Bally Sports Looking for Deal with Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV
The company has also requested another 60-day extension for turning in its bankruptcy reorganization plan.
A critical week has come and gone for Diamond Sports Group (DSG), and the company is still afloat. But new reporting from the Wall Street Journal indicates that the country’s largest provider of regional sports networks (RSNs) isn’t really any closer to securing its long-term survival.
The Journal reports that Diamond is now seeking deals with live TV streaming services Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. Those two services each bring with them millions of potential new customers, though it remains to be seen if Disney or Google think the channels would attract enough viewers to justify the price increase for users that would likely be required to facilitate their onboarding.
Diamond has also requested another extension for turning in its reorganization plan to Judge Christopher Lopez, who is presiding over the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. The company has been granted one extension already, but the due date of Friday, Sept. 30 came and went, and all DSG filed with the court was a request for another two-month stay.
The report confirmed that Diamond had reached a new carriage deal with DIRECTV, which will keep Bally Sports RSNs on the satellite provider and its live TV streamer DIRECTV STREAM until September 2024. But the Journal also says that DSG is pressing Comcast to sign a longer-term deal, countering a report from last week which stated that the two companies had also already agreed to a shorter-term carriage contract.
Last week’s story also outlined that DSG was asking the NBA and NHL to take smaller rights fee payments than currently stipulated in their deals. The embattled company has also been discussing a new, multi-year deal with the NBA according to the WSJ, but nothing is imminent on that front. Diamond agreed to a contract with the NBA in February that runs through the end of the 2024-25 season, and allows the league to reclaim all of its broadcast rights if DSG misses a single payment.
Negotiations are still ongoing with the NBA, whose regular season starts Tuesday, Oct. 24; the NHL gets going even sooner on Oct. 10. Diamond airs the games of 15 NBA teams in local markets on its Bally Sports channels, as well as 12 NHL teams. Its clubs met with representatives of both leagues in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, presumably making use of the mediator Diamond requested in mid-August. However, those sessions did not end in a deal.
Trying to take over broadcasting duties for so many teams at once is a daunting prospect, which is one of the biggest reasons the NBA and NHL are still at the negotiating table. It would be easier and cheaper in the short term for those leagues to continue airing games on Bally Sports RSNs and Bally Sports+, but Diamond has a lot of plates spinning in the air, and if they begin to crash their partner leagues might decide it’s time to pull the plug.
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.