Without much going on around the American League East right now, we&#8217;ve got some other notes from around Major League Baseball for this Notebook, including a shift in the future of regional sports broadcasts and the Athletics seeking a temporary home outside of Oakland.

<h2>Amazon invests in Diamond Sports</h2>
Diamond Sports, the regional sports media group that went into bankruptcy, has announced a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/diamond-sports-deal-emerge-bankruptcy-signs-streaming-pact-with-amazon-2024-01-17/">new partnership with Amazon.</a> The deal would allow most of the 37 teams across the NBA, NHL, and MLB that currently hold a contract to broadcast with Diamond to continue showing their games with the company.
Included in the agreement, Amazon would be able to stream games on their <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/media/2024/01/17/amazon-prime-video-invests-diamond-sports-mlb-nba-nhl-broadcasts/72259802007/">Amazon Prime service</a>. Broadcasts would include all local broadcasts of games and full pre and post-game coverage. 
Diamond currently holds contracts with nine MLB teams: the Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Three other teams are currently restructuring contracts with Diamond including the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians, and the Minnesota Twins. The Rangers and Guardians deals expire after the 2024 season, and are exploring options for the 2025 season and beyond. However, the Minnesota Twins deal <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39333324/diamond-amazon-streaming-mlb-nba-nhl">expired at the end of the 2023 </a>season and currently sits without a local broadcast partner.
Amazon will be investing $115 million into the $450 million deal and could invest up to $50 million more within the first nine months of execution of the agreement. Teams under the Diamond group currently broadcast on the &#8220;Bally &#8221; branded network. Bally will stay as the name for the upcoming season but Diamond will look at other options moving on in 2025. 
Diamond projects that direct-to-consumer revenue will grow over 13% by 2026, going from $49 million in 2023 to $658 million in 2026 which would naturally bring more money to the leagues. 
<h2>Oakland A&#8217;s looking into the possibility of Playing in Utah</h2>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Report: The Oakland A&#39;s are considering playing the 2025-27 seasons in Salt Lake City while its new stadium in Las Vegas is being built. <a href="https://t.co/55gA5UXYci">https://t.co/55gA5UXYci</a> <a href="https://t.co/WERHcDYnHD">pic.twitter.com/WERHcDYnHD</a>
&mdash; Dana Greene (@dana_greene) <a href="https://twitter.com/dana_greene/status/1748159959051989020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Oakland Athletics officials will visit Salt Lake City to <a href="https://www.abc4.com/sports/report-oakland-as-exploring-possibility-to-play-in-salt-lake-city/">tour Smith&#8217;s Ballpark</a>, the home of the Los Angeles Angels AAA affiliate Salt Lake Bees, with the possibility to play there in 2025. The Athletics lease with the Oakland Coliseum expires at the end of 2024, but their brand-new stadium in Las Vegas <a href="https://www.mlb.com/athletics/las-vegas-ballpark">will not be ready until 2028</a>. 
Oakland officials have numerous stadiums around the western United States including Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants Triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats, <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/athletics/as-hunt-for-temporary-home-continues-is-las-vegas-ballpark-on-list-2984051/">which they have already toured.</a> Other stadiums also on the A&#8217;s list consist of Greater Nevada Field, home of the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks, Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland A&#8217;s), and the San Francisco Giants, Oracle Park.
Smith&#8217;s Ballpark originally opened in 1994 as Franklin Quest Field and currently houses the Salt Lake Bees and the University of Utah Utes baseball team. The inaugural game at Franklin Quest Field was between the <a href="https://www.milb.com/salt-lake/ballpark/smiths-ballpark-facts">Salt Lake Bees and the Edmonton Trappers on April 11th, 1994</a>, where the Trappers would go on to win a 7-1 ballgame. 
The ballpark currently holds a 14,511 capacity, which would still be over four thousand than the average attendance at Oakland Coliseum last season. The A&#8217;s averaged <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/11/16/goodbye-oakland-as-mlb-owners-approve-athletics-move-to-las-vegas/?sh=4480bda59f92">10,275 fans per game</a> in 2023, also four-thousand short of the 29th worst attendance from the Miami Marlins. 
The Athletics aren&#8217;t the only team to seek a new home stadium in recent years. In 2020 the Tampa Bay Rays suggested that they were looking at <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2921582-rays-owner-says-splitting-season-between-tampa-montreal-by-2028-only-option">splitting their home games between Tropicana Field in Tampa and Montreal&#8217;s Olympic Stadium.</a> That plan was eventually axed after <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33109350/tampa-bay-rays-say-split-season-plan-montreal-rejected-mlb">the MLB rejected the plan</a>. The Rays and the city of St. Petersburg would eventually come to an agreement to build a new stadium in downtown St. Pete, which will be ready for the 2028 season. 
<h2>Quick Notes:</h2>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Josh Hader signs with the Houston Astros. Hader and the Astros came to an agreement on a five-year, $95 million deal on Friday. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Blue Jays sign top International Pitcher, Yariel Rodriguez. The Cuban righty&#8217;s deal is still pending a physical and immigration status.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Matt Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals agree on a one-year deal. The Cards will pay Carpenter $740K, while the Atlanta Braves will still owe $5.5 of his guaranteed money. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">San Francisco Giants to hand out Mickey Mouse ears for Dodgers first visit in 2024. The Giants will be hosting a &#8220;Disneyland Day&#8221; on June 30th, presumably a shot at either the Dodgers&#8217; offseason or their 2020 World Series Championship during the pandemic. </li>
</ul>
<hr />
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Without much going on around the American League East right now, we've got some other notes from around Major League Baseball for this Notebook, including a shift in the future of regional sports broadcasts and the Athletics seeking a temporary home outside of Oakland.


