ESPN already has perhaps the largest reach of any major sports network in the United States, but on Wednesday, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro discussed a potential way to expand the network’s reach even further by capitalizing on the ongoing decline of Regional Sports Networks (RSNs).

Pitaro believes that in the wake of the bankruptcy of Diamonds Sports Group and several other teams from numerous other sports leaving their respective local networks on a daily basis, ESPN can benefit by positioning itself in anticipation of the seemingly inevitable demise of the majority of RSNs.

“This is an industry that is changing very, very quickly,” Pitaro said Wednesday at a media day at ESPN headquarters via RSNs transcribed by Front Office Sports. “Every day I seem to read about another team changing their approach to local, in-market games. We want to at least be part of the solution. We’re very interested in being involved here.”

“We’re very interested in continuing to find team-specific partnerships,” Pitaro said in response to a question from Front Office Sports on the subject. “However, if Major League Baseball is able to put together a group of teams, we would love to … do a larger deal, which, quite frankly, would be easier than having to do individual team deals.”

In a best-case scenario, ESPN could ultimately wait for a league like the MLB or NBA to come to them with a group of teams willing to broadcast their games on their schedule.

ESPN appears to be continually expanding its reach in the streaming space, especially with its upcoming direct-to-consumer service “Project Flagship” launching in 2025. Add to that its planned joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox, which is currently in the middle of an ongoing lawsuit blocking the project.

With this in mind, there is certainly an opportunity for the network to potentially bring greater local coverage to the network on one or all of these newly planned platforms.

This is also not the first time that rumors have surfaced that ESPN will be moving more into regional programming. Reports surfaced last year that the network was particularly interested in local MLB media rights.

(Front Office Sports)