I know it's a business, but this deal has been extremely short-sighted and the organization is losing money because of how many people watch illegal streams because they have no other viable option. I would hope views would be up going from a tanking season to a hot start, views have been up for me too (gotten pretty far). It is NOT a smart business decision to fall out of touch with your diehard fans to attract passive fans who aren't from Portland. Those aren't the fans that'll buy merch and tickets, or that'll talk to all their friends about the game, or drive engagement (and the eyeballs this orginzation is so desperate for) on social media. Instead, the organization gives these fans the impression that they don't care, and that is a bad long-term business decision all because they didn't negotiate strongly enough with a
regional sports network.
That is ridiculous, because
regional sports networks are trending away from the pay TV bundle that is driving these views, and the organization certainly doesn't need an RSN to distribute it's own in-house product on a subscription-based model. As I said, this entire thing has been short-sighted.