Comcast pulls Bally Sports channels, imperiling US broadcaster's restructuring

Sinclair

01/05/2024 21:42

By Dietrich Knauth
       NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Cable provider Comcast
 CMCSA.O  stopped broadcasting Bally Sports channels on
Wednesday, taking some MLB games off the air and imperiling the
bankruptcy restructuring of the sports channels' operating
company. 
    Diamond Sports, a Sinclair  SBGI.O  subsidiary that
broadcasts nearly half of all MLB, NHL and NBA games, has said
that its bankruptcy restructuring depends on renewed deals with
three major cable partners, including Comcast, that provide 80%
of the company's revenue.
    "It's disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed
extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that
Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals,
preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams,"
Diamond said in a statement. 
    Diamond said it hopes to continue negotiations with Comcast,
the second-largest cable provider in the U.S., after its current
deal expired at midnight on Tuesday. 
    Comcast said it has been "very flexible" with Diamond Sports
during its bankruptcy, but talks on a new deal had reached an
impasse.  
    "We'd like to continue carrying their networks, but they
have declined multiple offers," Comcast said in a statement. 
        Diamond operates 18 Bally Sports channels that broadcast
baseball, hockey and basketball games in their local areas. MLB
teams, which are about a month into the season, are affected
immediately as games become unavailable to Comcast subscribers. 
  
        Diamond currently has broadcast rights for 12 MLB teams
including the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers, the
Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. 
  
    Diamond filed for bankruptcy in March 2023, caught between
expensive broadcast rights agreements and a drop in revenue due
to cord-cutting by sports viewers. The sports broadcaster wants
to restructure and eliminate over $8 billion in debt. A
streaming deal with Amazon.com  AMZN.O  signed in January would
provide the company with additional funding. 
    Diamond has reached long-term agreements with its other
critical cable partners, DirecTV  DTVHO.UL  and Charter
 CHTR.O . Diamond and DirecTV announced their new deal on
Wednesday, after Diamond's Comcast deal ended. 
    DirecTV said on Wednesday that it looked forward to working
with Diamond "for years to come" and called Diamond's sports
channels "a key component of our live sports offering." 
    Diamond is trying to finalize new long-term deals with cable
companies, the NHL and NBA before a June bankruptcy court
hearing on its restructuring. 
    Diamond is not negotiating new deals with MLB teams, instead
seeking to keep its current MLB contracts unchanged during the
bankruptcy. 

 (Reporting by Dietrich Knauth, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and
Cynthia Osterman)
 ((Dietrich.Knauth@thomsonreuters.com;))