The Cincinnati Reds and Bally Sports could be headed for a divorce.
At a federal bankruptcy court hearing Wednesday, the lawyer for Diamond Sports Group — which owns and operates the Bally Sports regional TV networks — said the company plans to keep “a single telecast rights agreement, that of the Atlanta Braves. All of the other teams, all of Major League’s Baseball’s other agreements, will be rejected under the plan,” said Andrew Goldman, according to The Athletic.
At least that’s the intention of Diamond Sports Group for now.
Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court 19 months ago, on March 14, 2023, with a debt of $8 billion. At the time, Forbes reported that Diamond paid about $1.8 billion in annual rights fees.
But the bankruptcy filing did not involve the Cincinnati Reds and four other teams — the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — because they have joint ventures with Bally Sports.
And it’s difficult to keep score of Diamond’s fluid situation with its 11 other MLB teams, excluding the Braves.
According to The Athletic, Diamond — which carried 12 teams in 2024 — has rejected deals with the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays. “But the Tigers and Rays could negotiate new deals” with Diamond, reports Evan Drellich.
Contracts with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers expire at the end of this season, but those teams also “could reach new deals with Diamond,” The Athletic says.
As for the Reds and other “joint venture” (JV) teams, Diamond “is in active dialog with all of our JV partners, who are all aware of the implications of not being able to reach a deal,” Goldman said, according to The Athletic.
Diamond bailed on its joint venture with the San Diego Padres during the 2023 season. When Diamond refused to pay its rights fee in late May, Major League Baseball took over production and distribution of the Padres games.
The same thing almost happened to the Reds last year. Club officials and MLB were prepared to take over the Reds telecasts until Diamond paid its overdue rights fee May 1, 2023.
Spectrum and Altafiber cable systems were preparing to move the Reds to another channel on May 6, 2023, if the TV rights reverted back to the team. Major League Baseball was ready to produce the Reds telecast with the team's regular announcers and most of the freelance production team used by Bally.
When news broke about Diamond’s money problems in early 2023, Commissioner Rob Manfred pledged during spring training that MLB would step in with a goal “to make games available not only within the traditional cable bundle but on the digital side as well.” Forbes said MLB could lift its local streaming black-out, a sore point with baseball fans, and offer in-market streaming for a higher price.
It's also possible that the Reds could seek a local over-the-air partnership, similar to the Reds Television Network operated by WLWT-TV from the 1950s to 1995.
ESPN says that breaking the joint venture deals “would trigger legal action" if Diamond drops its agreements.
ESPN staff writer Alden Gonzalez reports that “a source with Diamond, the bankrupt operator of Bally Sports channels, said the company is still hopeful of agreeing to new terms with the 11 other teams and has previously submitted proposals to each of them. MLB, however, has consistently called Diamond's viability into question and has not shown a willingness to negotiate new rights deals since the company went into Chapter 11 reorganization nearly 19 months ago. A confirmation date has been set for Nov. 14 and 15 in bankruptcy court in Houston. The objection deadline is Nov. 5.”
Last year Diamond carried 13 NBA teams and eight NHL teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Columbus Blue Jackets, on its Bally Sports regional networks. The company has dropped the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks, and reached a new deal with lower rights fees with the NBA and NHL in August, ESPN says.
Stay tuned.
