books, as it reduced the Reds’ draft budget. That doesn’t speak to a team with future acquisitions still in the pipeline.
Only time will tell the extent of the impact on Cincinnati’s spending ability. COO Doug Healy somewhat vaguely said the deal “enhances our economics slightly.” Krall’s subsequent comments more clearly suggest that the Reds could squeeze another move out of the unexpected uptick in revenue.
It’d be a major surprise if the Reds suddenly felt emboldened to spend on Anthony Santander or Pete Alonso, even as both reportedly warm to the possibility of shorter-term deals in free agency. They’ve recently been linked to reliever Carlos Estevez and were reported to have had interest in Gleyber Torres before he signed with the Tigers, as well. Wittenmyer writes that despite prior interest in Estevez, the two parties hadn’t talked in “weeks” prior to the new television agreement, as the right-hander was simply out of their price range.
Even if it’s not Estevez specifically, that interest suggests a desire to strengthen the relief corps. With regard to how the market has played out this winter, that’s arguably the “best” need to still have on any team’s to-do list. The relief market has moved slowly compared to other corners of free agency. It’s begun to pick up steam recently, but Estevez is just one of several quality bullpen arms still looking for a new home next year. David Robertson, Kenley Jansen and Kirby Yates are among the highest-profile names available, but the open market also includes names like Kyle Finnegan, Paul Sewald, Phil Maton, A.J. Minter and Tommy Kahnle, among others.
Good for the Reds. Now they can close the Marcus Stroman-sized hole in their rotation. Thanks!
-Yankee fans
ha, there are no wholes in the rotation,
and wouldn’t want Stroman even if there was
Wholes ha.
He wouldn’t even make their rotation no one wants your trash lmao they might take him if throw Spencer Jones or Arias in
Yankees always overpaying for washed up guys
Well not sure about that but hey when you have their money to spend you can take more risks while most of the rest of the league have to pinch pennies. Reds are like 40M shy of league average when it comes to team salaries and now we have to deal with losing tv rights money. Where have all the billionaires gone!
League average is pretty worthless when there’s the top teams that spend $300MM+ that inflate that. Median is a better figure to gauge.
They’re also below league average in terms of revenue generated.
If I’m Santander, I’m chomping at the bit to play at great American small park. Want to prove I can hit 40 homers again with acceptable D – no problem!
3/60 mil with opt outs
Yes but the rest of the league knows if he hits 40 at GABP he will hit 30 at theirs so not much upside. Besides I am guessing when Krall said they have a little more money to play now with the new tv deal that means from 3M they had before to maybe 6-10M now. Not near enough to get Santander.
I would like the Padres to do this, but I don’t think MLB wants to lose control of the broadcast.
Yes, I’m sure MLB would love to have as many broadcast rights as possible to sell like the other leagues. But since too many of the big teams have their own networks, I don’t see that ever working out. I dunno.
Yeah I think they want to have the rights to all of the teams so they can get a bigger piece of distribution. Teams like the Dodgers, Boston, New York (both) will likely never have MLB control anything, but that won’t stop them from trying.
Sell the team, Bob
Seriously the extra budget is like 5 million because Bob is a cheap loser
He is not the owner only the majority shareholder. There are many others with their hands in the pie. I think they are all chep losers. They are still 30-40M shy of league AVERAGE in team salaries. What’s really sad is there are other teams that spend less than the Reds. The likely work stoppage once the CBA expires can not come fast enough for me. Baseball’s financial rules are broken and in much need of repair.
Bob is a vegetable at this point he’s not running the team or calling the shots
Again, a baseball team playing poor. They get $115-124M from shared MLB licensing and broadcast rights before playing a game, revenue sharing or even selling a single ticket.
Yes. Again. Funny that. Maybe all those agains indicate a reality.
Paying the note on the team with future revenue and removing that money from the team income stream?
I’ve been responsible for a P&L or two in my time. There’s a fair bit of complexity to them. I’m not going to pretend I have a handle on an MLB teams. If the smart people at Forbes can’t get it right, I rate myself zero chance. My option is to trust the evidence of their words.
Again, salaries are not the only expense of a baseball team.
But I say ##SelltheteamBob for a reason.
Ah yes, in honor of the U.S. economic tradition where the wealthy are the true welfare queens of our country.
Related – it’s completely ludicrous that fans should have to care about their team’s broadcasting rights. The fact that this is even news is infuriating.
What a dumb, broken system that shows a total lack of concern as to whether fans can even watch their favorite team and whether teams can properly monetize their product on TV.
split tv revenue in revenue sharing. big markets will never agree but that would even the playing field
High level of media contract sharing with a floor spent if you want a chunk. Keep players in markets to pull in the casual fan. Best ran teams should win not deepest pockets.
Fear not for the regrettably necessary work stoppage will probably happen once the current CBA expires and hopefully the chasm between the haves and the have nots can be considerably lessened.
