Major League Baseball plans to step in to broadcast the games of around half a dozen teams from the bankrupt regional sports network provider to ensure fans don’t miss a single pitch, The Post has learned.
Diamond Sports owns the house broadcast rights to 14 baseball teams, but sources close to the situation have told The Post that the money-losing company is about to file for bankruptcy on March 17 – days before the March 30 season opener.
Diamond, which operates under the Bally’s name, is anticipated to use the bankruptcy proceedings to reject the contracts of at the least 4 teams to whom it pays more rights fees than it recovers from cable deals and promoting, two sources close to the situation say.
According to one source, the teams in red are the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Currently, Diamond could lose $20 million a 12 months in San Diego alone, the source added.
![Manny Machado walks away from the table after hitting.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/NYPICHPDPICT000001395588.jpg?w=1024)
The Post in December broke the news of a possible bankruptcy filing and Diamond’s plan to reject contracts, which he disputed on the time.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred will force the league to take over the local broadcasts of money-losing teams and broadcast them for free in his local markets while he negotiates lower deals with their cable corporations, a source conversant in the discussions said.
MLB has not finalized plans for how fans in excluded markets will have the ability to watch free games. Currently, fans pays to watch unmarketable matches through the service MLB.TV app.
MLB declined to comment.
A spokesman for Diamond declined to comment when contacted by The Post on Sunday.
The source added that even when MLB reaches an agreement with cable providers, it’ll still offer over-the-top service for around $15 a month.
That is significantly lower than the $29.99 the Boston Red Sox charges monthly for streaming, or the $19.99 Bally’s charges of their respective markets. Diamond owns neither the Mets nor the Yankees, but has a minority stake within the YES network.
![MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred on the phone](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/MLB-commissioner-Rob-Manfred.jpg?w=1024)
MLB recently tried to acquire the rights to all 14 teams that Diamond broadcasts, two sources say.
“They said no,” the source said.
A source close to Diamond said MLB has not made any recent proposals to the corporate in recent weeks.
Diamond also owns the local rights to 16 National Basketball Association franchises, including the Miami Heat, and 12 National Hockey League teams, including the Detroit Red Wings.
![States stream Bally Sports games](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/bally-sports-map-network.jpg?w=1024)
The corporate plans to broadcast NBA and NHL games through the tip of the season and the primary round of the upcoming playoffs, and is in lively negotiations to accomplish that on a follow-up basis, a source close to the situation said.
The corporate was formed after Sinclair Broadcast Group paid $10.6 billion for regional Fox Sports Networks channels in a highly leveraged buyout in 2019.
Roughly 4 years later, Diamond may soon find all of his contracts unprofitable when his Comcast deals expire in September and DirectTV in November, the sources say.
Cable corporations proceed to slash the costs they pay for regional sports networks.
Because of this, the RSN value drops rapidly.
“They will likely be knocked down,” the source said as existing deals had to be renewed.
Last month, Warner Brothers Discovery announced it was cutting payments for the rights to the Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies, whose games it airs via AT&T SportsNet.
![Mostly empty seats at an MLB game.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/newspress-collage-24457340-1667101268130.jpg?1667087545&w=1024&1667087545)
MLB plans to take over these broadcasts over time, but not before Opening Day, a source close to the situation said, and people games are expected to proceed airing on AT&T for the time being.
MLB plans to keep local announcers already announcing games for their teams after they take over broadcasts, sources say.
Locally, MSG Networks, which doesn’t broadcast MLB games, has seen its profits fall and has about $900 million in debt repayments in October 2024. If it cannot refinance its loans, it’ll almost certainly go bankrupt, the sources say.
On March 1, MSG Networks announced the launch of its own MSG+ streaming channel, which is able to charge $10 per game or $30 monthly for Knicks and Rangers games.
The mix of cable cuts and a few cable networks selecting not to relocate expensive RSNs reduced MLB’s exposure. Only 35% of individuals living in MLB markets can watch local baseball games on cable via regional sports networks.
Last 12 months, 65 million fans attended matches, down 8% from the pre-pandemic 70 million in 2018 and significantly lower than the height of 79 million in 2008.