Bankruptcy (2023–25)
On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,[14] 30 days after they failed to make a $140M interest payment.[15] Diamond's first-lien lenders will not be affected as part of the restructuring support agreement, but other creditors will convert their debt into equity. Diamond also separated from its parent Sinclair and became an entirely new entity.[16]
An email from Diamond CEO David Preschlack announced on March 20, 2023, that Steve Rosenberg would no longer be the president of Diamond Sports Group; Rosenberg's last day as president of Diamond was March 19. With his departure, Diamond's chief financial officer David DeVoe will take on the role of COO.[17]
During its bankruptcy, Diamond ended its broadcasting agreements or lost the rights to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the ACC on Regional Sports Networks package from Raycom Sports, the Orange Bowl Classic men's college basketball tournament from the Orange Bowl and the MVC Network from the Missouri Valley Conference.[18][19][20][21] Diamond has also missed payments to the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins of MLB and the Orlando Magic of the NBA.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
On April 28, 2023, the Phoenix Suns of the NBA and Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced they had signed a five-year agreement with Gray Television to replace Bally Sports Arizona as its local television partners.[30] After the announcement, Diamond Sports Group accused the team of breaching its contract and bankruptcy law, stating that the team was making an "improper effort" to "change their broadcasting partner without permitting Diamond to exercise our contractual rights." In response, Suns CEO Josh Bartlestein stated that "Diamond's position is totally inaccurate. We are moving forward with this deal and could not be more excited about what it means for our fans and our future."[31][32][33] On May 10, 2023, the bankruptcy judge voided the Suns contract with Gray, ruling that the Suns violated Bally Sports Arizona's contractual right of first refusal. He ordered the parties into arbitration. The Phoenix Mercury's deal was not affected.[34]
On May 31, 2023, Diamond officially missed a second payment to the Padres, and the Padres' television rights were returned to Major League Baseball. Because Bally Sports San Diego, which aired Padres games, is a joint venture between the Padres and Diamond it is technically not in bankruptcy. Therefore, this missed payment did not have the same bankruptcy protections that Diamond's other missed payments had.[36] Padres games will be available blackout free on MLB.tv, as well as through channels on select cable providers, including YurView California, in the San Diego area. MLB Network will produce the games with the Padres' regular commentators.[37][36]
On June 14, 2023, Diamond rejected its contract with Raycom Sports to distribute a package of Atlantic Coast Conference games, freeing Raycom to sell the package to other networks.[38] A month later, Raycom announced that The CW had bought the rights.[39]
On June 22, 2023, Diamond announced its intention to reject its contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 30, 2023.[40] Diamond and the Arizona Diamondbacks later released a joint statement pushing back the hearing and agreeing to continue Diamond's broadcast of Diamondbacks' games. The contract was officially rejected on July 18. As for the Padres, Major League Baseball took over production.[41]
On July 21, 2023, Diamond sued the Sinclair Broadcast Group, their parent, over transactions made when Sinclair had control over the company. Diamond alleged that Sinclair made transactions that were designed to benefit itself while hurting its subsidiary.[42] On August 11, 2023, the bankruptcy judged granted an 80-day extension to Diamond Sports to file their reorganization plan. The plan was due on September 30.[43]
On September 28, 2023, the New York Post and Next TV reported that Diamond Sports had reached one-year carriage agreements with DirecTV and Comcast prior to their restructuring deadline.[44][45] On September 29, Diamond Sports requested a 60-day extension to file their reorganization plan.[46] On October 11, 2023, Major League Baseball filed a notice opposing Diamond Sports' request for an extension. The MLB also asked the bankruptcy court to force Diamond to decide on whether the company would air games from the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers in 2024.[47]
On October 1, 2023, Diamond Sports missed a payment to the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association. But, on November 6, 2023, Diamond Sports and the National Basketball Association reached a one-year agreement that will result in the contracts for NBA teams airing on Diamond expiring after the 2023–24 NBA season but will result in the Orlando Magic being paid. Across the board, all NBA teams airing on Diamond Sports will receive a 16% reduction in the money they receive from Diamond Sports but will be able to sell 10 games exclusively to local over-the-air networks.[48][24] The sold games will continue to be produced by Bally Sports.[49][50]
On October 4, 2023, Diamond announced that it intended to reject its contract with the Arizona Coyotes.[20] The next day, Scripps Sports announced it had acquired the rights and that games would air on KASW.[51] As a result, with no remaining professional sports rights, Bally Sports Arizona was shut down on October 21, 2023.[52][53] On October 10, 2023, Diamond announced that it intended to reject its contract with the Orange Bowl for its Orange Bowl Classic men's college basketball tournament.[19]
On December 20, 2023, Diamond Sports and the National Hockey League reached a similar agreement to the NBA's November 6 deal that will also result in the contracts for all NHL teams airing on Diamond expiring after the 2023–24 NHL season, pending approval by the bankruptcy court.[54]
