Bally Sports Update: No Resolution On Texas Rangers TV Rights — Yet
The Texas Rangers don’t have clarity yet on their 2024 television rights — but it could come as soon as next month.
During a Friday court hearing in Houston, MLB lawyers expressed their belief that there is a “framework to move forward” on finalizing how the games of the 11 MLB teams held by Diamond Sports Group and its regional network brand, Bally Sports, would be handled in 2024.
Details of the plan remain to be worked out, however, and neither side would comment on the proposals. The next hearing is set for Jan. 10.
The Rangers are one of two teams that DSG reportedly may drop if they cannot reach a revised financial agreement. The Rangers are owed $111 million for their 2024 broadcast rights. The other is the Cleveland Guardians.
Lawyer Charles Koster, who is representing the Rangers, told The Athletic that there are “three teams that debtors will be seeking to change the financial arrangement with.”
The third debtor is unknown.
In November, DSG had reportedly come to an agreement with the remaining 11 teams it held rights for to resolve remaining financial issues for 2024 and allow those teams to reclaim their TV rights in 2025.
Afterward, it was reported that DSG wanted to revise the agreements with Texas and Cleveland or drop them altogether as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
If that happened, the Rangers would get their rights back, but they may also lose the money they were hoping to receive in 2024 and would have to find their own television deal either in conjunction with MLB or on their own.
The remaining teams that have contracts with Bally and DSG are the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Cleveland, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers.
If the case reaches resolution, it will bring an end to a year-long saga that saw the Rangers nearly get their broadcast rights back in June as DSG and Bally appeared unable to make their first rights fee installment after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
By August, DSG had paid the Rangers in full for 2023. The Rangers originally signed a 20-year, $3 billion deal in 2010 with Fox Sports Southwest, which was purchased by DSG and became Bally Sports Southwest in 2019. It is believed the Rangers were owed $111 million in 2023.
DSG filed bankruptcy in March, which put the owners of the regional sports network at odds with the teams it holds broadcast rights with, including contracts with teams in the NBA, NHL, and other leagues.
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