NHL Team Makes Decision Which Will Significantly Impact Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners just got terrible news from the Seattle Kraken of the NHL, which could drastically impact the M's payroll and financial situation in the future.

Apr 18, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Seattle Kraken left wing Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (41) / Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners just got really bad news on Thursday, news that could drastically impact the organization moving forward at a critical time.

Let's just go through the news piece-by-piece, which the Seattle Times did a fantastic job at outlining.

1) The Seattle Kraken of the NHL are leaving their television partner, ROOT Sports, next season. They will put the games on Amazon Prime and on local television.

2) How does this impact the Mariners? Well, the Mariners own ROOT Sports. With the Kraken leaving, that's less money made for the Mariners. Furthermore, as people in general leave traditional cable for streaming services, that's also less money made for the Mariners.

Per the Times article:

There is a significantly lower financial difference between annual rights fees previously paid the Kraken by ROOT Sports as part of their initial five-year deal and what they are guaranteed through this venture. One industry source had pegged that prior rights fee amount at roughly $20 million per year...

As more viewers revolted and threatened to drop subscriptions, the cable companies began cutting RSN content from basic bundling. Last fall, hours before the Kraken season opener, Comcast Xfinity pushed ROOT Sports to a higher-tiered bundle package that cost viewers more money to watch Kraken and Mariners games. 

3) So, if you are just reading the tea leaves on this.... this will have a significant impact on the Mariners moving forward and none of it is good. Ownership will want to recoup this money somehow, so how will they do it? Will they make an increasingly mediocre organization that has never won the World Series even more expensive to see in person? Will they further jack up concession prices in the stadium? Or will they cut payroll at a time when they drastically need to increase it?

Yes, the team is paying Julio Rodriguez, but will they pay Cal Raleigh? Logan Gilbert? George Kirby? Ty France?

We don't know what's coming, but we can almost guarantee none of it will be good.

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