Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer5:28 PM ET2 Minute Read
SAN DIEGO — Diamond Sports Group, which operates 42 regional sports networks in the MLB, NBA and NHL, paid the San Diego Padres their rights fee Wednesday, meaning the company will continue to broadcast the team’s games in the near future becomes. Sources told ESPN.
Diamond, which does business under the name Bally Sports, filed for bankruptcy on March 14 and shortly thereafter missed its Padres payment. The missed payment triggered a two-week contractual grace period during which Diamond attempted to negotiate a way to acquire the team’s streaming rights, a source familiar with the process said. Diamond has not secured those rights but will continue to hold onto the Padres, who are among the most talented and successful teams in their sport, at least for now.
Diamond will continue to broadcast all 14 major league teams under its umbrella when the regular season begins on Thursday. However, some teams are expected to be fired at some point. At that point, Major League Baseball will likely handle streaming and broadcast duties at least until the end of the season. Diamond hopes to use the bankruptcy restructuring to stay in business, but is still evaluating its relationship with specific teams on a case-by-case basis. The Padres, for example, could find themselves in the same predicament when their next payment is due.
The other 13 teams under the Diamond Sports Group umbrella include the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers , Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers.
Diamond didn’t pay what it owed the D-Backs on March 10, but that missed payment was eventually lumped together with all of the company’s debt because it occurred before the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. MLB would essentially have to wait until another missed payment to take on D-Backs shipments. Teams are free to terminate their contracts with Diamond if payment is not made. MLB hopes to eventually keep the rights for all of its teams under one roof, a path the league believes would ultimately be more profitable for the sport’s owners.
Diamond, which operates as a subsidiary of broadcaster Sinclair, originally bought the RSNs from Fox in 2019 after Disney was forced to sell them for $10.6 billion. In the process, however, the company took on around $8 billion in debt and put itself in a precarious position as the number of cable cutters increased. The company missed a $140 million interest-only payment to creditors in mid-February, triggering the 30-day grace period that led to its bankruptcy.
MLB and Diamond Sports Group have both pledged that fans will not miss their teams’ games as the trial unfolds.