Bankruptcy for Bally's Sports Could Disrupt Rangers on TV
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The network that owns the local television rights to Texas Rangers games is one step closer to heading to bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
Diamond Sports Group LLC, which is the operating company for the Bally’s sports brand and is under the umbrella of Sinclair Media, appears to be heading toward what Bloomberg reported as a “complex $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court.”
Diamond owns and operates the 21 Bally’s Sports regional networks nationwide. Bally’s Sports Southwest, formerly Fox Sports Southwest, owns the local broadcast rights to the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars.
Diamond owns the rights to 14 MLB teams.
The immediate issue for the three local teams is that Diamond’s potential move could prevent it from paying out to the Rangers and other teams who have media rights deals with them. Those payments help pay player and front office salaries, among other things.
Diamond reportedly owes the franchise it has rights deals with $2 billion in 2023. Entering bankruptcy would protect them from making those payments until they’re reorganized.
The first trigger point could come in mid-February. Bloomberg reports that Diamond is expected to skip a $140 million interest payment on its liens, which would start a 30-day grace period to determine whether it goes to bankruptcy.
Cord-cutters and rights fee issues with television providers are part of the reason Diamond is having financial issues. Right now, many Rangers fans are locked out of watching in-market home games because the only major provider that carries Bally’s is AT&T DirecTV.
Bally’s and other providers, including YouTube TV, Comcast and Charter, haven’t been able to agree to rights fees.
Bally now has a streaming service for local fans, but the cost is on the high end at $19.99 per month.
For that reason, MLB has reportedly not given Diamond or any other providers any more local streaming rights, with the belief that MLB might use the situation as leverage to get all of the local broadcast rights back.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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