PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Could Diamondbacks games end up being broadcast on Amazon in 2024?

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

While the Diamond Sports Group saga seems like it will never end, there may be light at the end of this tunnel as it would appear Amazon is going to assist in bailing out the beleaguered RSN rights holder. Could the Diamondbacks find a new home with Amazon now that they seem to be entering the RSN conversation? We also discuss the D-backs forgoing their Fan Fest again and are instead holding their Most Valuable Party for Advantage members only. Is this a big mistake coming off of their run to the World Series or is it simply good business?An ALLCITY Network ProductionSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtubeALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports PHNX Events: Get your tickets to D-backs Takeovers, Knockout Nights & Suns Watch Parties at BetMGM, and MORE here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/phnx-56002330273 Desert Financial Credit Union: Open a free checking account online with Desert Financial Credit Union and get $200 in bonuses https://www.desertfinancial.com/200Michelob ULTRA: It’s only worth it if you enjoy it. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. https://www.michelobultra.com/Schedule a free in-home estimate with Empire Today! All listeners can receive a $350 OFF discount when they use the promo code PHNX. Restrictions apply. See EmpireToday.com/PHNX for details.Sign up for Gila River Resorts & Casinos $1,000,000 Big Red’s Showdown! Stay in the game and get rewards; it’s that easy! https://www.gilamilliondollarshowdown.com/Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase.Circle K:  Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!OGeez!: OGeez! is not your average cannabis-infused gummy. Head on over to https://www.ogeezbrands.com to find out where you can purchase. Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. Four Peaks: Follow them on social @fourpeaksbrew & @fourpeakspub! Must be 21+. Enjoy responsibly. When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome in to a special edition of the PHNX Sun Show. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of PHNX. This man is a son's beat reporter, also known as your vice mayor, also known as Thunderstick, Jesse Freepin. What a comeback victory last night. Hell yeah. I've got my PHNX Sun shirt. He does. He does.

And obviously I am who I am. But ski to you all. Welcome in to another edition of the PHNX DBX DBX podcast. We're still very excited. We're still fans of all the teams. We want to talk about the sun sometimes too, but we actually have so much to talk about today. And that's surprising during this time of the year.

We do have Father Overlord Jacob on the ones and twos. We are missing Damon. Very concerned about Damon. Terribly worried right now about Damon. Jesse wants to know. Nobody needs to know where he is. Jesse wants to know if he's drinking enough water. Damon is in Tucson, Derek.

And that can only mean trouble. He's so happy. You know he's so happy right now. He's probably even in one of his favorite places. He probably is. He thinks he's taking in the local art or whatever he thinks that they have down there. I did check in on it. I did check in on it.

I saw a picture of the press conference and he was there. Was he sober, though? I don't know. Anyway. Dear God, I hope so. All right. Well, of course, we have some big news, not really big news because we knew that it was going to happen around this time. But it is official, the Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers and catchers.

will report on Valentine's Day, February 14th. So thanks for considering us married men, I guess, Diamondbacks. You made my job a lot easier. But that's 28 days away, Jesse. It is 28 days away. Yeah. I mean, you know, you get home at probably like 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock. These, especially before games start.

The days are not super long at Spring Train. So what you're saying is I've got to still plan a Valentine's Day dinner. I'm saying that, yeah, you did not. at all get out of that and neither did any of the Diamondbacks players as far as I'm aware. These workouts tend to tend to end a little bit earlier in the day. It's true. You know, afternoon, maybe early evening. So, yeah, we've got pitchers and catchers on the 14th.

We've got the first full squad workout on the 19th. We've got Cactus League baseball starting on February 23rd with the Diamondbacks facing their arch nemesis, the Colorado Rockies. That's right. And, yeah, it's crazy, Derek. We're 28 days away. I will no longer have a life in 28 days. Yes, my wife does bid me farewell at the beginning of the baseball season.

Luckily, we do have that cruise planned. So perfectly planned, by the way, for the very first weekend of the Cactus League, which starts on February 23rd. Diamondbacks have their first game on Saturday, February 24th. So that's right around the corner, and that's very exciting because it's one of the great reasons to live here. It really is the reason why this is baseball nirvana. We get to see these guys work out and be out there earlier than anybody else. Yeah.

And you as fans can come out and support them and see them out there. I think the workouts sometimes are just, they're just so much fun to be at as a fan. Even though there's not a lot going on just to kind of be there. Like they allow such great fan access at Salt River Fields during these workouts that you really are like right there next to them while they're doing a lot of their drills. I feel like it's particularly important to bring out kids that are interested in playing baseball because you get to see that those guys are doing the exact same fundamentals and drills, even though they're major league ball players that you as an eight-year-old are doing, you know?

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, it's not. A lot of the stuff is pretty, pretty dang simple. Yeah. Yeah, the axis, as you said, is fantastic. Diamondbacks have already announced that these workouts will be open to fans, as usual, starting on the 14th. Correct.

