Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of U.S. regional sports networks, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, toppled by a more than $8 billion debt load. The company, which is an unconsolidated and independently run subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Texas. Diamond said it was still finalizing the restructuring support agreement with creditors. The plan could see Diamond separate from Sinclair to become a standalone operation, Diamond said.
Diamond Sports Group, the Sinclair Broadcast Group unit that runs the Bally Sports regional sports networks, is planning to file for bankruptcy next week when a big interest payment is due. Sinclair borrowed about $9 billion when it bought the 19 Fox regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. in 2019. Sinclair rebranded the networks after making a deal with Bally’s Corp.
As Bally Sports struggles with financial difficulties, Major League Baseball is exploring all of its media options — including taking back local TV rights to 14 teams. At present, MLB would prefer to keep the status quo with Bally, which operates 19 regional sports networks across the U.S. But as Bally parent Diamond Sports — a unit of Sinclair Broadcast Group — spirals toward bankruptcy, time is running out, and MLB executives are preparing contingency plans.
Concerned about a possible bankruptcy for Diamond Sports Group, the subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group that operates networks under the name Bally Sports and owns local broadcasting rights to 14 of the 30 Major League Baseball teams, the league has formed a new economic study committee that will gather next week at the owners’ meetings in Palm Beach, Fla.
YES Network, the regional sports network that airs the majority of Yankees games, plans to provide a direct-to-customer service. It has a tentative launch date of March 30, but that could move.
With RSNs Hobbled, Scripps And Gray Take Aim At Sports
E.W. Scripps and Gray Television are taking advantage of cable and satellite’s diminished state to make a play for professional sports rights. It’s about time for broadcasting to reclaim them.
Exclusives
The scandal has already cost the troubled regional sports network its president and CFO.
NESN has appointed Matthew Volk chief operating officer reporting to Sean McGrail, CEO and president. Volk will oversee NESN’s programming, production, operations, creative services and public relations departments. Volk joins […]
Talks for MLB, the NBA and NHL to acquire the nation’s dominant owner of regional sports networks are faltering — raising the likelihood of a bankruptcy filing that could hasten a nationwide migration of sports fans away from cable TV.
NBC to Stream Its Regional Sports Networks on PeacockNBC Sports regional networks (RSNs) will soon start streaming on Peacock. NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Chairman Mark Lazarus said at a conference that the company has been negotiating streaming rights with teams and leagues.
NEW YORK (AP) — Boosted by Aaron Judge’s pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League home run record, Yankees games on the team’s YES Network averaged 368,000 viewers in the New […]
Technology executives from Sinclair, Gray, WLS Chicago and Dalet shared some of the more enduring remote workflows holding over from the pandemic in a TVNewsCheck webinar last week, noting that improvements in IP connectivity and public cloud technology are pushing innovation even further.
Bally Sports+, the direct-to-consumer regional sports networks streaming service from Sinclair Broadcast subsidiary Diamond Sports Group, officially launched Monday with Roku as a new distribution partner. The Bally Sports+ service had a soft launch in June, debuting in five regions. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said in August that the company was “very pleased” at results so far, with early subscription volumes that were “better than we expected.”
MLB, the NBA and the NHL may orchestrate a buyout of the nation’s dominant owner of regional sports TV networks, whose shaky finances pose an increasing threat to their teams. The trio of pro-sports leagues are expected to soon begin talks with Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Diamond Sports, which operates 21 regional Bally Sports networks that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country, sources close to the situation say.
The regional sports subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group has hired two investment banks that are active in sports media deals, according to a recent report. Last week, the Sports Business Journal said executives at Sinclair’s Diamond Sports Group think the hiring of the two investment banks — LionTree LLC and Moelis & Co. — may suggest that the broadcaster is interested in divesting its regional sports business.
