On April 9, 2023, a Bally Sports display was shown during the top of the eighth inning of an MLB game between the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
David Berding | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
The National Basketball Association and National Hockey League are concerned about the future of Diamond Sports and whether owners of the region’s sports networks can put together a viable business plan for this fall’s season.
Diamond Sports, which operates the network under the Bally Sports brand, has been under bankruptcy protection since last March. The league is concerned that the company, which owns the largest portfolio of regional sports networks, will not be able to develop a viable business plan ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Lawyers for the leagues expressed concerns at a status conference in bankruptcy court on Tuesday after the Diamondbacks announced they were postponing a hearing to confirm their restructuring plan from mid-June to late July.
“I want to reiterate why timing is so important to the NBA. The start of the 2024-2025 season is rapidly approaching,” NBA lawyer Vincent Indelicato said in court on Tuesday. “Much must be done ahead of the season in order to properly produce and distribute games.”
NHL lawyers expressed similar concerns, suggesting that if Diamond Sports can’t come up with a viable business plan in the coming months, the league may be forced to desperately search for options to produce and broadcast games in local markets. Several major league teams are already moving forward without the Bally Sports network.
Meanwhile, many NBA and NHL teams have deals with local broadcasting groups to air local games.
Diamond Sports must put together a restructuring plan outlining its future outside bankruptcy protection and get court approval to put it into action. Approval would pave the way for the company to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
The NBA has asked Diamond Sports to develop a “very clear business plan” by July at the latest, Indelicato said Tuesday.
It’s been a long road for Diamond to draw up a restructuring plan that involved negotiations with lenders to restructure the league’s huge debt, with the league and teams over television rights and with pay-TV distributors to show games.
Diamond Sports Comcast Corporation This has hindered the sports network operator’s progress, its lawyers said Tuesday.
Last month, Comcast customers lost access to the Bally Sports Network, affecting fans of 11 MLB teams. However, the outage hasn’t yet affected NBA and NHL fans, as both leagues are in the postseason. Regional sports networks will be broadcasting local games during the regular season.
A lawyer for Diamond Sports said Tuesday that the company is still negotiating with various interested parties, but that talks with Comcast have stalled, leaving the company with little choice but to “explore alternatives.”
Comcast and other distribution companies have been rapidly losing pay-TV customers in recent years as people opt for streaming, and regional sports networks have been among the channels most affected. SinclairIt acquired the network in 2019.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