The very first day when pitchers and catchers report, these workouts start at 9 a.m. generally. I believe the access is open for fans from 9 a.m. to 1230 pretty much every day at Salt River Fields throughout February and into March. So yeah, if you've never done this, you absolutely should. It was a highlight of my childhood. I have many fond memories of, you know, 14-year-old me prowling around Salt River Fields and jumping from field to field. It's super fun and the weather obviously is great as the rest of the universe talks about being stuck in in like frozen tundra scenarios. It's 70 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona and it's a delightful, beautiful thing.

It's still cold though. Bring a jacket. Yeah. I had to buy an adult jacket. I didn't want Nick Piccolo looking at me strange any longer with my wrestling hoodies or my cartoons on the back of my jacket. So I had to buy a plain black jacket so I could look like the other reporters when I'm out there. It is a lot of fun.

And I think the main thing is players tend to have more time for you as a fan than hardly any other time during the year. Like spring training is also a very good time to go out, bring the kids and have them, you know, meet the players. But, I mean, the guys are just so excited to be out there themselves. They're so excited to see you as the fans out there supporting them. So it's a great time. And like Jesse said, the fan access is unprecedented.

You can just get so close. It's amazing. It's, yeah. I mean, you're just right there. Like, I mean, you can't. get on the field. You do have to stay behind the backstop thing. In the drills, but you're close enough that you'll feel like you can participate in the drills. Yeah, pretty much.

On the flip side of things, the Diamondbacks have once again announced that their typical fan fest event has been canceled as we know it. They are not doing the fan fest that is open everybody. Instead, they are doing the most valuable party. And this is kind of the opposite of what we just talked about with the access to Salt River fields and the access during spring training. The Diamondbacks are opting instead of going with their normal fan fest that allows everybody to come for their advantage members only party known as the most valuable party. I hate this so much. I hate this.

And I know so many fans do. Jack Summers revealed this in an article yesterday, our pal from Sports Illustrated, but I just cannot say enough about what a mistake I think this is. Now, I would be a hypocrite. if I were to sit here and say, we are completely against giving members of your thing special treatment, right? You are a diehard for a reason if you are a diehard. And part of that reason is that we provide you with exclusive content. I mean, this guy have a whole slate of stuff in 2024 that we're hoping to bring exclusively for diehards because you guys pay for a membership.

And just like the advantage members that pay for season tickets, they want to provide an exclusive experience. I understand that. And I get it. But I do think that after coming off of a World Series year, that this is just a huge mistake as far as building the Arizona Diamondbacks fan base. People want to come out. I completely understood last year. Completely. Last year would have been kind of a disaster considering the Super Bowl was in town.

We had a lot of visitors the same week that they were holding fan fest. And again, I get that part of the part of, I guess, the pain point for people that attend fan fest is the crowd size. everybody comes out. Everybody wants to go to Chase Field on a day where you can just kind of walk around, check stuff out, see the clubhouse, walk on the field, get a hot dog, you know, go to the concession stands. It's something everybody wants to do. So it's understandably packed, which does impact the experience a bit. I think even last year during their most valuable party, the line to meet some of the players was like an hour plus based on the sign that I saw. Those lines can get pretty long, right? So even with restricting how many people, could come it was still pretty crowded right I just I don't I just hate it because I really do think the Diamondbacks are a franchise right now who have a great opportunity to expand how many people like this team and are interested in this team and I think allowing everybody to come would have just been the move I think it I really do and again I understand wanting to provide an exclusive benefit for your members but I also think

that as a franchise that doesn't have the popularity in the fan base that some of the other franchises in baseball have, you got to take these opportunities as a chance to grow that thing, right? There's a different sometimes between, like, when it comes to advertising and big companies, brand awareness versus brand dominance. The Diamondbacks are not in a brand dominance phase as far as an organization.

They are in a brand awareness phase where they want as many people to know about the Diamondbacks and be interested in them as possible. The best way to do that is to make this fan fest open to everybody. But like I said, I would be hypocritical once again if I sat here and said, everything should be available to everyone because we need to make money sometimes too. And that's why we offer a membership. And the Diamondbacks really are trying to make this an enticing offer to have people come out and get a season ticket package. To be fair, some of their season ticket packages

are totally reasonable and inexpensive. You don't have to buy a half a season or an entire season. You can literally go by a handful of games throughout the season and still be considered a season ticket holder and get access to this party. So, I mean, there are options out there if people are interested in pursuing that. And I think that's ultimately what the nine-and-backs are trying to do here. They're trying to get people interested in coming out, seeing this team, and becoming those season ticket holders. Somebody, I think it was Goldschmidt happens on Twitter, said, like, season ticket holders aren't the people, though, that filled that stadium up during the playoffs. And while that might be true they were there they're also a big part of it too so you can't say season tickets to

olders aren't that but like again yeah that's that's what you want you want all of those people that came out for the for the playoffs to come and experience this fan fest and to just kind of kind of kind of get them a little bit more in love with your team I I understand it from a business perspective I just hate it yeah I think it's the wrong move the diamond backs just played in the world series I'm told and I I you were there I I I think I was. I think I was. A whole month is a blur.

