Report: Bally Sports Parent Company Diamond Sports Filing For Bankruptcy

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Diamond Sports, the parent company of Bally Sports, will be filing for bankruptcy as soon as this Friday, March 17, according to a report from Sports Business Journal (SBJ)‘s John Ourand.

Bally Sports currently broadcasts both professional and college teams in 19 regional sports networks, including Nashville with primarily Predators coverage. SBJ notes that the days leading up to the official filing will be very intense as Diamond executives will be trying to negotiate with leagues, creditors, distributors, etc., attempting to enter bankruptcy with a restructuring plan that could be accepted by a judge.

At the moment, the biggest league that is facing issues with Bally is Major League Baseball (MLB), which has multiple teams waiting on payments for the TV rights to the likes of the Arizona Diamondbacks and more. In a new report from the New York Post, MLB plans to broadcast games of about a half-dozen teams, that usually are shown on Bally, for free so fans don’t miss out when the season starts on March 30.

The SBJ report also states that the National Hockey League (NHL) is working with Diamond to reach a solution. At the end of 2021, the NHL was the first league to cut a digital rights deal with Diamond, and sources say the league is looking to accommodate the company. Ourand goes on to claim that, “of all the leagues, the NHL is, perhaps, in the best position in the unlikely event that Diamond fails to carry its games. The NHL already has a deal that allows ESPN to carry the league’s out-of-market games on ESPN+. The league could fashion a deal that would give ESPN the in-market rights, too.”

As of now, there is no news regarding what will happen to Predators games once Diamond Sports files for bankruptcy at the end of the week.

Steven Boero
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