<h2>Amazon invests in Diamond Sports</h2>
Diamond Sports, the regional sports media group that went into bankruptcy, has announced a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/diamond-sports-deal-emerge-bankruptcy-signs-streaming-pact-with-amazon-2024-01-17/">new partnership with Amazon.</a> The deal would allow most of the 37 teams across the NBA, NHL, and MLB that currently hold a contract to broadcast with Diamond to continue showing their games with the company.

Included in the agreement, Amazon would be able to stream games on their <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/media/2024/01/17/amazon-prime-video-invests-diamond-sports-mlb-nba-nhl-broadcasts/72259802007/">Amazon Prime service</a>. Broadcasts would include all local broadcasts of games and full pre and post-game coverage. 

Diamond currently holds contracts with nine MLB teams: the Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Three other teams are currently restructuring contracts with Diamond including the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians, and the Minnesota Twins. The Rangers and Guardians deals expire after the 2024 season, and are exploring options for the 2025 season and beyond. However, the Minnesota Twins deal <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39333324/diamond-amazon-streaming-mlb-nba-nhl">expired at the end of the 2023 </a>season and currently sits without a local broadcast partner.

Amazon will be investing $115 million into the $450 million deal and could invest up to $50 million more within the first nine months of execution of the agreement. Teams under the Diamond group currently broadcast on the "Bally '' branded network. Bally will stay as the name for the upcoming season but Diamond will look at other options moving on in 2025. 

Diamond projects that direct-to-consumer revenue will grow over 13% by 2026, going from $49 million in 2023 to $658 million in 2026 which would naturally bring more money to the leagues. 
<h2>Oakland A's looking into the possibility of Playing in Utah</h2>
https://twitter.com/dana_greene/status/1748159959051989020

Oakland Athletics officials will visit Salt Lake City to <a href="https://www.abc4.com/sports/report-oakland-as-exploring-possibility-to-play-in-salt-lake-city/">tour Smith's Ballpark</a>, the home of the Los Angeles Angels AAA affiliate Salt Lake Bees, with the possibility to play there in 2025. The Athletics lease with the Oakland Coliseum expires at the end of 2024, but their brand-new stadium in Las Vegas <a href="https://www.mlb.com/athletics/las-vegas-ballpark">will not be ready until 2028</a>. 

Oakland officials have numerous stadiums around the western United States including Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants Triple-A affiliate Sacramento River Cats, <a href="https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/athletics/as-hunt-for-temporary-home-continues-is-las-vegas-ballpark-on-list-2984051/">which they have already toured.</a> Other stadiums also on the A's list consist of Greater Nevada Field, home of the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks, Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators (Oakland A's), and the San Francisco Giants, Oracle Park.

Smith's Ballpark originally opened in 1994 as Franklin Quest Field and currently houses the Salt Lake Bees and the University of Utah Utes baseball team. The inaugural game at Franklin Quest Field was between the <a href="https://www.milb.com/salt-lake/ballpark/smiths-ballpark-facts">Salt Lake Bees and the Edmonton Trappers on April 11th, 1994</a>, where the Trappers would go on to win a 7-1 ballgame. 

The ballpark currently holds a 14,511 capacity, which would still be over four thousand than the average attendance at Oakland Coliseum last season. The A's averaged <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/11/16/goodbye-oakland-as-mlb-owners-approve-athletics-move-to-las-vegas/?sh=4480bda59f92">10,275 fans per game</a> in 2023, also four-thousand short of the 29th worst attendance from the Miami Marlins. 

The Athletics aren't the only team to seek a new home stadium in recent years. In 2020 the Tampa Bay Rays suggested that they were looking at <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2921582-rays-owner-says-splitting-season-between-tampa-montreal-by-2028-only-option">splitting their home games between Tropicana Field in Tampa and Montreal's Olympic Stadium.</a> That plan was eventually axed after <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33109350/tampa-bay-rays-say-split-season-plan-montreal-rejected-mlb">the MLB rejected the plan</a>. The Rays and the city of St. Petersburg would eventually come to an agreement to build a new stadium in downtown St. Pete, which will be ready for the 2028 season. 
<h2>Quick Notes:</h2>
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Josh Hader signs with the Houston Astros. Hader and the Astros came to an agreement on a five-year, $95 million deal on Friday. </li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Blue Jays sign top International Pitcher, Yariel Rodriguez. The Cuban righty's deal is still pending a physical and immigration status.</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Matt Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals agree on a one-year deal. The Cards will pay Carpenter $740K, while the Atlanta Braves will still owe $5.5 of his guaranteed money. </li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">San Francisco Giants to hand out Mickey Mouse ears for Dodgers first visit in 2024. The Giants will be hosting a "Disneyland Day" on June 30th, presumably a shot at either the Dodgers' offseason or their 2020 World Series Championship during the pandemic. </li>
</ul>

<hr />

<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold" style="text-align: center;"><a class="text-accent" href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h2>
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MLB Notebook: Amazon invests in Diamond Sports, A’s consider possibility of playing in Salt Lake City, and more

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