The regional sports network model is on shaky ground. That is why Mat Ishbia is planning on taking the local media rights for the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury and leaving Bally Sports Arizona. Bally Sports’ parent company, Diamond Sports Group, doesn’t think it should be that easy though.
Less than a week after the teams announced their plan to partner on a new media rights strategy with Gray Television’s Arizona stations, Diamond Sports Group has filed a lawsuit to stop it from moving forward.
“The Suns’ failure to comply with their contractual duties, and Diamond Arizona’s potential loss of approximately 70 games of NBA content provided by the Suns each season, puts Diamond Arizona’s business at significant peril, thereby directly threatening its ability to reorganize,” An emergency motion filed by Diamond for a stay reads. “The Suns’ deliberate disregard of its contractual duties to Diamond Arizona is specifically the type of action the automatic stay is meant to protect against.”
Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico shared a statement from Ishbia via Twitter.
“Nobody is surprised by this lawsuit and it will not stop the Phoenix Suns and Mercury from making our games available to as many people as we possibly can,” it reads. “The fans, players, and everyone in our organization knows this is how we win together, on and off the court. I firmly believe the future success of the NBA and WNBA is about getting our product to everyone who wants it versus just the people who pay for it.”
Ishbia’s plan is to work with Gray Television and Kiswe Mobile to create a new distribution channel for games beginning next season.
Diamond Sports Group says that if the plan were to go into effect, it would be a breach of bankruptcy law. It also alleges tortious interference against Gray and Kiswe. It is seeking to void the deal between the teams, Gray and Kiswe as well as damages.
