In a court filing on November 9th, Bally Sports and its parent company, Diamond Sports Group, announced that they had reached an agreement with their creditors to resolve any remaining issues for the 2024 MLB season, after which Bally will cease broadcasting baseball games. The transaction is not yet finalized because Bally’s parent company, DSG, is in bankruptcy court and the agreement must be approved by a judge. According to the Athletic, Bally Sports is considering dropping the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians ahead of the upcoming MLB season and will only air games for the remaining nine MLB teams with which they have agreements. Bally’s lawyers explained their reasoning in court on Wednesday.
“Our intention is to broadcast almost all of (our) Major League Baseball teams next year,” said one of Diamond’s attorneys in today’s bankruptcy proceedings (reported by The Athletic). “There are a few, very few, for which we do not have agreements.” And that, frankly, is too expensive for us to broadcast without concessions at this point. I’ve been told that those discussions are taking place, and that both teams involved have been contacted.” “There’s no deal with MLB, no deal with the Rangers, we don’t know what (Diamond’s) intention is with respect to the Rangers,” a Texas Rangers layer said in court on Wednesday.
If Bally dropped the Rangers, the team would have the option of finding a new broadcast partner to carry their games, and if they couldn’t find one in time for the 2024 season, the MLB would be able to air games, as it did for the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres during the 2023 season.
Since Diamond Sports Group acquired the rights from Fox Sports Southwest, Bally Sports has broadcast the team’s games. Many fans were upset because they couldn’t watch the Rangers game because many TV providers didn’t carry Bally Sports. Many TV providers have been in contract negotiations with DSG, which owns 21 regional sports networks and is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcasting, since 2020. It owns the rights to over 40 professional sports teams, including the Rangers, Mavericks, and Stars, all of which play in the Metroplex.
Rangers fans in the Metroplex had to watch Bally Sports Southwest on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, TV Max, or Spectrum. Bally Sports Southwest did have a fan app, but it cost $19.99 per month, which was significantly more than ESPN+, Disney+, or Max. Earlier this year, the Rangers were on the verge of receiving their TV rights when Bally failed to make an April payment, prompting the Rangers, MLB, and other teams to sue Bally, which resulted in Bally paying the Rangers’ rights fees. The Texas Rangers and their fans must wait to see what decision Bally and its parent company DSG make regarding the Rangers.
