Only one thing is certain after the Cincinnati Reds decided to part with financially troubled Diamond Sports Group Friday: Reds games will not be on the newly rebranded FanDuel Sports Network Ohio.
The former Fox Sports Ohio/Bally Sports Ohio regional sports network has carried the Reds for more than 30 years. Diamond Sports Group, which bought the Fox regional sports networks in 2019, filed for bankruptcy in March 2023.
How Reds fans will watch games next year will be determined in the next three months. They most likely will be produced with Major League Baseball’s MLB Network, which was ready to step in and do the games in May 2023 if Diamond didn’t pay its rights fees.
Key questions
What outlet will fans see the Reds on next year?
On a cable or satellite channel? When the Reds’ deal almost ended abruptly during the 2023 season, the Sports Business Journal reported that MLB had “handshake agreements with distributors like DirecTV and Spectrum cable” . . . to “carry the games on a different channel than Bally Sports Ohio.”
The Reds next TV deal undoubtedly will include in-market streaming for games, which was only available to Bally Sports cable TV subscribers until now. The biggest MLB customer complaint has been the lack of streaming in-market games.
Will a local station make a pitch to get some games on over-the-air free television, as WLWT-TV did for nearly 50 years?
Two years ago, Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps Company launched a Scripps Sports division. WXIX-TV has ramped up in sports coverage by adding two reporters and obtaining the Bengals’ TV rights. Channel 19 also in September added the Cleveland-based Rock Entertainment Sports Network to Channel 19.3 with the promise of adding Cincinnati sports to the airwaves.
What we know
The Reds breakup with Diamond Sports Group was revealed in a Houston federal bankruptcy court filing Friday, after the team could not reach a renegotiated deal, according to The Athletic. The Reds are one of a handful of teams who had joint partnerships in their regional sports network.
The FanDuel Sports Network agreed to buy the Reds stake for $1, according to the filing. FanDuel Ohio will continue to carry the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets and the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, The Athletic said.
As of today, MLB will produce and distribute local games next year for six teams: Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies. When MLB took over the Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks last year, it negotiated cable and satellite distribution agreements and made direct-to-consumer streaming options available at Dbacks.TV, Padres.TV, and Rockies.TV.
Still up in the air are the TV rights for the Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels and Kansas City Royals. Their fate should be known this week. Houston bankruptcy judge Chris Lopez has scheduled a two-day hearing starting Thursday, Nov. 14, on Diamond’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy.
The Athletic said Diamond plans to carry the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins next season if “the judge allows the company to go forward.” The Cardinals took a 25% cut in TV revenues under the deal.
A lot has to happened in four months — although the team has had 18 months to prepare for a new TV venture since the New York Post reported on March 12, 2023, that Bally wanted to cut ties with the Reds, Guardians, Padres and Diamondbacks.
Stay tuned.
