A Wednesday afternoon bankruptcy hearing that could have provided clarity on which MLB teams will be featured on Bally's regional sports networks this season was postponed for 10 days, according to a court filing Tuesday evening. The delay appears to be a signal that the sides believe they have a chance of reaching an agreement on their own if given more time. But it keeps three teams in particular — the Cleveland Guardians, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins — in a state of contemplation of their TV revenue as free agency continues to unfold.
Diamond Sports, which has filed for bankruptcy, holds the rights to the TV broadcasts of 11 MLB teams in 2024 through its RSNs under the Bally brand. MLB has asked the court to force Diamond to make decisions about which teams it in 2024, and the sides have negotiated, through a mediator, a potentially mutually acceptable agreement.
According to testimony in court, the discussions focused on three teams. Two of them are the World Series champion Rangers and the Guardians, teams that Diamond only wants to continue transferring in 2024 under changed conditions.
The third team, people briefed on the proceedings said, is a club that Diamond has previously transferred but for which he technically does not currently have rights: the Twins. The Twins' contract with Diamond expired after last season, but a new and revised agreement is being negotiated.
If Diamond carries the Twins again in 2024 and Diamond does not leave any other MLB teams, Diamond's MLB team count would increase back to 12. Diamond started the 2023 season with the rights to 14 clubs before dropping the Padres and Diamondbacks midway through the year. That's the scenario MLB and teams are trying to avoid this year.
The other nine MLB teams that Diamond owns the rights to are the Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers.
Currently, Diamond intends to operate until 2024. It is not yet known whether it will continue in some form beyond 2024.
Amazon, which owns a popular streaming service, has shown interest in investing in Diamond, but Diamond only owns the digital streaming rights to five MLB teams: the Brewers, Marlins, Rays, Royals and Tigers. MLB and Diamond have long argued over the value of various MLB teams' digital rights, and MLB would rather negotiate directly with Amazon than grant Diamond more digital rights in the long term, people briefed on the talks said. The New York Post reported Monday that MLB told Amazon that such a deal would have to be made directly with MLB if the company wanted additional digital rights.
The rescheduled hearing is scheduled for the morning of January 19th in Houston.
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