As Major League Baseball continues to grapple with issues related to regional sports networks, Commissioner Rob Manfred is looking for a way to make the sport more readily available nationwide.

During his appearance at the CNBC x Boardroom Game Plan Summit, Manfred talked about the possibility of making the MLB more “national” in the future:

“You know, we made a number of changes to our rules last year that I think dramatically improved the product on the field. We improved the pitch clock, moved the game forward, eliminated a lot of our dead time and put an emphasis on athleticism, which was really important. I think as we move forward and the landscape continues to change, we have an opportunity to make our sport more national, increase our reach, solve the blackout problem that has plagued us for years and I think like any crisis, there’s an opportunity to improve your business.”

Lockdown restrictions prevent the availability of games in local markets in order to both encourage fans in those areas to attend games in person and encourage cable or satellite providers to broadcast regional sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group, which operates Bally Sports and has regional contracts with MLB, NBA and NHL teams, originally filed for bankruptcy in March 2023. On Sept. 3, a federal judge approved DSG’s revised contracts with the NHL and NBA to broadcast games of the 22 teams still under its umbrella for the 2024-25 season.

Amazon recently withdrew a $115 million offer originally agreed to in January to partner with Diamond Sports Group that would have given Prime Video access to all MLB, NHL and NBA teams for which Diamond held the streaming rights.

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez noted Wednesday that Diamond’s revised contracts with the NHL and NBA include a stipulation that Diamond emerge from bankruptcy by April 1, 2025, and that date could be “a turning point” in the company’s battle with MLB.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic wrote on Sept. 3 that MLB has threatened to take “more drastic” legal action to resolve the situation, in part because team owners say they are unable to plan a 2025 budget without knowing what television revenue they can expect.

“Major League Baseball and these clubs cannot plan revenues and have no certainty about the 2025 season,” James Bromley, an MLB attorney, said in court (via Drellich).

There are currently nine MLB teams under the umbrella of the Diamond Sports Group for the 2025 season: These teams include the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.

The Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers have one-year contracts with Diamond that expire after this season.

Since teams will get their digital in-market rights back after the DSG contract expires, they could potentially make their games available everywhere without local blackout restrictions.

Drellich wrote in May that some team owners and executives of smaller clubs were pushing to end local television contracts altogether and sell broadcast rights to all 30 teams in a single massive streaming package.

According to Drellich, the resistance comes from the teams in the larger markets that make the most money and do not want to give up that financial advantage by bringing everyone under one roof.

MLB currently has national television contracts with ESPN, Fox, TBS, Apple TV and Roku worth over $12.6 billion.

The current television model of sports emphasizes the regional