Diamond Sports Group Wants DIRECTV to Pay Full Price for Bally Sports Channels that Have No Live Games
The channel owner says that DIRECTV has ‘unlawfully’ decided not to pay what it owes, even though the channels in question lost their teams this year.
If you live in the Arizona or San Diego TV markets and still get Bally Sports regional sports networks (RSNs) with your cable subscription, you’ve probably noticed there’s not much to watch there these days. Bally Sports Arizona and Bally Sports San Diego no longer have live baseball or basketball for viewers to see, instead running a series of boxing matches and other non-live events.
- DIRECTV petitioned bankruptcy court judge Christopher Lopez to allow it to make lower payments in June after Diamond gave up the rights to the San Diego Padres.
- DSG has also seen the Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury depart its channels.
- The company is still hoping to submit a reorganization plan that will help it climb out of bankruptcy.
DIRECTV and the D-Backs
DIRECTV has certainly taken notice. As one of the few providers that still offers Bally Sports RSNs, DIRECTV has been watching closely as the channels’ parent company Diamond Sports Group (DSG) is making its way through bankruptcy court. In June, the company filed a statement with Judge Christopher Lopez stating that it did not think it should have to pay full price for Bally Sports Arizona if DSG surrendered the Diamondbacks’ rights.
In DIRECTV’s view, giving DSG its full payment for Bally Sports Arizona and paying the retransmission fees for the new channel the Diamondbacks would air on constituted an unfair double charge. That issue has only become exasperated since, as the Phoenix Suns and Mercury have also departed from Bally Sports Arizona. According to a report from NextTV, the company has not been paying the full amount due DSG under the terms of their contract, and now Diamond is crying foul.
San Diego Shuffle
The San Diego Padres were the first team to be dropped by Bally Sports channels this year, as Chapter 11 protections allow Diamond to walk away from contracts that are no longer profitable. DIRECTV has also refused to pay full price for Bally Sports San Diego, and now Diamond is saying this amounts to an “unlawful course of ‘self-help.’ The company is insisting DIRECTV should pay the full amount under the terms of its deal, despite the fact that the content it paid DSG to distribute on its platforms is no longer available on Bally Sports.
DIRECTV and Diamond recently agreed on a new short-term retransmission deal that will see Bally Sports channels stay available for users of the satellite service until next year. But the two sides have not been able to solve this impasse, and now it heads to the desk of Judge Lopez.
Diamond is attempting to keep a lot of plates spinning these days. It recently asked the NBA and NHL to accept 20% less than their current broadcast rights deals specify they’re to be paid, and it has another important negotiation coming with Charter Communications. It still has not submitted its reorganization plan to get out of bankruptcy, having recently asked for another extension to turn that strategy in.
Bally Sports channels will remain on DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM for at least the next year. As of now, that will include Bally Sports Arizona and Bally Sports San Diego, though whether DIRECTV will have to pay full price for those channels despite their lack of content remains to be seen.
DIRECTV STREAM
DIRECTV STREAM is a live TV streaming service, which is essentially the streaming version of the DIRECTV service. All packages include local channels and at least 31 of the top 35 cable channels. New subscribers can get a free Gemini streaming device from the company, in which case the service is called “DIRECTV via Internet.”