The ol’ Bally game
MLB deal for casino app to air all minor leagues free
Major League Baseball owners have cut a deal with a casino giant to provide free broadcasts of all minor league games this season, in a bid to lure more viewers to the sport as rampant cord-cutting continues to shrink its audience, The Post has learned.
MLB sold the broadcast rights to all 120 minor league teams — from the Class A Savannah Sand Gnats to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes — to casino operator Bally’s Corp., which will offer the free streams on its Bally Live app, according to two sources.
Last season, fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of rising stars such as Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe or Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez had to pay a $29.99-a-year premium to watch them on MLB’s At Bat Live app.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred pitched the deal for an undisclosed amount as a way to increase the reach of the minor league broadcasts, according to a presentation shared with MLB owners.
Bally’s — which operates 17 casinos including the Tropicana in Las Vegas, along with a live-betting online site — has 500,000 monthly retail customers and 750,000 monthly online players. By comparison, MLB’s At Bat app had about 40,000 subscribers who paid the annual fee last year, a source said.
The deal provides “distribution opportunities across retail footprints, linear channels and digital products, all with added fan engagement opportunities via unmatched “gamification,” according to the MLB presentation.
Among the “gamifications” will be free contests such as “Baseball Bingo,” which will allow fans to win Bally’s Rewards points. MLB’s app ran similar contests last year.
According to the presentation shared with MLB owners, Bally subscribers will be able to redeem the Rewards points and possibly place bets on the Bally Live app, including on major league games, a source told The Post.
However, Bally’s will not allow any wagering on the minor league games, the sources said.
Manfred and Bally’s declined to comment.
The Bally’s games will launch April 15.