According to a report from Sports Business Journal, Sinclair owned Diamond Sports has partnered with LionTree and Moelis, a pair of investment banks, with consensus being the move was made in a preparation of selling the company’s regional sports television networks.
Diamond Sports, which owns 21 regional sports networks mostly under the Bally Sports brand, has as much as $8 billion in operating debt. Sinclair bought the regional sports networks from Disney in 2019 for $9.6 billion.
LionTree recently represented billionaire Ted Leonsis as he completed a purchase of NBC Sports Washington from Comcast. Moelis, according to SBJ, “specializes in corporate restructurings”.
Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand reports companies who have considered buying the regional sports networks have predicted Diamond Sports Group will eventually file for bankruptcy, noting it would be a “worst-case scenario” for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS teams whose games air on the channels.
No wonder they have debt. Sinclair, after buying the channels failed to come to agreements with all the popular streaming services (Sling, Hulu Live, YouTube TV, etc.) that used to air the Fox Sports regional channels. Once Sinclair bought the channels and changed the name to Bally, all those agreements ended. And, Bally is now only on Direct TV and, maybe 1 other services. No wonder they have debt. Tens of thousands of sports fans lost access to watching sports fans, when the channels dropped off the major streaming services.