Comcast’s Xfinity cable customers in Lawrenceburg and other Southeastern Indiana communities lost access to Reds games and other Bally Sports Ohio programming Wednesday when Comcast failed to reach a new agreement with Diamond Sports Group, which holds the rights to the Reds and 10 other Major League Baseball teams.
Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2023. Diamond/Bally also holds rights for 16 National Basketball Association teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, and 12 National Hockey League teams, including the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Bally Sports is no longer available,” said the message posted on Xfinity’s Bally Sports Ohio channel in Dearborn County. “The owner of Bally Sports is in bankruptcy proceedings, and we have offered them multiple options to continue carrying their networks. They have declined each one, and we no longer have the rights to continue carrying their content.”
Xfinity is owned by Comcast, the nation’s second-largest cable system operator. Comcast also owns NBCUniversal, including the NBC networks and Universal theme parks. The decision by Xfinity to pull the plug on Bally Sports is “another pain point for the regional sports network business, which has faced pressure as consumers cut pay-TV subscriptions in favor of streaming,” CNBC noted.
In addition to the Reds in Indiana, the blackout impacts fans of the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.
Comcast has Xfinity systems through much of Indiana, with offices in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Columbus, Elkhart, Richmond, Muncie, Kokomo and Lafayette. The dominant cable systems in Greater Cincinnati, Southwestern Ohio and Northern Kentucky are Charter’s Spectrum Cable and altafiber (formerly Cincinnati Bell).
The Twins had agreed to a one-year extension on their broadcasting rights for the 2024 season with Diamond Sports Group late in the offseason after their existing deal had expired, says Do-Hyoung Park, the MLB.com writer covering the Twins.
“It’s disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams,” according to a statement from Diamond Sports Group widely reported Wednesday.
“Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours. We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts, and at this critical juncture for Diamond, we hope that Comcast will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role Diamond and RSNs (regional sports networks) play in the media ecosystem. In the meantime, fans in Comcast regions can access our networks through subscriptions to Fubo, DirecTV or DirecTV STREAM or through our direct-to-consumer offering, Bally Sports+ for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC (direct-to-consumer) rights,” according to the Diamond statement.
Diamond’s agreement with Comcast expired in the fall, but the two companies agreed to a six-month extension at the time, according to CNBC. A Comcast spokesperson said in a statement that Diamond had the right to extend the deal by another year, “which they opted not to exercise,” CNBC said.
Xfinity customers in Southeastern Indiana received an email Wednesday saying:
“Unfortunately, our programming agreement with Diamond Sports Group has expired. This means we no longer have the rights to carry their channels, including your local Bally Sports network. The loss of this channel will result in savings that we'll pass along to you, and you'll see a monthly credit on your bill in the coming weeks . . .
“We know that unexpected changes to your channel lineup can be frustrating. We've been flexible with Diamond Sports Group, who is in bankruptcy proceedings, but have been unable to reach an agreement that’s fair for our customers. Great sports programming, including NBA, NHL and MLB national coverage, is still available with Xfinity . . .We remain committed to bringing you the best in entertainment and will continue to work to provide you with the most choices at the lowest cost.”
In January, Amazon announced a $115 million investment in the Diamond Sports Group to help extricate the Bally regional sports networks from bankruptcy.
The cash infusion from Amazon would pay off Diamond’s largest creditors and allow Diamond “to emerge from bankruptcy and continue operations and [prevent] a total collapse of the regional sports network system where the NBA, NHL and MLB would have to step in to take over production and distribution of most of their teams,” according to Associated Press reporter Joe Reedy, a former Enquirer sportswriter.
In late February, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Chris Lopez said at a Houston hearing that it would be “a really good day for Diamond Sports” if all parties agreed to new financing agreements with the Amazon investment, according to Daniel Kaplan of the Awful Announcing sports media website.
“This was going to be a big fight, a very big and complicated and long fight. And it was going to be costly. So I want to thank all the parties for working really hard. I know that these were some hard fought battles behind the scenes,” Lopez said.
Bally Sports Ohio is not part of the Diamond bankruptcy proceedings because the Reds took an equity stake in the regional sports network (then called Fox Sports Ohio) as part of a 15-year deal running through the 2032 season, according to the Sports Business Journal. Reports say the Reds are paid $60 million annually by Diamond.
Consumers’ cord-cutting from cable TV and satellite services in favor of streaming has sent subscriber and advertising revenues into a downward spiral for Bally Sports and all cable TV programmers. Cable and satellite subscription services have lost nearly 25 million customers—or about 25% of its customers—in the past five years, according Charter Communications executives when its Spectrum cable systems national dropped Disney and ESPN channels for 10 days last September.
