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NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has hired senior executives from the Sinclair Broadcast Group to help the sport address concerns about the future of regional sports networks in an era of broken cords.
The commissioner’s office announced Thursday that Billy Chambers will take over as MLB’s newly created executive vice president of local media on Feb. 1.
Kenny Gersh has been promoted by MLB to Executive Vice President of Media and Business Development from Executive Vice President of Business Development, a position he has held since September 2020.
“Billy is an important part of Major League Baseball and will play an integral role in navigating the rapidly evolving local media landscape in the future,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. Billy’s extensive knowledge and experience in all areas of regional sports network operations will help maximize the reach of the game in the club’s local market.”
Chambers has been with Fox Sports Media Group for 20 years and has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer.
Sinclair purchased from The Walt Disney Company, which in 2019 purchased 21 regional sports networks from 21st Century Fox. Chambers has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair’s subsidiary, Diamond Sports Group, now owns Bally Sports Regional Sports Networks.
Chambers and Gersh will report to MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden.
Gersh will be responsible for overseeing MLB’s domestic and international media rights, distribution and production.
Regional sports networks are an important source of revenue for major league teams, which manage the broadcast rights for most of each season’s games. Cable subscribers have declined in recent years, and many have switched to streaming services.
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