• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Bally Sports Dropping Diamondbacks on June 30

P

powergate92

Diamond Sports owner of Bally Sports filed with the bankruptcy court to reject the Diamondbacks contract effective June 30 with a hearing set for June 29 at 3:30 PM CT as it is "significantly unprofitable and is projected to be increasingly unprofitable in subsequent years." Diamond Sports filed its' monthly operating reports last night which showed Bally Sports Arizona lost about $3 million in May. In comparison Bally Sports Southwest (aka Texas) and Ohio each made a profit of about $4 million and North made a profit of only $15,000 in May.

Screenshot_20230622-082651.png

Screenshot_20230622-082852.png
 
I thought the Suns (and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury) had signed a deal with KTVK-3.

Maybe the Diamondbacks and the Coyotes (along with any Phoenix area college sports teams whose games had been seen on Bally) will follow the Suns and Mercury to KTVK.
 
Last edited:
Joseph_Gallant said:
I thought the Suns (and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury) had signed a deal with KTVK-3.
Click to expand...
They did.

In turn, Diamond Sports sued, claiming they had a right of first refusal on any contract extension. That proceeding has not yet been resolved in court.
 
The hearing has been rescheduled to July 17 at 2 PM CT. Not sure if and how this affects the June 30 effective date of the motion.
Screenshot_20230628-163534.png
 
The MLB has filed a response in the bankruptcy court tonight to Diamond Sports (Bally Sports) proposed rejection of the Diamondbacks contract.
Screenshot_20230713-191850.png
Screenshot_20230713-191900.png
Screenshot_20230713-191913.png
 
DirecTV has now also filed a response. It seems MLB is negotiating with Pay TV companies to carry Diamondbacks games as they get ready to take over broadcast of the games. One or more Pay TV company has brought up a concern that they will be paying double for D-Backs Broadcast because they will be paying Diamond (Bally) Sports and the MLB even though Bally Sports will no longer broadcast the game. So MLB is asking the court to reduce fees that Pay TV companies are paying Diamond to carry Bally Sports.
Screenshot_20230713-221953.png
Screenshot_20230713-214350.png
Screenshot_20230713-214357.png
 
EricStein said:
And it's looking more and more likely that Bally will get the Suns back, to the disappointment of hundreds of thousands of fans.

The Regional Sports Network Crisis: Diamond Sports Reveals New Details On Suns, Diamondbacks & More - The TV Answer Man!
Click to expand...
With the Suns, the judge said they had to follow the contract, get the Gray offer appraised, and allow Diamond X amount of days to make a counter offer per the contract. Diamond said in that filing they and the Suns are following that backend rights process. That doesn't necessarily mean that the they will get the Suns games. There is a hearing scheduled for August 1 that will address the outcome of that backend rights process.
 
There's still no guarantee that the Diamondbacks will be on anything in Arizona other than cable and DirecTV, even under MLB or someone else.
 
KeithE4 said:
There's still no guarantee that the Diamondbacks will be on anything in Arizona other than cable and DirecTV, even under MLB or someone else.
Click to expand...
Most likely the only difference will be that MLB will have a DTC stream option for the games like they do for the San Diego Padres.
 
The Diamondbacks and Diamond Sports have agreed to revise the proposed order changing the effective date to July 17 at 12:01 AM, allowing Bally Sports to broadcast games after rejection paying on a per-game basis, and giving Diamond Sports until July 31 to get their property from Chase Field. It just needs to be signed by the judge to become effective. Also, Diamond file a reply to MLB and DirecTV's response.
Screenshot_20230717-150612.png
Screenshot_20230717-144849.png
Screenshot_20230717-144859.png
Screenshot_20230717-144909.png
Screenshot_20230717-144931.png
 
It's similar the The San Diego Padres Deal. MLB is paying Cox to carry the games on their Access Channels for the remainder of the season. They will be carried on former vacant Specttrum, Comcast, and DirectTV channels. This had been in the BTS works for sometime I imagine, they just needed Bally's and Diamond Sports to clear out. I would not be surprised if Cox has Sports Net Channels centered around the Padres and Diamondbacks next season, similar to what Spectrum has in L.A with The Dodgers.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom