A bankruptcy hearing Wednesday afternoon that could have brought some clarity about which MLB teams will be seen on Bally's regional sports networks this season has been postponed to 10 days, according to a court filing Tuesday night. The delay appears to be an indication that both sides believe they have a chance to reach an agreement on their own, if allowed additional time. But it also keeps three teams in particular — the Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins — questioning their TV revenue as free agency continues to unfold.
Diamond Sports, which has filed for bankruptcy, owns the television rights to 11 MLB teams in 2024 via Bally-branded RSNs. MLB has asked the court to push Diamond to make decisions on which teams will carry him in 2024, and the two sides have been negotiating a potential mutually acceptable arrangement through a mediator.
The talks focused on three teams for each testimony in court. Two are the World Series champions Rangers and Guardians, teams that Diamond intends to continue broadcasting in 2024 only under the revised terms.
The third team, people familiar with the proceedings said, is a club that Diamond previously broadcast, but doesn't technically own the rights to at the moment: the Twins. The Twins' deal with Diamond expired after last season, but a new, revised arrangement is under negotiation.
If Diamond carries the Twins again in 2024 and Diamond doesn't pitch to any other MLB teams, the number of MLB teams will increase to 12. Diamond began the 2023 season with the rights to 14 clubs, before dropping the Padres and Diamondbacks midway through the year. That's the scenario MLB and teams are trying to avoid this year.
The nine other MLB teams to which Diamond owns the rights are the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and St. Louis Blues. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, and Detroit Tigers.
As of now, Diamond intends to operate until 2024. It is not yet known if it will continue in some form beyond 2024.
Amazon, which has a prominent streaming service, has shown interest in investing in Diamond, but Diamond only owns the digital streaming rights to five MLB teams: the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals, and Tigers. MLB and Diamond have long been at odds over the value of digital rights to various MLB teams, and MLB would rather deal directly with Amazon than give Diamond increased digital rights in the long term, people familiar with the talks said. The New York Post reported Monday that MLB told Amazon that if it wants additional digital rights, such a deal would have to come directly with MLB.
The postponed hearing is scheduled for the morning of January 19 in Houston.
Required reading
(Photo: Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
