Regional sports broadcaster Diamond Sports Group received court approval on Thursday for a bankruptcy restructuring that will rebrand its TV channels, trim nearly $9 billion in debt, and renegotiate broadcast contracts with six Major League Baseball teams.
Reuters reports U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez approved the restructuring after MLB dropped an objection that had challenged the viability of Diamond's future business plans.
Diamond will emerge from bankruptcy as "essentially a new business," more focused on delivering sports games to fans online, the company's attorney Brian Hermann told Lopez at a court hearing in Houston.
The company recently reached new broadcast and streaming agreements with six baseball teams, allowing fans to watch games online and on cable TV. MLB had persistently opposed Diamond's efforts to add streaming rights to its deals, and Diamond recently said it was prepared to cut ties with all MLB teams except one if it could not rework its contracts.
Diamond ultimately reached last-minute, multi-year deals with about half of its MLB partners, while cutting ties with others. All of the reworked deals include online streaming rights, but Diamond did not disclose the length or financial terms of the contracts.
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