Arizona Diamondbacks Play-by-Play Announcer Warns Team’s Games May Depart Bally Sports Arizona This Week
Arizona Diamondbacks play-by-play man Steve Berthiaume has thrown a knuckleball into the situation between the team and its current local broadcasting partner Bally Sports Arizona. According to the Arizona Republic, Berthiaume said during a broadcast of the team’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, July 16 that a bankruptcy court hearing on Monday, July 17 “may result in new channels for the games to be seen.”
There’s no new information in those words on their face; the Diamondbacks were to be dropped from Bally Sports Arizona altogether in late June, when Bally Sports Arizona’s parent company Diamond Sports Group (DSG) filed a petition in bankruptcy court to surrender its contract with the club as part of ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. But negotiations between the team and company prompted Diamond to ask for a stay until July 17 so it could potentially work out a new deal with the Arizona baseball club, and some details about what that contract could look like have already become public, including sending the team’s streaming rights to Bally Sports+.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t want the deal to go through and has threatened to use his veto power over media contracts to block it. But if he does, other teams will have to pitch in to make up any revenue losses the Diamondbacks experience, and some owners around MLB have expressed an unwillingness to help bankroll other clubs past this season.
That didn’t stop baseball representatives from filing a statement in bankruptcy court last week, declaring that te league was ready to take over broadcasts of Diamondbacks games at any time, as it did in May for the San Diego Padres. In a related filing, DIRECTV asked the court to allow it to stop paying carriage fees for Bally Sports Arizona if the Diamondbacks leave the channel, as it would essentially be billed twice to show the team’s games.
Berthiaume’s words — carried across Bally Sports Arizona’s own airwaves — might be the best sign yet that the team won’t be able to continue its business relationship with DSG. More clarity will come on Monday when all entities are due at a hearing to determine the future of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Bally Sports Arizona. Diamondbacks games may be on a new channel as early as Tuesday, July 18’s contest against the Atlanta Braves.
If the club does depart the channel, Bally Sports Arizona will have just one major league team left in the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns used to call the network home as well, but last week the team was granted its release from its former RSN partner. Henceforward, the Suns will be available to watch without a cable subscription on over-the-air broadcast channels.
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.