I think it started when the San Diego Padres & Arizona Diamondbacks decided to no longer pay a rights' fee for what's now called FanDuel Sports Network to carry the local broadcast rights for their teams via what used to be called Bally Sports. These were the regional sports networks that were branded as FOX Sports, yet owned by ESPN's parent company The Walt Disney Company as part of a very complicated deal that's very hard even for me to explain.

The Padres & Diamondbacks were 2 of 42 MLB, NBA & NHL teams that aired their games on these regional sports network until Bally's parent company Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy in 2023. From what I read, the Padres & Diamondbacks had rights' fees that were due and decided not to pay these fees. As a result, they ended up dropping their respective deals with Bally Sports.

Other teams such as the NBA's Phoenix Suns, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, NHL's Vegas Golden Knights & Seattle Kraken followed. They also decided to cut their ties with their own regional sports networks and decided to go over the air.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the parent company of CNN, TBS, TNT, HLN, Cartoon Network & Discovery Channel to name a few, decided to get out of the regional sports network business themselves. At the end of the 2023 MLB season, WBD decided to pull the plug on AT&T SportsNet regionals in Pittsburgh, Houston & Denver.

You mentioned Comcast. They were in a 5 year tug of war with Altitude Sports, the RSN that airs the Denver Nuggets & Colorado Avalanche, over rights' fees.

I think the issue has to do with the changing TV landscape. Many Americans aren't watching cable & satellite like they used to. Streaming services such as Roku, Fubo TV, Sling & Hulu appear to be the future...And for some, the future is now.