Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks/Stars Broadcaster Partner Called 'Undependable' In Hearing

The Diamond Sports Group saga continues in court, as lawyers for three sports leagues sue DSG for its issues with the company's Bally regional sports networks.

Apr 8, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; A view of the Bally Sports logo and a Dallas Stars fan. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Diamond Sports Group saga continued in court on Wednesday, as lawyers for MLB, NBA, and NHL all stood before a Houston bankruptcy judge and voiced their displeasure with DSG even as the owner of the Bally regional sports networks tries to reorganize and press forward.

Bally Sports Southwest broadcasts Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Stars games in North Texas. The Bally networks broadcast games for a dozen MLB teams and, when combined with their NBA and NHL contracts, broadcast games for 38 teams.

DSG has been in bankruptcy for more than a year. In January, there appeared to be a deal in place for DSG to cease being a regional sports network after the 2024 baseball season and return broadcast rights to the 12 MLB teams that have deals with them.

Before that deal became final, however, Amazon Prime stepped up as an investor in DSG in an attempt to reconstitute the RSN and retain the broadcast rights beyond 2024. The streamer invested a reported $115 million.

Amazon Prime, which airs the NFL’s Thursday night package, is seeking a larger foothold in sports broadcasting.

The deal has not been approved. Since it was proposed, DSG and Comcast, the third largest television provider, have reached an impasse on a broadcast contract, preventing Comcast subscribers from watching their local teams.

An approval hearing for DSG’s bankruptcy plan is set for June 18.

Per The Athletic, Comcast has 13.6 million subscribers, but the lack of a contract only impacts those in markets served by Bally. DSG has contracts with Charter, DirecTV and Cox.

MLB lawyers described their partnership with DSG as “undependable.”

“We are coming into the middle of yet another season where Diamond is an undependable partner,” said James Bromley. “This is not a deal that Major League Baseball and its clubs have signed up for. … It’s been two full weeks since carriage has been dropped by Comcast, and there is not a word of when it might get picked up, and on what terms.”