I'm still not totally sure. But yeah, I think that this is a missed opportunity to really, as you said, Diamondbacks are in position here to really grow this brand, especially at a time coming off the run that they just had. There's a lot more interest in this team heading into 2024 than there's been in recent years. And yeah, I mean, if you do fan fest, like that place is going to be packed out. It's going to be an incredible spectacle, something that probably unload. like a fan fest that the Diamondbacks have had for a very, very long time. But yeah, it does feel like

this comes down to the business side of things as you touched on. We've heard from a number of people who, you know, this $299 essentially season ticket package that the Diamondbacks are offering, which we've talked about on the show. It's an incredible deal that they have. But you'd like there to be some differences between the people who are paying $299 to get into every game versus the people who are actually paying the official season ticket, you know, advantage membership price, which is, which is significantly higher, even though you're, I mean, the ticket packages, you know, where you're sitting is not necessarily all that different from what I know. So I know Groundhog Mama mentioned, mentioned that in the chat. We've heard that from a number of people. So I think the debacks from

a business standpoint, they feel pressure to make sure that they're taking care of their season ticket holders and giving them exclusive access. To me, the solution is to do what is to do both. to have fan fest, but to also find ways, you know, maybe out, maybe within fan fest, you give season ticket holders special perks that other people don't get. You know, maybe they're two separate events. I don't know exactly what it looks like, but to me, there had to be a way to capitalize on the World Series run and have the big party, do the big thing that involves as many people as want to show up while also managing to take care of your season ticket holders and give them something exclusive. Braden says, I'm a season ticket holder with a 28-year-old.

game plan some years ago, some long time season ticket holder that wasn't me, said D-BACs wasn't exclusive enough since that a lot of areas, since then a lot of areas have been closed off. Yeah. Yeah. And I get, I get it. I mean, I know that they also do a lot for, uh, D-Bex, uh, season ticket holders, for instance, like they have a thing around the holidays where you can come out and play catch on the field and stuff like that.

Like, but again, there's like, like you said, I really do think that that is the best way to advance it move forward, right? Like, or another way it could be, you know, like. like event bright events that you go to that don't charge, they're free, but you still have to get a ticket so that they know how many people are coming. Sure. Maybe do something like that where you release free tickets, but you cap it at a certain amount so that way you know how many people are coming.

I'm not sure if people would be more of a fan of that than the season ticket holder thing, but I feel like it would at least give people because maybe a season ticket holder really isn't interested in going to fan fest. Maybe that's not why they sign up or whatever, right? So I don't know what the right answer there is, but I just feel like this is. isn't the right answer. I really don't feel like. I feel like excluding people on a year where you had such a good chance to kind of build on the success that the team had last year, the exposure. The team had so many people know these young guys now. They know they're excited to

root for them. I mean, I went on my whole rant about jerseys because of the amount of people that have money in hand that want to go buy these players' jerseys. But this is kind of similar. Like people want to come out. They want to come to the stadium. They want to go sit there in the stands and watch the players, you know, answer Q&As on the podium. And, And, you know, again, like I said, get a chance to check out the clubhouse and maybe have their kids do the bouncy house or play baseball on the field. There's just there's a lot of things there that I feel like are an advantage. And you're still making money, right? You're still selling things in the ballpark and selling food and stuff.

So the Advantage members party, I think, sometimes has like some free food and things for the advantage members. So it's not like they're trying, not trying. They're trying to give you something that's worth you paying the amount of money that you do for a season ticket. And I get it. Yeah. And I mean, from what we've heard about this event, it sounds like it's, I don't know exactly what it's worth, but it's worth something for sure. I mean, if I were a fan, I would probably pay some money for the opportunity to go to

this thing that, you know, very few other people get to go to. But again, it's, to me, it's a, you have to find a way to do both. You have to find a way to, you know, have the big event, you know, like CubsCon. I know that's something that just happened for the Cubs that they do every year. That's a huge deal. You really want to find ways to build this brand, especially at a time like this when you're coming off a World Series run. There's a lot more eyes on this product right now. I would like to believe there's a way to do that while also taking care of your season ticket holders and giving them something even cooler.

You know, I'm sure if you did do the big event, let's face it, the lines are going to be very long for whatever attractions there are. Like there are downsides to doing those huge events. But yeah, I think there's a lot of people disappointed. that that's not that's not going to happen again this year i you know and it's also one thing that like i don't know uh i'm split on this because i understand from a ticket season ticket holder uh perspective that that that's like one of the things that you want to do without having the huge crowd there and i'm sure that's something that they've vocal uh they've they've vocalized right i'm sure that the diamondbacks have asked season ticket holders what they want and i'm sure this was a

big thing for them. So yeah, but like Gabriel said, won't someone please think of the ticket holders. Uh, season ticket holders like, yeah, they're, you're probably going to convert, you know, with doing something like this, a small percentage of people that were maybe on the fence about getting season tickets to doing it. But I just, I don't know if the, of this party is, is the thing that's going to push me to, you know, get the season tickets, right? Like, there's definitely other things that are more appealing to me personally, but that's just me personally, right? To each their own. So, but we will have more information on this. Of course, as we get a little closer,

Diamondbacks have not made that announcement official, but that was coming, like I said, from Jack Summers who spoke to somebody at the Diamondbacks in regards to that. So Elise said a reasonable ticket price for entry would give non-season ticket holders an opportunity for entry and also keep the crowds down. And then what, like a free season ticket,

season ticket holders get in for free? I don't think that's a terrible thing. Well, I think, I don't think the D-backs would do. that because the whole point is the exclusiveness, right? Yeah. It's not that they're getting in for free. It's that, you know, versus having to pay 40 bucks or whatever it would be. It's that it's that it's something they get to do that no one else does.

That's what they need. They need stuff like that. People are so weird about that. They just want that. That's why we have people hunting giraffes. Jesse, like stop trying to do something that nobody else does, okay? Can we just not like be that special? Can we just all be a part of a community?

If those people are paying that amount of money, though, I understand. I would also want to get some special perks. So it's not a super, I mean, it's not so simple as saying that, you know, they obviously should have done it with everyone and it should be free for all. Sure. And they should nix the season ticket holder only thing. It's not that simple because, yes, you do need to find ways to give those people special advantages. But I would, yeah. They're called advantage members for a reason, Jesse.

Right. They need their advantage. They deserve to have an advantage. Well, I have an advantage over everybody. What's your advantage is that I have some boroughs right by me right now. That is an advantage. I'm sorry if you don't live in the I-17 Joe Max area, but I do, and I get mine right by me. Of course, you can come out and check out some borough's newest locations. They have one in Good Year, brand new location in Peoria. And, of course, my favorite location, I-17 and Joe Max.

You can also visit some boroughs.com to find one near you, but some boroughs are they family-owned and operated. Mexican food restaurant was voted Arizona's most loved Mexican restaurant. So make sure to check them out. I've been asked because people aren't familiar. It's kind of a quick service restaurant. You can sit down. You can enjoy a meal there. They do also have a drive-through.

So I hope that answers so many people because when I tell people I went through the Sombrough's drive-thru, that's literally the first response I get. They're like, they have a drive-thru? It's like, yes, it's a quick-service restaurant. That makes incredible Mexican food. You can let Sombrows cater your next big meal. next meal, bigger small, doesn't matter. I'll order online or find one near you by visiting some burrows.com.

And of course, check out their amazing breakfast. Like I said, horchata in the coffee, say less, son. That's all I needed. Also, speaking of attending events like the fan fest, you can make sure to not miss out on any events. You want to attend in 2024, whether it's concerts, sporting events, shows, anything. By going to game time and getting your tickets last minute for cheap. Game time is the place for last minute. ticket deals. It's also the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason.

Snag the tickets without the stress with game time. All you got to do is download their app, which is very aesthetically pleasing. You create an account and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHNX for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price guaranteed. Thank you guys again for for being here in the PHNX Sports YouTube channel. If you have not subscribed to the channel yet, make sure to do so now. That way you don't miss out on any of our wonderful shows going going live. Make sure to leave us a like. We always appreciate you dropping those likes if you're here in the chat live. If you're listening on the audio podcasting side, we love you listeners

as well. Make sure you subscribe there. Make sure you leave us a review. We always appreciate those five-star reviews. They help us out immensely. Jesse, someone in the chat asked the question because, of course, last night we got to enjoy the son's incredible comeback victory here live on Arizona's family, Channel 3 TV. Everybody that lives here in Arizona can enjoy it very easily. because of the access that we have to those sons games. And Caitlin earlier in the chat asked if the Diamondbacks might have something similar to the Suns. Caitlin said, would DeBacks consider following the Sons and Coyotes and putting the games on regular TV? We do know in speaking to Ken Kendrick that he has talked about pursuing all options, including putting them on regular TV,

which he did say is very much on the table. But we do have some news in regards to Diamond Sports Group, which we don't ever want to talk about, ever. We never want to do a show where Diamond Sports Group is somehow our headline. But here we are again, still talking about Diamond Sports Group, Jesse. I hate it. I'm really, I'm really tired of it. My brain hurts. I'm tired of this.

All this information is so it's dense and it's legally, you know, mystifying to someone. Anyone who doesn't have a law degree, it's hard to make heads or tails of what's going on in this situation. And it feels like it's been going on for an eternity. It has. It has. Because it affected us, right? We were, like the Padres and then the Diamondbacks, it's like, it's slowly creeping its way through every RSN, every team that has a connection with Valley Sports, aka Diamond Sports Group. And now we are in a point.

We know that Diamond Sports Group has kind of been in a little bit of a free fall. They've been trying to do things to kind of save the remaining regional sports network rights that they have, but it seems like that was unlikely. And now we have a new contender entering the ring, which we have discussed before just a little bit. but it would appear, according to the athletic, then Amazon is reportedly investing $150 million into the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy process or into the group itself. I mean, I don't know what's going on here. Money is needed and Amazon is the one putting it up.

