Sinclair and Bally's Corp. Reportedly Offering to Buy Bally Sports Out of Bankruptcy

[powergate92]

In a new twist in the Diamond Sports saga, according to the New York Post Sinclair and Bally's Corporation owner Soo Kim are offering to buy Diamond Sports (owner of Bally Sports) out of bankruptcy for a much reduced price of $850 million. Sinclair and Bally's Corporation are currently being sued for fraud by Diamond Sports and its creditors for $1.5 billion. New York Post reports a condition of the Sinclair/Bally's offer is that the lawsuit be dropped.

Also, NextTV is reporting that there are "several interested parties" other than Sinclair that have expressed interest in buying Diamond Sports.

Sinclair Broadcasting wants to scoop up bankrupt RSN giant Diamond Sports: sources

Sinclair Broadcasting Group wants to pay pennies on the dollar to regain control of a nationwide chain of regional sports networks — which it had paid $10.6 billion to acquire four years ago …

nypost.com

Sinclair Is Reportedly Offering $850 Million to Buy Back Diamond Sports Group Out of Bankruptcy

Sinclair is being sued by its former subsidiary for $1.5 billion

www.nexttv.com

 

[Mikey Radio]

Also, NextTV is reporting that there are "several interested parties" other than Sinclair that have expressed interest in buying Diamond Sports.

Whomever would potentially buy Diamond / Bally Sports would need to do so at the right price. One of the things that hurt Bally Sports was the amount they paid and everything they took on when they took over the Fox Sports RSNs. Almost immediately after Fox Sports RSNs became Bally Sports, they started sounding alarm bells about finances.

 

[TheBigA]

Whomever would potentially buy Diamond / Bally Sports would need to do so at the right price.

I think that's what the bankruptcy process is about. The goal is to remove the contracts that were losing money. They identified those contracts early in the process. But obviously they need to ensure all of the issues are addressed and resolved.

Sinclair was a partner in Diamond, but ended up walking away when the company went bankrupt.

 

[powergate92]

I think that's what the bankruptcy process is about. The goal is to remove the contracts that were losing money. They identified those contracts early in the process. But obviously they need to ensure all of the issues are addressed and resolved.

Sinclair was a partner in Diamond, but ended up walking away when the company went bankrupt.

Sinclair walked away thinking they would have a seat at the table in the bankruptcy, but Diamond Sports Creditors said not at this time, but maybe later.

 

[salemjedi54]

Sinclair walked away thinking they would have a seat at the table in the bankruptcy, but Diamond Sports Creditors said not at this time, but maybe later.
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There is no way I would do business with Sinclair who knowingly and wittingly put Diamond into bankruptcy.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Meanwhile, change coming in 2024-25 for NBA and NHL deals: Bankrupt Diamond Reaches Deal to Keep NBA Teams on Bally Sports Through This Season (But Beyond That? Who Knows?)

 

[Kelly A]

RSN's are a tough business these days. Teams think they can make up for ridiculous player salaries by jacking up broadcast rights fees. Then you throw in a gradual loss of revenue from less sponsorships and the RSN business model falls apart. Seems like the only place where RSN's sort of work, is when the teams have a business stake in the broadcast/RSN. By design that makes them less apt to try and stick increased costs to the broadcast partner.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Our local Bally RSN has a few advertisers who's only commercial seems to run ad-nauseum, but most breaks are filled with PSA-like spots from organizations who generally pay minimal rates - Animal abuse prevention, Wounded Warrior, St. Jude's, Disabled American Veterans, etc. Then again, according to the on-air comments from a few of the commentators and hosts, at least most of them seem to be employed by the team, not Bally Sports, so maybe they pay them out of a completely unrelated bucket and don't much care if the RSN is a money maker?

 

[CaliRadioFan]

Bally's will contine on their the rest of the current NBA season. After that, they will have to renegotiate from scratch, team by team. A similar fate may await them with the NHL and MLB

Local Broadcasts For 15 NBA Teams Will Remain On Bally Sports After Agreement

The NBA and Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, have reached an agreement that will keep local broadcasts for 15 teams on Bally Sports through the end of this season. The agreement, which was contained in a court filing made Monday, is subject to court approval...

tvnewscheck.com

 

[powergate92]

RSN's are a tough business these days. Teams think they can make up for ridiculous player salaries by jacking up broadcast rights fees. Then you throw in a gradual loss of revenue from less sponsorships and the RSN business model falls apart. Seems like the only place where RSN's sort of work, is when the teams have a business stake in the broadcast/RSN. By design that makes them less apt to try and stick increased costs to the broadcast partner.

Not really. Padres owned 40% of Bally Sports San Diego, but it was still was losing money and needed funding from Diamond Sports to pay the Padres, which Diamond refused to give them in May leading to the missed payment to the Padres and MLB taking over broadcast rights.

 

[Kelly A]

Not really. Padres owned 40% of Bally Sports San Diego, but it was still was losing money and needed funding from Diamond Sports to pay the Padres, which Diamond refused to give them in may leading to the missed payment to the Padres and MLB taking over broadcast rights.

It seems like there needs to be multiple teams within a single market to have a balance of scale and responsibility. An example is Monumental Sports (formerly NBC Sports Washington) in D.C. The RSN ownership group is made up of the Wizards and the Capitals. Little over a year ago, the teams exercised their first right to buy out NBC of their 30% and formed Monumental.

 

[TheBigA]

It seems like there needs to be multiple teams within a single market to have a balance of scale and responsibility.

This is probably obvious, but these sports channels are 24/7/365, while the various sports aren't. For some, the RSN is only watched 6 months out of a year. But the channel staffs for 12 months. The rest of the time is filled with poker and other fake sports that they have to pay for, but likely attract little audience. In that way, the channel has continual expense, but limited revenue. It's the perfect recipe for bankruptcy.

 

[Kelly A]

This is probably obvious, but these sports channels are 24/7/365, while the various sports aren't. For some, the RSN is only watched 6 months out of a year. But the channel staffs for 12 months.

In the case of Monumental they have a small management staff, most of the production folks and talent are freelancers who only work games (plus pre, post, and some special shows around the teams).

The rest of the time is filled with poker and other fake sports that they have to pay for, but likely attract little audience. In that way, the channel has continual expense, but limited revenue.

Many of the RSN's do paid programming, horse racing, and poker. At least the paid programming brings in something, and depending on the track, some horse racing tracks will pay for carriage.

 

[powergate92]

According to the Sports Business Journal, as part of Diamond Sports/Bally Sports new deal with the NBA that will shorten all teams deals to the end of this season, and resulting in a 16% fee reduction to all affected teams. Because of this, as part of this deal all affected NBA teams will be able to broadcast 10 games over-the-air that Diamond Sports has the rights to.

SBJ Media: Inside the NBA-Diamond deal

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com