Wikipedia

Draft:Bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group

  • Comment: In my opinion, only one article is needed, which should be about Diamond Sports Group, but with content primarily about the bankruptcy. This content can be merged into the parent article. Robert McClenon (talk) 04:33, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: Regarding the split discussion in question, I was the only one who has made a comment so far -- having only one make a comment instead of waiting/relisting for further input is generally not viewed as consensus. Furthermore, my suggestion over there was really to create some sort of general 2022–23 regional sports television realignment article, that also covers the AT&T SportsNet closure and the other changes. It was not my idea to have that content relegated to a "Related television changes" section in this draft, which currently still takes about 1/3 of the page anyway. Zzyzx11 (talk) 11:46, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: Note from the page submitter: There appears to now be consensus for a split. See the talk page of the original article. There is nothing copied without attribution, I'm not sure what the original reviewer is referring to. Anything that doesn't have attribution was directly written by me on the original article and does not require attribution. Esolo5002 (talk) 15:32, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: Need consensus for a split and much of this appears to be copied from the main article without attribution. S0091 (talk) 20:30, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

The ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group has resulted in major impacts to sports media in the United States. Diamond Sports operates all 19 of the Bally Sports Regional Networks. The networks provide localized broadcasts for professional sports teams from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.

As part of the bankruptcy Diamond Sports ended its television contracts with Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, and with Raycom Sports for a package of Atlantic Coast Conference collegiate events.

Background edit

On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced their intent to acquire 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion after the spin-off of certain businesses into a new entity (initially dubbed "new Fox", but ultimately named Fox Corporation). While the acquisition was originally slated to include Fox Sports' regional operations (which, presumably, would have been re-aligned with Disney's ESPN division),[1][2] the Justice Department ordered that they be divested within 90 days of the completion of the acquisition due to the concentration of the market that ESPN would hold.[3][4]

On May 3, Sinclair announced that via its subsidiary Diamond Sports Group, it had agreed to purchase the networks for $10.6 billion, pending regulatory approval. At the same time, it was also revealed that Entertainment Studios would hold an equity stake in the company and serve as a "content partner".[5]

Bankruptcy edit

On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,[6] 30 days after they failed to make a $140M interest payment.[7] Diamond’s first-lien lenders will not be affected as part of the restructuring support agreement, however other creditors will convert their debt into equity. Diamond also plans to separate from Sinclair and become an entirely new entity.[8]

During its bankruptcy, Diamond has missed payments to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball, as well as Raycom Sports for its ACC on Regional Sports Networks package.[9][10][11][12] Diamond also entered grace periods for their payments to the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds, which they eventually made.[13][14]

On April 5, 2023, Major League Baseball filed an emergency motion asking the bankruptcy judge to order Diamond to pay the teams they missed payments to or give the media rights back to the MLB. Diamond argued that because of cord-cutting the contract rate for the media rights of the teams was too high.[15][12][9][16] As an interim, on April 19, the bankruptcy judge ordered Diamond Sports to pay 50% of what the Diamondbacks, Guardians, Twins and Rangers are owed.[17] On June 1, 2023, after a two day long hearing, the bankruptcy judge ordered Diamond to pay the teams fully within five days.[18] Diamond would go on to pay the Rangers and Twins for the remainder of the season and the Guardians through July.[19][20]

On April 28, 2023, the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association announced they had signed a five-year agreement with Gray Television to replace Bally Sports Arizona as its local television partners.[21] After the announcement, Diamond Sports Group accused the team of breaching its contract and bankruptcy law, stating that the team was making an "improper effort" to "change their broadcasting partner without permitting Diamond to exercise our contractual rights." In response, Suns CEO Josh Bartlestein stated that "Diamond's position is totally inaccurate. We are moving forward with this deal and could not be more excited about what it means for our fans and our future."[22][23][24] On May 10, 2023, the bankruptcy judge voided the Suns contract with Gray, ruling that the Suns violated Bally Sports Arizona's contractual right of first refusal. He ordered the parties into arbitration. The Phoenix Mercury's deal was not affected.[25] On July 14, 2023, the deal became official when Diamond declined to match Gray's contract offer.[26]

On May 31, 2023, Diamond officially missed a second payment to the Padres, and the Padres' television rights were returned to Major League Baseball. Because Bally Sports San Diego, which aired Padres games, is a joint venture between the Padres and Diamond it is technically not in bankruptcy. Therefore this missed payment did not have the same bankruptcy protections that Diamond's other missed payments had.[27][28] Padres games will be available blackout free on MLB.tv, as well as through channels on select cable providers, including YurView California, in the San Diego area. MLB Network will produce the games with the Padres' regular commentators.[29][28]

On June 14, 2023, Diamond rejected its contract with Raycom Sports to distribute a package of Atlantic Coast Conference games, freeing Raycom to sell the package to other networks.[30] A month later, Raycom announced that The CW had bought the rights.[31]

On June 22, 2023, Diamond announced its intention to reject its contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 30, 2023.[32] Diamond and the Arizona Diamondbacks later released a joint statement pushing back the hearing and agreeing to continue Diamond's broadcast of Diamondbacks' games.[33] The contract was officially rejected on July 18. Like for the Padres, Major League Baseball took over production.[34]

