Diamond Sports has elected to skip a $140 million interest payment that will trigger a 30-day grace period and is ultimately likely to the company filing bankruptcy, per John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
Diamond Sports is the parent company of Bally Sports, which handles regional broadcasts for many NBA teams. Bally Sports was once owned and operated by Fox Sports’ regional networks.
It would be a fairly big blow to the NBA should Bally Sports be unable to meet its contractual obligations, as regional broadcasts help make up the league’s Basketball Related Income (BRI) calculation. Not to mention the impact it would have on local coverage of the game.
Sixteen NBA teams currently have their games broadcast on Bally Sports regional networks — the Cavaliers, Hawks, Hornets, Mavericks, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Thunder, Magic, Suns and Spurs
“The company intends to use the 30-day grace period to continue progressing its ongoing discussions with creditors and other key stakeholders regarding potential strategic alternatives and deleveraging transactions to best position Diamond Sports Group for the future,” the company said in a press release.
“…Diamond Sports Group expects that its business will continue as usual, and it will keep broadcasting quality live sports productions for fans while it addresses its balance sheet.”
It's official. Diamond Sports has elected to skip its $140 million interest payment and has entered a 30-day grace period that is expected to lead to a bankruptcy filing.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) February 15, 2023
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Bally Sports charges more than NBA league pass (all other teams) to watch only Cavs games.
This local blackout restrictions thing needs to be revisited, so home teams can get home fans watching thru league pass. Give the providers their cut. Good for business, then people can love the team, then go to a game, be fans of the team.
It was pretty obvious not putting their network on streaming services was a bad business decision. Relying on die hard fans to search out and find proved to be as dumb as it sounds.
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