So basically Diamond Sports Group still has the digital rights for five teams. They also have the regional sports network rights for a number of other teams, including not just baseball teams. But when it comes to the digital rights, they have the digital rights, the streaming rights for the Tigers, the Royals, the Marlins, the Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes. So, yeah, basically what's happening here is Amazon is stepping in.

And Amazon, obviously, with Amazon Prime, it's a streaming service. A lot of people have it. I think I do. And Amazon has been in this space a little bit already. They do Thursday night football. They've gotten, I think they just did some like NASCAR stuff that they've recently acquired. So they're starting to get more into the space. And they are investing in Diamond Sports Group.

And it appears that they are going to be carrying on the digital side broadcasts for several teams in 2024. So you just mentioned the Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Brewers, and Rays. Those are the teams the Diamond Sports Group actually has the digital streaming rights for. They don't have this digital streaming rights for all of the other teams that they carry. They never had those rights for the Diamondbacks. So, yeah, it is a complicated, a complicated ordeal. But, yeah, essentially, Amazon is going to step in, and Amazon is going to be their streaming partner for those five teams,

not the Arizona Diamondbacks. So the Diamondbacks, as of right now, it feels like things could change. Diamondbacks games will not be on Amazon Prime in 2024. But these five teams, it appears that those teams, games will be available on Amazon Prime for those who choose to get them in that way. It's interesting you say that, though, because Amazon is still a potential suitor for where the Arizona Diamondbacks could end up. I don't know how far into this situation Amazon is going to go. This doesn't feel like the end-all be-all of their involvement in this. This feels like

just the tip of the iceberg. Amazon wants to get into streaming sports. They want to have live sports on Amazon Prime. And they've, they've vocal, they've talked. talked about it, they have those sports, they've done it. This would be like the first step into acquiring some form of regional sports network rights. And I don't know how, how, what the extent of that would be. But this could be the beginning of Amazon trying to get in the baseball, trying to get into streaming some of this. And I don't know. It seems like Major League Baseball very much wants the opposite. It feels like Major League Baseball wants to acquire all of those RSN rights back themselves and have them under Baseball's umbrella. Right now, I don't

even know how what the diamond back situation is in regards to that. I do know the diamondbacks are broadcasting their games due to a commitment that they said they would make, but it still feels like the diamondbacks have a decision here to make for 2024 where their games are going to be broadcast and we still don't know where that's going to be. Amazon very much could be a potential landing spot. I just don't feel like it's, it's likely because this is all still very new. I don't know if Amazon is going to be fully into trying to, trying to broadcast teams like the Diamondbacks that's not a part of this whole situation this quickly. They might just try to help carry these games by investing in Diamond Sports Group and now allowing them to bring some

baseball over to Amazon Prime and have it be on there regularly. I don't hate the idea of Amazon Prime being where Diamondbacks games are simply because I'm always going to have Amazon Prime. I'm never not going to have Amazon Prime. I'm not going back to paying for shipping. I'm not going back to making $39 purchases to get free shipping, I will forever have Amazon Prime because I like to just randomly on a Tuesday order my pre-workout supplement for $12. Now, I could easily go to Walmart and pick it up. It's five minutes away. Am I going to?

No, do you know why? Because Amazon Prime will deliver it to me. And I am just saying that that is a factor of a major go. He says no free ads. Here I am trying to get a partnership. I knew. I knew you're going to get in trouble. I knew you're going to get in trouble.

I knew. I knew. I knew it. Max puts his office very close to our studio for this exact purpose. But, yeah, I'm just saying never going to not have Amazon Prime. So that's that I'll always have whatever they have to offer. Yeah. Yeah. It would be interesting. I don't think I've ever watched Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. Maybe there's a- Have I ever made a matchup worth watching on Thursday Night Football, Jesse? That's fair. I'm not an enormous football fan, but it's never seemed like like must-see television necessarily. But yeah, it does appear that there's also a path here for Diamond Sports Group to exist beyond 2024, which previously had not really been the case. That's also interesting. They were negotiating deals with hockey and with the NBA as well to basically close out their deals following the 2023-2020s season.

Diamond was in the process and negotiating a deal like that with Major League Baseball, but this gives Diamond an opportunity to potentially exist moving forward. It doesn't sound like they're planning to dissolve things entirely at this point. Now, granted, there's still a lot of other things that have to happen here. These things have to be approved in bankruptcy court, is my understanding. So this is still a very fluid situation. And anything you read about this, it seems like there's more questions than answers at this point. But yeah, for the Arizona Diamondbacks, we still don't have a ton of answers for what TV is going to look like in 2024.

We'll certainly keep you updated. as we find out more. But as of right now, the Diamondbacks are not one of the teams that you would be able to find on Amazon Prime. Correct. But the Diamondbacks still are very much looking for that. And Elise, of course, known baseball GM, says,

this is why some of the teams affected by the Diamond RSN issue. I haven't spent much money in free agency. If this gets approved, I wonder if that will heat up the stove. And she's absolutely right. Financial uncertainty for some of these teams is keeping them from spending. And honestly, it's one of the reasons why I'm thankful the Diamondback situation is kind of behind them.