To be honest, I couldn’t care less about broadcast rights. I just watch the games.
They’ll probably go after another INF.
Reds have 0 hope for a ws in next 10 years. Bad farm, overrated players,few fans
Good lord what a casual their farm system is actually quite good especially considering what they just put in the bigs and the overrated players you probably just mean Elly and he may be but their rotation is absolutely stacked and they still have two of the top 3 pitching prospects in the game
2 of the top 3? Haha
I disagree on all counts. The Reds have the poorest (relatively speaking) owners in baseball. There are much cheaper teams out there. The Reds have a good fan base, especially given their market size.
Pete Alonso on the Reds seems a great fit. He’s essentially Votto 2.0 a slugging first baseman that will give you 30-40 bombs.
Bro, what? Alonso is NOTHING like Votto.
Well, 1. They are both 1st basemen. 2. See #1.
A great fit? Maybe. Problem is he is asking for more than $1 and isn’t begging to go to the Reds.
Mayer, Abreu, Yoshida and cash for Elly who says no
wat
Cincy doesn’t hang up immediately, they just put Boston on hold. See if they’re still on the line in a few years when Elly gets expensive.
The Reds are going to waste Elly’s window- all because the ridiculous way the Castellini’s run the budget. Pathetic.
They have control of Elly, McLain, and Hunter Greene through 2029. Relax lol.
I dunno, I just looked at Fangraphs projections for the Reds and overall it looks pretty underwhelming. If they have no money to supplement, Josh is going to be right
Fangraphs also project the Cardinals to win the NL Central last year and the Brewers to finish 4th lol. Their projections don’t mean jack.
Just bc the team has control doesn’t mean they can afford his Arb#. What’s most important is that the reds make the best trade possible when the time comes to unload Elly. Angels are a terrible franchise- not trading Ohtani was worse than paying that 3rd baseman from nationals 35 mil a season
Relax? He has already been with the team for two years. He starts pre arb next year. As far as I remember they have only extended one player and that is Greene. If they can’t afford to extend anyone now what will it look like when their big time players get to arbitration and require big raises. With Elly they will probably have to trade him with two years of team control to maximise his value in a return. Doubt they risk holding on to him any longer than that. He’s their meal ticket, their luck golden lottery win. What he can fetch in return in a trade would be quite substantial.
I can’t agree on the prior posts here Reds have and had a very good farm system in the past 5/6 years India ROY not to mention, Elly and Greene taking strides forward as stars TySteve becoming one of the better two way catchers in the MLB, not mention McClain Lodolo and Abbott looking to Build off of good success after season ending injuries…I feel team is trending up and if they get a much needed OF with a presence at the plate…looking at you Robert this team is looking playoff of bound in 2025
How much more money does a team make with a provider vs the mlb package?
The million dollar question that they will not answer. Twins were talking a $99 a year deal for their fans versus having to sign up via cable TV and pay typically $8 to 12 a month for the sports tier that gets you the local sports channel. Cubs with Marquee want $20 a month.
May have a little more to spend which is a good thing big the problem is they never spend it wisely
Maybe the Reds/Luis Robert rumors will pick up again
While a really good fit, I don’t think we hear anything about LRJR until the deadline. Sox would be selling at his lowest value ever if they dealt him now.
Yeah, I agree. I was thinking there has to be some sort of middle ground on a deal though. That Comp Pick that was dealt for Lux would have been tempting as a second(/third) piece.
The middle ground is Sal Stewart as headliner for Robert. WSox need a high floor eats/breathes game position player prospect even if ceiling isn’t crazy high. Reds have IF roster depth and keep Arroyo. Since Reds do not have an enticing enough OF for 2nd piece, might be Chase Petty. Long shot teenager 3rd piece. That’s more realistic between ’23 peak season and ’24 write-off like the roster itself.
More likely Reds have enough additional payroll funds for say Grichuk or Laureano. Then look for a couple bullpen pieces in late February-March.
Probably right, but the mention of trade makes me hope for a little more.
Have some hope !?!
Honestly, I hope the Reds use the extra money for the trade deadline when the team needs a little help to make a playoff spot.
I do honestly think the Reds will be better than they seem on paper. Terry Francona is a much bigger factor than people are accounting for -and if he can reign in the talented team they could outperform expectations.
That said, it’s very sad and frustrating to be a Reds fan sometimes. You know the Castellinis and the ownership group have money—they just won’t spend it because they know fans will turn out anyway.
The “additional flexibility” is more likely to land us a Carlos Estevez or some kind of high upside lottery ticket than anything else.
Hopefully the Reds front office will use the extra money at the trade deadline when the team will need a little help to secure a playoff spot.
Spend it or shut it?
What a garbage franchise. This gives me zero hope for the future of the Reds. If we’re REALLY counting pennies like this then there truly is no hope. We need another $50-$75M of payroll to even compete. If we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul over $3M then we’re just cooked. No better than the As or Pirates. What a waste.