Bally Sports RSNs Are Reportedly Preparing For Bankruptcy

[DirecTVFanSince2016]

Nearly 66% of users who sign up for Bally Sports Plus cancel their subscription within six months

Makes sense as they do not have all of their baseball teams available via DTC.
Like I've been to Myrtle Beach, SC many times over the last several years, and they get the Braves via Bally.
However, if you enter their ZIP code (29577) on the Bally website, the Braves are listed as "MLB - TV Provider Only".

 

[Bruce]

Makes sense as they do not have all of their baseball teams available via DTC.

They have five-Kansas City, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.

So a average of less then 20,000 per team.

And that is the point, MLB will never let Diamond have them, so the sub numbers are likely never to improve.

By the way, only bringing in $23 Million a year, bankruptcy is for over $8 Billion.

 

[comfortably_numb]

via DTC

What is DTC?

 

[Bruce]

What is DTC?

Streaming.

Direct to Consumer

 

[comfortably_numb]

Streaming.

Direct to Consumer

Thanks. Those 5 teams you mentioned... they're available on MLB.tv correct?

 

[DirecTVFanSince2016]

They are out-of-market.
The only ones available in-market via MLB.TV are the Padres & D-backs, they used to be on bally but they missed their payments to those teams.

 

[Bruce]

Thanks. Those 5 teams you mentioned... they're available on MLB.tv correct?

Yes, for example I get the Tigers from back home here in Florida via MLB streaming.

 

[Bruce]

Even if Diamond survives, looks like no more Twins on Ballys.

Minnesota Twins Set to Cut Payroll Amid Almost Certain Departure From Bankrupt Bally Sports RSN

The MLB team's contract with operator Diamond Sports Group has expired, and the club is weighing other local TV options

www.nexttv.com

 

[Bruce]

And it is over, if the Judge approves, this looks to be their last year after the MLB 2024 Season.

With the losses so high amongst those providers that carry the RSN ( Comcast, Charter and DirecTV look to lose 1.5 Million subs this quarter), no one subscribing to the streaming version, the writing is on the wall, no path forward.

What is happening to Diamond, will soon happen to the other RSNs, including the team owned ones, loss of per sub fees affect them also, some of them just did not have the debt Diamond did, so it will take until 2025 for them to go out of business.

Sports are just not popular enough ( except for Football) to support such channels, when the World Series TV Audience Rating averaged only 4 Million Households ( out of 131 Million) should tell you something.

Yesterday in a court flining, Bally Sport announced that after the 2024 MLB season, it will stop broadcasting MLB games giving the teams the ability to find new TV partners with minimal impact on fans.

In the filing with the court, Bally Sports said:

These actions give MLB and its clubs the clarity they demand in their Objection concerning the future treatment of their telecast rights agreements and give them time to transition to another broadcast partner before the start of the 2025 MLB season. These actions will also minimize the risk of disruption to fans as the Debtors expect to continue broadcasting through the 2024 MLB season.

Bally Sports Could Stop Airing MLB Games After 2024, Giving Teams Time to Find New TV Partners, But Can it Survive? | Cord Cutters News

Yesterday in a court flining, Bally Sport announced that after the 2024 MLB season, it will stop broadcasting MLB games giving the teams the ability to find new TV partners with minimal impact on fans. This news brings to an end a long partnership between the MLB and Bally Sports, formerly Fox...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[comfortably_numb]

Bring back OTA baseball!

 

[savarese04]

Sports are just not popular enough ( except for Football) to support such channels, when the World Series TV Audience Rating averaged only 4 Million Households ( out of 131 Million) should tell you something.

While sports are not as popular as sports fans would have you believe, I would argue that the problem is that having an ENTIRE CHANNEL to broadcast 3 hours of content a couple days a week for a segmented time of year is more asinine than anything. A lot of times that content overlaps (NBA and NHL play same season and same time of day) so not only do you need a whole channel, but that channel can't even accommodate both teams, so you then have to set up a bonus feed.

Like imagine having a news channel that only airs the news from 8pm-10pm each night, but you actually have domestic and international news as separate shows that both need to air from 8pm-10pm each night. So you need two channels for 4 hours of content. From the outside looking in, a normal person would think that's silly, right?