It's the pending. It's the looming nature of the situation and the unknown that causes more issues. The Diamondbacks at least know now that they're not connected with Diamond Sports Group anymore. And they know at least for the time being how they can move forward. I'm sure that's the reason why we saw them make some of their moves earlier than the rest of these teams that are kind of holding off. But the Diamondbacks financial future is still very uncertain as far as their television deal is concerned. And they're just, I think it's, they're like a free agent, right? They're out there and they're able to like talk to, talk to negotiate with channels and

providers, whereas these other teams are still stuck in this situation with Diamond Sports Group. And they can't, they're not free to go out there and do those things right now. They don't know when they will be, right? So. Yeah, there was a, there was an executive from an unnamed team. I think this was in the athletics article that was asked, you know, how do you think this Amazon thing would affect you guys? And they had no idea. So there's a lot of questions right now in front offices.

And absolutely, I think it is true that a lot of teams have had their spending, not cut, but there's just a lot of uncertainty about what they can spend this off season. And I don't think that's the only reason that we still have a bunch of big name free agents available 28 days before pitchers at Gedger's report. But I think it's absolutely a factor in the situation. Well, we do have some brief news on some old friends, including this is significant baseball news, but old friends Cooper Hummel and Josh Van Meter have found new homes in baseball. They did that much earlier than some of these teams that are still figuring out with their digital rights situation is going on. But the Giants acquired catcher outfielder Cooper Hummel from the Mets.

Hummel had recently been designated for assignment by New York. And then the Yankees have signed Josh Van Meter, a known ruiner of our bad season. Yeah, right? He ruined that last game and made sure that we did not come in last. He signs a minor league deal with the Yankees. Yeah, you're talking about the 2020. He was the difference between Drew Jones and Jackson Holiday. Yeah, but I'm still not convinced the Diamondbacks wouldn't have selected.

Drew Jones was the, yeah, anybody you asked him is the unanimous number one. one pick. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, these are about the biggest names being signed right now in an MLB free agency. Like Alisa, this is the reason why our big story is Cooper Hummel and Josh Van Meter right now, because these teams affected by the Arison. I think Jareal Rodriguez has reportedly signed with the Blue Jays, I guess that's

not entirely true. But yeah, I thought it'd be interesting to kind of check up on these guys. Cooper Hummel, of course, part of the Kyle Lewis trade that the Diamondbacks made with the Mariners last November. Hummel spent the 2023 season in the Mariners organization, only had about 25 plate appearances. I think he was like two for 23 or something like that. Didn't get much opportunity with the Mariners and the majors. Put up some decent numbers in AAA as he has done in the past. You can pretty much count on Cooper Hummel for an on-base percentage. It starts with a four in the PCL. He's certainly shown the ability to get on base at that level.

but it hasn't really translated for him into the majors and he hasn't really gotten much opportunity to try to prove himself frankly. So maybe he winds up getting that with the San Francisco Giants as they acquire him just for cash from the New York Mets. And then, yeah, Josh Van Meter lands

with the New York Yankees since leaving the Diamondbacks. He has not done a whole lot. He played 67 games with the Pirates in 2022 had a 558 OPS there. And then in 2023, missed some time with injuries, played about 50 games in the minors.

But now he kind of starts a new chapter with New York. So neither of these guys have really found success after leaving the Diamondbacks. Well, we talked earlier about being a diehard. And if you haven't signed up yet, we have an exclusive party to invite you to, by the way. That's the P.HNX most valuable party. No, we're not doing that. We do want you to be a diehard, of course.

So make sure to sign up today. You'll get access to Jesse's exclusive articles for diehards only. You also get access to some of that amazing content that we've talked about. There's going to be city council meetings with the mayor over on the Discord, as well as a brand new game show that Jesse is excited about. He's so excited. We touched on this yesterday. Squeeze play.

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more fun. And when I say that, I will say that we had a delightful conversation in the office yesterday when Damon Dogg, who is not here, not present, we're very worried about him, very worried he's drinking water right now, was talking to Jesse and myself about his picks for last night's son's game. And this

misguided soul was saying how he was going to take the money line on the Kings in the fourth quarter. He was still taking the Suns to win. He took it on bets. But he was taking the money line in the fourth quarter on the Kings because, as you may know as a Suns fan, they've been historically bad in the fourth quarter this year.

And of course, they went on to do what they did last night, which is just hilariously ironic based on how much we talked about the fourth quarter sons, the fourth quarter Miami Heat, whether or not he should make that bet. We tried to tell him no. He went with it anyway. But the sons did what they did in the fourth quarter. So maybe Damon needs to now make that bet on every single son's game to get us to the promised land. I feel like that makes a lot of sense.

Of course, you can use the BetMGM Sportsbook app however you wish to. Just sign up for BetMGM now and use our bonus code of PHNX. Place your first BetMGM Sportsbook wager through the BetMGMSports book mobile application for at least $5.00. Using our code of PHNX, once you do, you will receive $150. Instantly in additional winnings, regardless of your wager's outcome. Check out the show notes for full details. And now listen to Shane. Talk about the disclaimer.