NEW YORK (AP) — A 4-2 loss to the Yankees in the Subway Series finale was the Mets’ most-viewed game in the 17-year history of the SNY network. The game […]
Sinclair Touts Early 74% Conversion Rate For Bally Sports Plus Trial Users, But Additional MLB Rights Cloud DTC Service’s Future
Seventy-four percent of those who sign up for a free seven-day trial of Bally Sports Plus end up with a paid subscription, and users of the DTC streaming service spend, on average, 33% more time on the platform than they do for the respective TV Everywhere platforms of the 19 Bally Sports regional sports network. Oh, and usage of Bally Sports Plus interactive features has been “better than expected.” Those were the early takeaways from the first quarterly earnings report for Diamond Sports Group, the wholly owned subsidiary that runs the Bally Sports channels, which was spun off from Sinclair Broadcast Group on March 1.
SNY already had some of the best announcers in baseball. John DeMarsico, the network’s director, has made every game feel like a trip to the movies.
NBC Sports Chicago – home of the Chicago White Sox –will present live coverage of four White Sox games with Spanish-language commentary on NBCSC+, beginning with the team’s matchup against the Kansas […]
For RSNs, OTT Channels Must Be Just A First Step
Regional sports networks are venturing into launching their first OTT channels to tap into the cord-cutting market. It’s an important move, but one that needs to be followed up with wider streaming distribution agreements to reach as broad an audience as possible.
Local-area Red Sox and Bruins enthusiasts don’t seem at all sold on ditching pay TV for this new $30-a-month OTT service.
The New England Sports Network becomes the first regional sports network in America to go over the top with NESN 360.
DirecTV said it is making programming from the Marquee Sports Network, a joint venture of Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, available nationwide, except for live games of the Cubs and the WNBA Chicago Sky. The satellite company already carried the regional sports network in Chicago.
The bargaining standoff between Major League Baseball and its players that led to last week’s cancellation of Opening Day is a particularly bitter pill to swallow for the local and national outlets that bring games to their most ardent fans — networks that already have experienced two seasons of COVID-driven disruptions.
Charter Communications and Sinclair Broadcast Group have agreed to a one-month extension on an expired deal to carry the broadcaster’s regional sports networks and local broadcast channels on Charter’s Spectrum TV system. The extension will keep Sinclair’s 294 broadcast stations in 89 markets — at least those of which that are in the Charter footprint — on the program guides of Charter’s more than 15.8 million remaining pay TV subscribers. More notably, it might — or might not — keep Sinclair’s Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks on Spectrum TV, as well.
Sinclair Broadcast Group said it plans to launch its direct-to-consumer product in the five markets where it has rights to stream baseball teams in the first half of 2022. Sinclair said that following rights renewals with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, its Bally Sports regional sports networks have rights to launch DTC products with a total of 33 teams.
Evoca, a multichannel TV service built on NextGen TV broadcast technology, is launching its service, which includes the Altitude Sports regional network, in Denver. For $25 per month plus a receiver — which costs $5 per month to rent or $250 to buy — with no contract and a guaranteed price for two years, new Evoca subscribers will get access to live games from the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche along with Colorado State University and University of Denver games. The service also includes NFL Network, Game Show Network, Curiosity Stream, Bloomberg and other channels along with access to ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates through a provided antenna.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which on Thursday announced a new streaming rights deal with the National Basketball Association and an agreement with creditors that will pump $600 million into its Diamond Sports unit, says that its direct-to-consumer business should generate as much as $2.87 billion by 2027. Sinclair put its latest projections for its sports business in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sinclair Broadcast Group says it has signed a multi-year renewal of its carriage pact with the National Hockey League. The new agreement includes in-market and direct-to-consumer streaming rights of live games of 12 teams on Bally Sports. The 12 teams are: Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning.
The local sports saga is playing out in markets across the U.S. as cable and satellite TV companies abandon regional sports networks. Rather than accept large monthly subscription fees, pay TV providers like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish, and digital providers such as YouTube TV and Hulu, are increasingly walking away to keep costs down. They’ve decided the amount they have to pay to keep RSNs in the bundle no longer makes economic sense, given how few people watch them and how much they charge.
