Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, operates the Bally Sports regional networks, and, up until Wednesday, had broadcast rights for 14 of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. After broadcasting Tuesday night’s San Diego Padres game, the company relinquished the team’s local broadcast rights and returned them to Major League Baseball.
That prematurely ends a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal that was set to run through 2032, and just how the Padres will recoup the $60 million per year from these rights is unknown. The landmark decision not to pay the team by the end of the grace period threatens the future of the Bally’s-branded regional sports networks as the entity navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The news was first reported by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal before being confirmed by both parties.
Major League Baseball will stream the team’s games for free through Sunday, and will also make the contests available to watch on a variety of linear broadcast channels. It will utilize the same announcers since they are employed by the team, and by and large, the same directors, producers and camera people, as they are freelancers. After Sunday, fans in the team’s home market can subscribe to MLB.TV for $19.99 a month or $74.99 for the remainder of the regular season. They will also be able to view games on several linear TV providers such as DirecTV and Spectrum.
Because the rights will no longer be held by Diamond Sports Group, Padres games will not be subject to blackouts, a frequent topic of debate among sports fans and one of concern for sports leagues. The league also divulged that the reach is expected to increase by 189% from 1.13 million to nearly 3.27 million, an increase of 2.13 million homes.
“We have been preparing for this groundbreaking moment,” said Padres CEO Erik Greupner in a statement. “The Padres are excited to be the first team to partner with Major League Baseball to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option through MLB.TV without blackouts while preserving our in-market distribution through traditional cable and satellite television providers. Our fans will now have unprecedented access to Padres games through both digital and traditional platforms throughout San Diego and beyond.”
“Through the power of Major League Baseball and the Padres, we are working to elevate the game broadcast experience for all Padres fans,” added Billy Chambers, MLB Executive Vice President, Local Media. “New technology, better picture quality and increased access are just a few of the items we are working on to better tell the story each and every night.”
The league filed an emergency court motion against Diamond Sports Group after it defaulted on five rights payments to Major League Baseball teams – the Arizona Diamondbacks; Cincinnati Reds; Cleveland Guardians; Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. It believes the entity is profiting off of deals it is not paying their rights fees for, and stated it would be ready to take over broadcasts for teams if necessary. MLB will be doing just that with the Padres, and there is a chance it could be the first of many dominoes to fall. A federal bankruptcy judge will hear the case today, and is expected to make a ruling sometime in the next two days regarding Diamond Sports Group’s obligation to pay the teams.