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OGs has actually launched two new products with live resin and RSO, which I love Rick Simpson Oil. You got to try it. You got to at least take a chance on it. You got the OGs naturals and the big OGs. OGs naturals are vegan gummies made with live rosin, and they are available in a sweet Clementine flavor. But you also have the mega version of Peg's Raspberry Orange RSO, which is just delightful to me. one of the company's most popular products. They now have it in a hundred milligram.

One piece that they say, again, is prefarated so you can cut in the smaller pieces or you can eat the whole thing like me. But you've got to be experienced. Make sure you crawl before you walk when it comes to these animals. So to learn more about OG's G summies and where you can find them, head on over to OGsbrands.com. Yes, everybody is upset about Ontario. I mean, you're from Puerto Rico. I know. That's why.

This is a new thing. Yeah, and Ontario's dead. Puerto Rico. Yeah, the Ontario road trip is dead. We're done with that. Now, Puerto Rico. Do you have to keep the same melody, or are you going to change it? No, it's got to stay the same melody.

Okay. I don't know. Are we going to go with Puerto Rico? And then I could have Jesse go, oh, that would be good. That would be good. Anyway, before we move on or I guess go away, there's another team that's trying to go away. And we have more stupid financial stuff to talk about because the Oakland A's move to Las Vegas

is not finalized as planned due to a Nevada teacher's union. And if they have their say about public funding, the Las Vegas A's will never happen. What's interesting about this, so there is a teachers union in Nevada, which is understandably upset about the fact that the Oakland A's want to receive public funding

in order to build their new state. The bill is SB1, and it commits up to $380 million in public funding towards a $1.5 billion stadium to be located at the current site of the Tropicana, right? So the state of Nevada provides $180 million in transferable tax credits. Clark County puts up $120 million in bonds. All this stuff is boring. It's just a bunch of money being given to them, right? But of course, like I said, you have a teachers union that's upset about it. And the teachers union, understandably so.

It's called Schools Over Stadium's Political Action Committee is trying to prevent this from being funded publicly because public funds should go to things like education, which they're not wrong about, right? Schools over stadiums, man. Schools over stadiums. It's hard to argue with that. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Josh Hunt says teachers calling them the Oklahoma. EFs. That's fantastic. But what my favorite part about this is that, you know, the Oakland A's are going to inevitably

win here. It's just kind of holding the situation up. Rob Manfred did say that a referendum like this could potentially prevent the Oakland A's from moving to Las Vegas. Now, I love this because a referendum sounds like a thing that none of us really know what it is, but ultimately it costs a lot of money. We're talking about money on this podcast quite a bit today. And in order for the teachers union to be funded properly, they've had to have donors donate money to them in order for them to put up this legal fight against the Oakland A's. And in an article from the Associated Press, it was revealed that most of the donors donating the large amounts of money are from Northern California. And you just got to love the pettiness there.

You also got to love the love of your sports team where you are putting up money as someone who can afford to put up money in any way. possible to try to prevent the Oakland A's from moving out of Oakland. It's already weird enough that it would appear that they might play the 2025 season in Sacramento as a placeholder for them to move to. This whole situation is just getting awful. It really is because they want to be out of Oakland so bad with all of the, you know, fan protests and all the negativity surrounding the move. But again, it's probably, it's probably, it's probably.

a fleeting battle. It's probably something the Oakland A's in the end are still going to, you know, come out on top and win and they'll find some way to fund their stadium. They do want, like the tax credits they talk about aren't things that are going to like be taxed to like people. It's the taxes like the coyotes were trying to do with their, with their entertainment district. It's the taxes from the entertainment district that would essentially go to paying for the facility instead of public, you know, taxes going to it. But people still hate that. They don't want to allow them to have any kind of tax credit, at any kind of break.

You also have the fact that that's very lucrative considering that it's Las Vegas, right? An entertainment district in Las Vegas is going to get way more money than an entertainment district in Tempe or north, like off of the 101 up there, right? So that's kind of where we're at right now with this situation.

It just seems like a lot of people are very angry about this move. And I don't know what the right answer here is at the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, I've always said that no one cares about the schools of Las Vegas more than Northern California. You know, they've always, they've always been there from from the very beginning, Derek. It's all they've ever cared about.

It's all the education. The education. These students in Las Vegas and in Henderson, they need their proper education. Yeah, the connections here are, I mean, obviously we all know what's happening. These people are very motivated to keep the A's in Northern California and understandably so. It's not just Northern Californians who want the A's to stay. there. I think it is the baseball community at large who sees that as the best long-term home for that baseball team. It certainly appears that that ship has sailed at this point. And as you said,

I don't really expect this to be a meaningful hurdle when all is said and done. But yeah, apparently it costs between $700,000 and $1.5 million to collect and submit signatures in order to organize a Nevada referendum. I think it's also, it's legal fees. And, paying for a lawyer like I was telling you earlier you have to get a good attorney right you're not going to go up against a sports franchise and and win with just any I mean I the idea of a referendum is just like you're you're just putting it on the ballot and letting people letting people vote on it so there's a lot of costs to that and including having those legal expertise involved in it because again you can put it on the ballot but if you're not doing it in a way where you could potentially win

yeah that's fair you're just wasting money right yeah so if any if anyone has you know, 500 grand sitting around or something and they want to contribute to a worthy cause. Who knows? Maybe this could go somewhere. It's a great way to spend your money. You could get some support and maybe the A's wind up back in Northern California.

