Bankrupt U.S. sports broadcaster Diamond Sports Group reached agreements on Friday to televise Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins games in 2024, giving it a roster of 12 Major League Baseball teams as it moves ahead with an Amazon-backed restructuring agreement.
Diamond Sports is a Sinclair Broadcast regional sports channels under the Bally Sports brand. It said in court filings in Houston bankruptcy court that the renewed agreements resolved a possible lose-lose scenario that could have canceled the teams' broadcast contracts outright, cutting into Diamond's revenue and leaving the teams scrambling to find new broadcast arrangements for a baseball season that begins in late March.
"We are pleased to have reached agreements with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers that work for all parties and enable us to continue delivering high-quality, live game broadcasts on Bally Sports to dedicated fans through the 2024 season," Diamond Sports said in a statement.
Reuters reports the agreements reached on Friday will allow Diamond to pay less than its previous contract rate, allowing the broadcaster to earn a profit on the broadcast contracts for one more year, while giving the teams breathing room so they the find new television partners for 2025, according to the court filings.
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 had been headed toward a liquidation of its business before reaching a restructuring deal in January with its lenders, Sinclair, and Amazon.
Diamond will receive $450 million in financing from its existing lender group, $495 million from Sinclair and $115 million from Amazon, using the funds to pay down older debts and continue operations.
Amazon will take a minority equity stake in Diamond as part of the deal, and Amazon's Prime Video will stream MLB, NBA and NHL games as permitted by Diamond's contracts with sports teams.
Diamond has streaming rights for just five of the 12 MLB teams - the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers - under contract, which has been a source of contention between Diamond Sports and MLB.
For 2024, Diamond and Amazon will have the right to stream games for 15 NBA teams, 11 NHL teams, as well as those five MLB teams.
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