 

[Joe The Dragon]

While sports are not as popular as sports fans would have you believe, I would argue that the problem is that having an ENTIRE CHANNEL to broadcast 3 hours of content a couple days a week for a segmented time of year is more asinine than anything. A lot of times that content overlaps (NBA and NHL play same season and same time of day) so not only do you need a whole channel, but that channel can't even accommodate both teams, so you then have to set up a bonus feed.

Like imagine having a news channel that only airs the news from 8pm-10pm each night, but you actually have domestic and international news as separate shows that both need to air from 8pm-10pm each night. So you need two channels for 4 hours of content. From the outside looking in, a normal person would think that's silly, right?

make the channel / games ppv

forceing the high cost EPSN and RSN onto most plans is driving costs up.
Also other stuff like the ad fee diseny channel used to be an paid add-on channel now it's forced into just about all plans.

 

[savarese04]

make the channel / games ppv

forceing the high cost EPSN and RSN onto most plans is driving costs up.
Also other stuff like the ad fee diseny channel used to be an paid add-on channel now it's forced into just about all plans.

not sure what ESPN/Disney channel has to do with anything here, unless you're just using those to bring up some other grievance. Disney Channel hasn't been paid premium since 1990/1991 and I would argue a lot more has happened in the intervening 33 years to drive up cost than a single basic cable channel

 

[Bruce]

Diamond/Bally has a court date tomorrow.

 

[Bruce]

MLB, Sinclair are all balking at this new deal, another court hearing set up for December 8.

Also, Sinclair’s outside counsel, David Seligman said this-

“To Sinclair folks who originally acquired Diamond, they’re kind of bummed, they’re bummed that this business that they put in a billion and a half of equity value in, is now going to be shut down,” he said. “There’s going to be people losing their jobs…Diamond’s business is going to go away.”

Bankruptcy judge approves NBA's agreement with Bally Sports but MLB and Sinclair have objections

A federal bankruptcy judge approved the NBA’s one-season agreement with Bally Sports but MLB and Sinclair Broadcast Group aren't happy.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Don in CT]

MLB, Sinclair are all balking at this new deal, another court hearing set up for December 8.

Also, Sinclair’s outside counsel, David Seligman said this-

“To Sinclair folks who originally acquired Diamond, they’re kind of bummed, they’re bummed that this business that they put in a billion and a half of equity value in, is now going to be shut down,” he said. “There’s going to be people losing their jobs…Diamond’s business is going to go away.”

Bankruptcy judge approves NBA's agreement with Bally Sports but MLB and Sinclair have objections

A federal bankruptcy judge approved the NBA’s one-season agreement with Bally Sports but MLB and Sinclair Broadcast Group aren't happy.

awfulannouncing.com

They didn’t acquire Diamond at all they acquired Fox Sports RSNs.

 

[Bruce]

They didn’t acquire Diamond at all they acquired Fox Sports RSNs.

Correct, then they sold the naming rights to Ballys, then formed Diamond to protect Sinclair from paying the bills( debt from buying them in the first place).

 

[Bruce]

Judge has ruled, looks like by the end of the 2024 MLB Season will be the end, MLB Season is still up in the air, Diamond is still looking for concessions on some teams, if not , Cleveland and Texas will join San Diego, Arizona and Minnesota.

Since we know the end date for Ballys/Diamond, how much longer can the other RSNs hold out.

Cable/Satellite Providers lost 1.7 Million subs in the last quarter, over 5.2 Million total for the first 3 quarters, those are the ones who carry the RSNs, so basically lost 5 million per sub fees for the RSNs.

Diamond Sports (operator of the Bally Sports RSNs) can move forward with plans to relinquish all of its existing contracts by the end of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, pending the resolution of motions by MLB and Sinclair, a bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday. Diamond entered into a “cooperation agreement” with its creditors last week under which it plans to offload existing rights after the current and coming seasons but continue carrying games in the meantime.

MLB has no such deal and thus no way to prevent Diamond from dropping teams midseason, as was the case with the Diamondbacks and Padres last year. Diamond, which has also parted ways with the Twins since the season ended, said Wednesday there are MLB teams whose rights are “too expensive” for it to continue broadcasting — the Guardians and defending champion Rangers, per The Athletic — unless there are “concessions.”

Court approves Diamond Sports ending existing deals after '24

 

[DirecTVFanSince2016]

if not , Cleveland and Texas will join San Diego, Arizona and Minnesota.

What about Cincinnati?

 

[Bruce]

What about Cincinnati?

Read the link, it said nothing, but I remember the Reds were one of the teams being considered to be dropped during the season.