This week after over a month of waiting, Bally Sports finally declared bankruptcy, but what does that mean? How will the impact on how you watch sports if your team airs on Bally Sports? In this post, we are going to try and answer most of the important questions you may have.
Is Bally Sports Shutting Down?
No Bally Sports is doing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, meaning they hope to strike new deals with creditors to allow them to continue operations.
This will take time, and it is possible some parts of Bally Sports will shut down, but only time will tell. For now, you should be able to continue to watch Bally Sports as you have before the bankruptcy.
Will I still be able to watch my MLB, NBA, or NHL team on Bally Sports?
Yes, for now, Bally Sports will continue to air games. There is potential that Bally Sports could lose some rights to some or all teams during the bankruptcy, but bankruptcies are slow, and that will take time.
If anything changes, we will post updates on our site.
What if Bally Sports Shutdown or Loses Access to MLB, NBA, or NHL games?
Right now, MLB, NBA, and NHL have all said they have backup plans in place to stream games in markets if Bally Sports is unable to fulfill its contract.
For now, though, all the major leagues have said they would prefer for Bally Sports to complete their contracts and air the games. If that is unable to happen, all three leagues have backup plans.
How long will this take?
Bankruptcies are a very slow process and could take years. It is possible that contracts with MLB, NBA, and NHL could end sooner than that. It has been reported that the NBA, for example, has an out in their contract, is bally sports declared bankruptcy.
That is all we know right now. We will be watching this case closely and will post updates as we learn more.