On January 17, 2024, Diamond Sports announced a restructuring agreement after tentatively securing a $115 million investment from Amazon, which would result in a 15% share of the company, and reaching an agreement with the Sinclair Broadcast Group for a $495 million cash payment to settle an earlier lawsuit.[55] On January 26, 2024, committee of unsecured creditors objected to the restructuring agreement, arguing that financing in the restructuring agreement did not have the committee's best interests in mind.[56] The restructuring agreement supersedes the prior agreements with the NHL and NBA, so rights for the NBA and NHL will no longer expire following the 2023–24 season.[57]
On February 2, 2024, Diamond Sports announced agreements with the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball that will result in a decreased rights fee and will end their contracts with Diamond after the 2024 season.[58][59]
Diamond Sports Group officially filed its reorganization plan on March 1, 2024. As part of the plan, Diamond would end its naming rights deal with Bally's Corporation and rebrand its networks by the end of the 2024 MLB season.[60]
On May 1, 2024, cable companies Xfinity and Midco dropped the Bally Sports networks as part of a carriage dispute.[61][62] Optimum did the same on July 1, 2024.[63] Comcast then reached a new carriage agreement with Xfinity on July 29, 2024. The agreement moved Bally Sports to the Xfinity "Ultimate TV" tier instead of the basic service.[64]
On July 2, 2024, Bally Sports Florida and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League mutually agreed to terminate their broadcasting contract early. That same day, the Panthers announced a new agreement with Scripps Sports.[65] The next day on July 3, Diamond asked the court to terminate its contract with the Dallas Stars. The Stars did not object to the request,[66] and announced an agreement to launch a new free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform known as Victory+ to carry its games.[67]
On August 23, 2024, Diamond Sports announced long-term agreements with nine of its NHL teams and thirteen of its NBA teams, committing to carry at least the teams' 2024–25 seasons, and further seasons pending the resolution of its bankruptcy; if Diamond Sports is unable to get a bankruptcy plan approved by the court, the NBA and NHL agreements will expire following the end of each league's 2024–25 season. The agreement will result in NHL teams having a 20 percent reduction in their rights fees and NBA teams having a 30 to 40 present reduction in their rights fees. In addition, Bally rejected its contracts with the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.[68][69] Three days later, it was reported that Amazon had withdrawn its plans to invest in the restructured company due to structural changes and a focus on its own national sports portfolio, but that Diamond still had enough investors to submit a "viable" restructuring plan.[70]
While the Anaheim Ducks were initially announced by Bally as having renewed its rights under the new agreements,[68] on August 27 the team instead announced that it would carry its games on KCOP-TV and Victory+ under a two-year deal.[71]
On October 2, 2024, Diamond stated that it plans to renegotiate its contracts with the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays. If the teams are unable to agree to a new contract with Diamond, their contract will be rejected. The Atlanta Braves are the only team not affected by the announcement.[72] On October 8, 2024, after their contracts expired with Diamond, MLB Local Media acquired the rights to the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, and Minnesota Twins.[73][74]
On October 18, 2024, Diamond announced a new naming agreement with FanDuel, which saw Bally Sports rebranded as the FanDuel Sports Network on October 21.[75][76] The naming rights will be paid for via an annual rights fee, and advertising commitments. FanDuel will also have the option to acquire a 5% equity stake in Diamond once it exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[77][78]
Diamond Sports announced new agreements with Marlins, on October 18, and the Cardinals, on November 7.[79] For the first time, the Cardinals will be available direct-to-consumer locally through the FanDuel Sports Network app.[80] On November 8, the Reds and Diamond announced a settlement which will officially end their contract.[29]
On November 8, 2024, Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves officially objected to Diamond Sports' reorganization plan, saying they had "grave concerns" about the company's future viability.[81] However, on November 13, 2024, Major League Baseball and the Braves dropped their objection, after Diamond Sports reached amended agreements with the Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Tampa Bay Rays, and Detroit Tigers. Diamond Sports will acquire local direct-to-consumer streaming rights for all the teams it renegotiated with.[82] The Kansas City Royals later renegotiated with Diamond Sports Group in December.[83] The equity stake that Sinclair Broadcast Group, Diamond Sports Group's then corporate parent, was wiped out, and a group of lenders including Hudson Bay Capital Management and PGIM became the new owners of Diamond Sports Group.[84] On January 13, 2025, the Cincinnati Reds reached a new agreement with Main Streets Sports Group.[85][86]
On January 14, 2025, the Texas Rangers reached a multi-year deal with Victory+ to stream their games for the 2025 MLB season, for an annual subscription fee of $100 a season.[87][88] Later on January 27, they announced the formation of the Rangers Sports Network along with broadcast deals with local affiliates.[89]
Teams that changed rights during bankruptcy
