The follow up article with the real substance has now been posted!
https://www.sportico.com/business/media/...234620276/

Their prediction: major streaming platforms like Amazon Prime have the size to compete directly with linear networks for major rights packages and are likely to do so.

Quote:For rights holders to embrace streaming as a primary distribution platform, the magic “critical mass” number might be 50 million active subscribers. Here, growing direct-to-consumer services and mini-bundled subscriber bases begin to approach the shrinking pay TV universe size.

The author notes that Amazon Prime already has 112 million US subscribers, which is more subscribers than the entire multichannel (cable/satellite/virtual) industry. Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ collectively have over 100 million. Smaller SVOD services, like Peacock and CBS All Access, could combine to make competing bids. Individuals are likely to have multiple services, so distributing rights over several services would resemble the split of rights over different networks today.

Cellphone giants AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile also have over 100 million subscribers each and could be players.

My observation: one benefit to leagues and teams from the entry of such bidders is that, like cable today, the bundling with other programming will allow the cost to be spread over subscribers who may not have a high degree of interest in the sports programming, i.e. it would resemble the traditional cable bundle. Critically, this would relieve sports fans from bearing the full cost of sports programming.