Last month, Comcast dropped the regional sports networks (RSNs) Bally Sports from its lineup. According to Bally Sports, Comcast wanted to move the network to a more expensive package. With Comcast dropping Bally Sports worries about its ability to move forward. This triggered concerns by MLB, NHL, and NBA, who asked Bally Sports to hand over contract details with its TV partners, resulting in an emergency court hearing yesterday to see if the MLB, NHL, and NBA could force Bally Sports to hand over contract details with its TV partners.
Now the Judge has ruled that Bally Sports does not need to hand over confidential information about its contract at this time. With this ruling, Bally Sports will have until the end of July to come up with a new go-forward plan for how it will get out of bankruptcy, according to a report from Awful Announcing.
Last month MLB, NHL, and the NBA said in court they worry about Comcast harming Bally Sports’ plans to restructure and exit bankruptcy. MLB went as far as to say that Bally Sports has been “an undependable partner” and that Comcast dropping Bally Sports has hurt the MLB according to Bloomberg. This has forced the MLB to set up an alternate broadcast option for Comcast subscribers.
Also in the hearing last month, NHL attorney Shana Elberg said the league needs answers now about the future of Bally Sports RSNs. “We have told the debtors unequivocally that we need to get clarity on certain outstanding matters this week,” she said according to the StarTribune.
The NBA attorney also raised real questions about the future of Bally Sports if a deal with Comcast is not reached. “Without a Comcast deal, [Bally Sports] may very well not be able to survive,” said Vincent Indelicato. “We simply cannot wait much longer” to find out.
So now the future of Bally Sports may hinge on its ability to reach a deal with Comcast or find some other way to get the money needed to get out of bankruptcy.
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