ATSC 3.0-based pay TV service Evoca might not be just focused on rural areas with subpar broadband. 

The innovative Next Gen TV service might just be on the forefront of a new distribution model for live televised sports. 

Boise, Idaho-based Evoca, which has quickly rooted itself in the Denver area, just announced an agreement to carry AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, home of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. 

Of course, with MLB management locking horns with the players -- and also locking them out -- who knows if a 2022 baseball season is even happening. 

Perhaps the more intriguing aspect of this announcement is what it reveals about Evoca's fast-evolving business model. 

Also read: Sinclair Plans DTC Launch In Baseball Markets in First Half of 2022

Evoca set up shop in Colorado Springs last fall, immediately offering residents access to Altitude Sports, home of the NBA's Denver Nuggets and NHL's Colorado Avalanche, among other local pro teams, but also notably engaged in a blackout with Comcast. 

Now Evoca, which also just expanded to Denver, is offering multiple local RSNs, covering every major local pro team, plus access to almost every local major broadcast network affiliate, for $25 a month. 

As for the NFL's Denver Broncos, Evoca users also get some access to the team's games via NFL RedZone, which was recently added along with the NFL Network. There's also access to Colorado State University athletics through Root Sports, 

In all, Evoca is offering more than 60 channels to Denver-area consumers, who have their price locked in for two years but are not locked into a contract. 

With Sinclair looking to charge roughly the same amount to license the DTC version of its Bally Sports RSNs, Evoca's competing value proposition might explain why the broadcaster refuses to license Evoca its Phoenix Bally Sports-branded channel. 

Evoca, which launched in 2020 in Idaho, is still in its nascent stages of business development, delivering to customers in Idaho, Arizona and Colorado most of its video signal via ATSC 3.0, with a limited amount of metadata coming through via the open internet. ■

fuboTV, the sports-oriented streaming virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD), reached a carriage deal with AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

The agreement comes just before the start of the NBA and NHL season. When fuboTV launches AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, it will have Utah Jazz, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Rockies games. 

Financial terms were not disclosed.

fubo TV also recently made a deal to carry AT&T’s Root Sports. Other distributors are more reluctant to carry regional sports networks, which carry relatively high fees. Dish Network dropped AT&T SportsNet and Root Sports late last month.

fuboTV plans to launch the regional sports network first in the Nevada and Utah area. 

“fuboTV continues on our mission to bring consumers their favorite hometown teams, alongside national and international sports coverage, at an affordable price,” said Ben Grad, senior VP of content strategy and acquisition for fuboTV. “Today’s partnership agreement with AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain will bring sports fans streaming coverage of some of their favorite local teams - just in time for the NBA and NHL seasons. We’re thrilled to welcome another AT&T SportsNet RSN to fuboTV.”

FuboTV also carries the local network affiliate TV stations in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. 

“We know that fans in this region have been asking for more ways to get access to the Utah Jazz, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Rockies and are particularly interested in streaming options,” said Nina Kinch, VP of affiliate relations for AT&T Sports Networks. “This deal now means that fans in all four of our regions now have access to stream their favorite teams with fuboTV.

Cox Media, Cox Communications’ ad sales division, has locked in an exclusive, multi-year deal to represent AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain’s local on-air advertising opportunities during Vegas Golden Knights games, including pre-game and postgame programming.

Starting with the new NHL expansion team’s second season this fall, Cox Media will also serve as the exclusive sales rep for the AT&T-owned regional network for national on-air advertising during Vegas Golden Knight game broadcasts.

Financial terms were not announced, but the agreement covers pre-game, post-game and in-game on-air advertising opportunities, as well as other opportunities allotted to the network’s distributors, Cox Media said.

“This opportunity to sell the Network’s advertising time in Vegas Golden Knights games is a great addition to Cox Media’s portfolio of offerings for our clients and we are thrilled to be working with AT&T SportsNet and representing advertising opportunities in games of the city’s first major sport franchise,” Brett Burke, VP of sales for Cox Media’s Las Vegas market, said in a statement.