Diamond Sports Group Agrees to New Carriage Deal with Charter; All Eyes on April 17 Bankruptcy Hearing
Diamond Sports Group Agrees to New Carriage Deal with Charter; All Eyes on April 17 Bankruptcy Hearing
Diamond may emerge from bankruptcy court proceedings in less than two weeks if the presiding judge signs off on its reorg plan.
Things have been relatively quiet on the Diamond Sports Group (DSG) front in recent weeks. The company submitted its bankruptcy reorganization plan to Judge Christopher Lopez in March, but while it waits to hear whether or not the plan is approved, Diamond isn’t sitting back on its heels. In another sign that the company expects to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings soon, Diamond has agreed to a multi-year deal with Charter Communications that will see Bally Sports channels continue to be offered via Spectrum TV.
- Charter’s deal with Diamond expired at the end of February, but the two sides agreed to keep channels available while they negotiated.
- Diamond will have to seek new deals with Comcast and DIRECTV next.
- DSG’s next bankruptcy hearing is April 17, when Judge Lopez could approve or reject its reorganization plan.
Charter is one of the largest cable providers in the country, disclosing that at the end of 2023, it had more than 13 million customers. Having Bally Sports channels available will be a plus to Spectrum TV customers around the country, especially since the MLB season has just begun and the NBA and NHL are both racing toward their respective postseasons.
The former carriage deal between Charter and Diamond expired at the end of February, but the two sides decided to remain in negotiation and allow Bally Sports networks to stay on Spectrum TV while they bartered. That stands in contrast to so many carriage deal negotiations between distributors and channel owners; the recent dispute between DIRECTV and Cox saw 13 channels pulled from DIRECTV airwaves before the schism was mended.
Speaking of DIRECTV, that satellite and streaming company is also discussing a contract renewal with DSG. DIRECTV and Comcast are both due to negotiate new deals with Diamond soon, and the channel owner will have to ensure it walks away from those negotiations with contracts if it wants access to a large enough audience to remain a viable business.
“Extending our distribution relationship with Charter is a key milestone and an important part of our go-forward plan,” Diamond CEO David Preschlack said in a release. “We expect this agreement to generate value for Diamond, Charter and our team and league partners, and enable us to continue providing high quality broadcasts for passionate local fans.”
Will Diamond Be Leaving Chapter 11 Protections Soon?
Diamond first entered bankruptcy proceedings in March 2023, and at times it appeared that the company was getting ready to fold. It agreed to short-term deals with the NBA and NHL to collect smaller rights fees from the leagues, and in exchange, the broadcaster would return rights from the teams it held to their respective leagues when the 2023-24 season ended.
But in January, Amazon swooped in with a promise to invest millions in Diamond, and then DSG agreed to settle a lawsuit against its parent company Sinclair Broadcasting Group, netting even more cash to potentially help it emerge from bankruptcy.
A hearing scheduled for April 17 could be pivotal for determining DSG’s future. That’s the next time the company is slated to appear before Judge Lopez, who could have a decision on whether or not the court accepts Diamond’s bankruptcy reorganization plan. If it does, the company will officially say goodbye to Chapter 11 protections, and its short-term deals with the NBA and NHL will be nullified.
As things currently stand, it appears that Diamond has a good chance of winning approval for its reorg plan. The future for Bally Sports channels will look different than their past; for one thing, Bally only holds the naming rights to the channels through the end of the 2024 MLB season, when they’ll get a new sponsor. But six months ago, very few observers would have predicted the company would have a new long-term carriage deal with Charter and look ready to escape from bankruptcy by the end of April.
Bally Sports+
Bally Sports+ was a direct-to-consumer streaming service that provided live, in-market games without requiring a cable or satellite subscription. It allowed fans to watch their local Bally Sports regional sports network (RSN) without a traditional TV package.