On July 21, 2023, Diamond sued the Sinclair Broadcast Group, their former parent, over transactions made when Sinclair had control over the company. Diamond alleged that Sinclair made transactions that were designed to benefit itself while hurting its subsidiary.[35] On August 11, 2023, the bankruptcy judged granted an 80 day extension to Diamond Sports to file their reorganization plan. The plan is due on September 30.[36]

On September 28, 2023, the New York Post and Next TV reported that Diamond Sports had reached one-year carriage agreements with DirecTV and Comcast prior to their restructuring deadline. They also reported that Diamond Sports had offered the NHL and NBA a 20% reduction in their media rights to continue carrying games through 2024.[37][38] On September 29, Diamond Sports requested a 60 day extension to file their reorganization plan.[39]

On October 4, 2023, Diamond announced that it intended to reject its contract with the Arizona Coyotes.[40] The next day, Scripps Sports announced it had acquired the rights and that games would air on KNXV-DT2.[41]

TV rights status for teams edit

Team Payment(s) missed Status
ACC on Regional Sports Networks March 2023, June 2023 TV rights returned to Raycom Sports[30] (Sublicense acquired by The CW)
Arizona Diamondbacks March 2023, July 2023 TV rights returned to MLB[42]
Cincinnati Reds April 2023 Paid through 2023[43]
Cleveland Guardians April 2023 Paid through 2023[44]
Los Angeles Kings Contract expired New contract, 6 games moved to KCAL-TV[45]
Minnesota Twins April 2023 Paid through 2023[46] (Contract expires at end of season)
Phoenix Suns Contract expired TV rights acquired by Gray Television[26]
San Diego Padres March 2023, May 2023 TV rights returned to MLB[47]
Texas Rangers April 2023 Paid through 2023[48]

Related television changes edit

AT&T Sportsnet closure edit

On February 24, 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery, owners of the AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks announced that it would leave the RSN business. Teams with deals with Root Sports Northwest were not affected because that channel is majority-owned by the Seattle Mariners.[49][50][51]

Most AT&T Sportsnet teams have announced plans for the future of their television rights. The Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Jazz signed deals to move on from AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain to over-the-air television in their home markets.[52][53] The Pittsburgh Penguins, through its Fenway Sports Group ownership, purchased AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh and plan to rebrand it to SportsNet Pittsburgh on October 2.[54] The Houston Astros and Houston Rockets filed a trademark for a network called Space City Home Network, presumably the name of a rebranded and sold AT&T SportsNet Southwest.[55] The Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies are reportedly considering whether to assign their local telecast rights to Major League Baseball, like the Padres and Diamondbacks, or sign deals with SportsNet Pittsburgh or Altitude Sports and Entertainment respectively.[56]

Scripps Sports formation edit

In late 2022, Scripps created an in-house sports division, Scripps Sports, with the intent of offering its local stations or Ion Television to teams and leagues. Scripps specfically cited the financial difficulties of regional sports networks as part of the reason it created the division.[57]

On May 4, 2023, Scripps Sports announced a deal the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, with KMCC serving as the flagship of a network of stations that would broadcast all non-exclusive Golden Knights regular-season games beginning with the 2023-24 season. KMCC and KUPX-TV transferred their Ion Television programming to a subchannel and rebranded as independent stations. Scripps also did not renew the affiliations with the CW on its second subchannels for its statewide Montana Television Network and converted them to independent stations to accommodate the broadcasts.[58]

The CW Sports formation edit

In 2023, The CW formed its own sports division, after it agreed to a three-year broadcast deal with LIV Golf.[59] On July 13, 2023, The CW Sports acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to 50 Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games each season through 2026–27. These rights were previously aired by Bally Sports through the ACC on Regional Sports Networks package.[60]

CBS Stations disaffilation with The CW edit

On May 5, 2023, CBS News and Stations announced it was exercising its option to disaffiliate 8 stations from The CW. Wendy McMahon, president of CBS News and Stations, specifically cited opportunities to add live sports as a reason for the disaffiliation.[61]

References edit

  1. ^ Ben Munson (December 6, 2017). "Disney's pursuit of Fox RSNs could be big boost for ESPN". FierceCable. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. ^ Goldman, David (2017-12-14). "Disney buys 21st Century Fox: Who gets what". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  3. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (June 27, 2018). "Justice Department Approves Disney's Acquisition of 21st Century Fox With Divestiture of Regional Sports Networks". Variety. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "US gives Disney-Fox deal antitrust approval". CNBC. June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  5. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 3, 2019). "Sinclair Clinches Disney-Regional Sports Networks Deal, Byron Allen Joins as Partner". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  6. ^ "Diamond Sports Group Commences Voluntary Chapter 11 Proceedings to Strengthen Balance Sheet". Business Wire (Press release). March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  7. ^ Ourand, John (February 15, 2023). "Diamond Sports Group not making $140M interest payment". Sports Business Journal. Leaders Group. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
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  9. ^ a b Grant, Evan (April 19, 2023). "Bally Sports Southwest parent company fails to make April rights payment to Rangers". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  10. ^ Coffey, Brendan (March 14, 2023). "DIAMOND SPORTS FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY; DIAMONDBACKS OWED $30 MILLION". Sportico. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
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