But I don't think that's going to happen. I just, again, Elise said, how did the hockey and football arenas get built? How did the A's not have private funding for it? I think most of it. This is only a piece of it. A piece of it. I mean, this is $380 million.

Yeah. Of the $1.5 billion. So, yeah, the other $1.2 billion with a B is going to be privately funded. And is as yet not spoken for. Right. I don't think, I don't think Fisher has actually made it clear where that money is coming from at this point. What's interesting, though, again, is that they're trying to do this based on, like, the taxes. And I think it's a hard battle when you were saying, like, that the taxes from the thing being built is going to the thing being built.

is going to the thing being built. It's a hard argument for me to say that's a bad way to go about funding a portion of it, right? It's just a portion of it. And again, it's the sales for the facility that does not exist at all right now going towards paying for the facility once it's built. I thought this was very savvy when it came to the coyotes and the way that they were doing things. But apparently the folks in Tempe did not agree with me or the entire coyote's crew or hockey span. It still makes me sad. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

It's sad that the coyotes are still looking for a home. And again, hopefully that doesn't become a situation like what we're seeing here with the Oakland A's, because that would be absolutely heartbreaking. Before we go, we did want to give a shout out to Jesse's hero and my friend. Is that how it works? I don't know. We're in the government together, me and the governor and the mayor. But Greg Schulte was honored by the National Sports Media Association.

and they have honored some highly deserving honorees here in the Valley, some names that will no longer be part of the sports community that we will miss very much. Kent Summers was their Arizona sports writer of the year, and Greg Schulte has been named the Sportscaster of the year here in Arizona. Hard. It's a hard battle to win when Al McCoy is around, right? I imagine Al McCoy has a number of these awards himself, but this is the first time Schulte has been named the Sportscaster of the Year for Arizona.

So, of course, tremendous honor for the voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks and somebody we will truly, truly miss. But very excited to see Chris Gargiola doing the thing because I think he's great. I can't wait to see him calling games next year. And I think he's going to be, I mean, as hard as it is to replace the governor. It's a good replacement. I don't know. We have a replacement. His name is Jesse Friedman.

That's true. Damon had never seen the video, Derek. That's true. Jesse, young Jesse replicating his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his, his Shulte calls. And so I showed David the other day and he was very ecstatic about it. Yeah. Um, arbitration.

How did my, how did my arbitration? It went, well, we won. You got your money. We got your money. Yeah. We got your money. All right. Okay.

Uh, but I will say that it did come into play a little bit, the, the Schulte thing. Um, I did speak about how you are wasting your career here with me. That's fair. I also said that doing the show with. me is very much a detriment to you as a person in your career. So I think you should be paid handsomely for that. And Jacob agreed with me.

So luckily he was the argument. So Damon was the one arguing against me? Yeah. What did Damon have to say? He mostly was mad about the way that you run us in circles after the show. Salton go. Salton go. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, I think I did hear the pop culture. Yeah, the pop culture references. I think even you can. Which is entirely valid. Yeah. That's a valid reason to not pay you it. I like to view it as an asset, though, personally.

I mean, you have more hard drive space up here for baseball knowledge, and I think that's the reason why this thing works that we do here together. But it also works because of you guys. So we thank you guys, of course, for being here in our P.HN.X.S. YouTube channel, of course. You can follow us on Twitter. I am at Kopp underscore Kman with a K. This absolute maniac next to me is at Jesse N. Friedman, Jacob, aka Fagegege.

He is at Jacob underscore Franklin Ford because he's the fourth best Jacob. Franklin. You can follow Damon and maybe check in on him. Let us know how he's doing. He's a Damon dog. He's driving back. No, no, Gary. Is he driving back? People go to Tucson, man. They don't come back. He's driving back to do Cardinals at 430, the dedication of this man. What a monster. What an absolute stud. I don't know. We don't know. Traffic, like, miserable making that drive. And then he's going to come here and then have to do work. Yeah, I checked for him. It's about an hour and 45 minutes. It's terrible. But of course, we are still Damon's dogs. Mark Bart Bar. Bar. You can follow our

show at PHNX underscore DBAX, but of course all roads do lead to at PHNX underscore underscore sports. Did I say DBAX? DBAX. One's DBAX, one sports. You get it. PHNX underscore DBAX underscore sports for the other one. Of course,

thank you again for stopping by. We appreciate your time on this Sons slash financial podcast that we call the PHNXBAC show. Twin and tomorrow for more legal commentary. Yeah. We're going to break down contracts and stuff tomorrow. No, we promise we won't do that. But of course, we hope to see you guys here tomorrow at one. P.M. In the meantime, you guys keep it classy. We thank you for stopping by and remember kids,

baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you don't talk about finances.