Amazon’s Potential Investment Could Save Bally Sports Channels
In one fell swoop, Amazon could find itself offering MLB, NBA and NHL games alongside weekly ‘Thursday Night Football’ contests.
Diamond Sports Group (DSG) may be snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Nine months into bankruptcy proceedings, all signs recently have pointed to the company shutting down its Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) by 2024, but a new report indicates that the beleaguered channel-owner may have a deep-pocketed investor sniffing around in Amazon.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is in talks to invest in Diamond Sports Group.
- No deal is complete yet, and any deal is subject to the approval of the presiding bankruptcy court judge.
- A deal could convince MLB, the NBA, and NHL to re-partner with Diamond for the long haul.
What Are the Terms of Amazon’s Potential Deal with Diamond?
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that Amazon has had discussions about making an investment in DSG. The report indicates that the discussion centers on a multiyear streaming partnership, though it’s not yet known what specific amount Amazon is looking to invest.
At least some of Diamond’s creditors have given their full support to a potential deal, though it’s far from complete. If an agreement between Amazon and Diamond is eventually completed, it will still be subject to the approval of bankruptcy court judge Christopher Lopez, who has been presiding over DSG’s case since March 2023.
Diamond holds the local broadcasting rights to 11 MLB teams, 15 NBA teams, and 12 NHL teams. Its deal with the NBA expires following the 2023-24 season, and it has approached both the NHL and MLB about signing similar deals to send their broadcast rights back to the respective leagues after 2024.
Will Amazon Save Bally Sports from Oblivion?
With a company as large as Amazon, it is often the case that a potential “investment” is little more than an effort to secure desirable assets currently under the control of another company. But in DSG’s case, that makes little sense, since its broadcast rights to the NBA expire after the current season and the other two leagues who broadcast on Bally Sports channels have similar deals on the table.
It’s more likely that Amazon will try to make a full incorporation of Bally Sports and its content onto Prime Video. Its investment could convince MLB and the NHL that a longer-term renewal of their deals with Bally Sports is wise since Amazon has had some experience with RSNs before. The tech giant is a minority investor in YES Network, the TV and streaming home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.
The real question is whether or not Amazon would keep Bally Sports RSNs available on linear TV, or shift them to a streaming-only format. Amazon has never been the majority owner of any broadcast or cable TV channels, and getting into that business would require significant investments in infrastructure, the creation of new carriage deals with cable providers, and other big changes. The company certainly has the money to pull off such an evolution, but it would be surprising to see Amazon make such a big investment in an older form of media when it has spent so much time and energy emphasizing its streamer.
If Amazon does make a sizable investment in Diamond, it could spell the end of Bally Sports+. At the very least, it would likely involve big changes to the in-market streaming platform, as Amazon would want to house MLB, NBA, and NHL games alongside its weekly streams of “Thursday Night Football” during NFL season. It would cost Amazon quite a bit to keep Bally Sports+ operational, and with Prime Video’s livestreaming capabilities fully up and running already, the app would quickly find itself redundant under Amazon’s ownership.
A potential investment by Amazon is by far the best-case scenario for Diamond Sports Group. It seemed all too plain that the broadcaster was aligning its affairs to shut down by 2024 before the news broke, but now it appears the content on Bally Sports channels could be headed for Prime Video in the near future.
Bally Sports+
Bally Sports+ is a direct-to-consumer streaming service that offers live games for those who want access to your local Bally Sports RSN without subscribing to a cable or satellite package.