Over the last month, Bally Sports faced a deadline to pay 5 MLB Teams. Recently Bally Sports has made payments to three of these teams but now could lose two MLB teams over the next week.
Bally Sports has until the 15th to pay the Reds. If they fail to make the payment, the judge has ordered them to return TV rights back to the MLB.
Bally Sports is also in talks with the Diamondbacks to keep rights to Bally Sports. Now they have until a scheduled hearing on July 17th, 2023, to work out a deal.
It is being reported by The New York Post that Bally Sports is asking MLB teams to take a 20% discount on what they get from their TV rights. This deal would for example, keep Diamondbacks on Bally Sports and let Diamondbacks games stream through Bally Sports.
The catch is that MLB has the right to approve any TV deals like this, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has reportedly threatened to block the deal. The MLB is offering to help any team that loses its TV rights and will even help cover any losses that the team faces by losing their RSN deal.
Bally Sports may also have to fight the MLB for its renewal of the Twins. After this season, the Twins’ contract us up for renewal, and the MLB is reportedly interested in buying the Twins’ TV rights. This comes from a report by the StarTribune.
Bally Sports is hoping that bankruptcy will help it cut the costs it must pay and get more streaming rights. Now the question is will they drop even more teams on top of the Padres, who have already lost their TV partnership with Bally Sports.
If Bally Sports fails to make payments to any of these teams, it would return the TV rights to the MLB. This comes as Diamond Sports ask the judge to clarify if they can get refunds for games they already paid for after they let the TV rights return to the MLB.
Earlier this month, Bally Sports’ parent company Diamond Sports, also filled in the court, saying that they would not pay Raycom for ACC college football and basketball games. This means the ACC will need a new TV partner this fall for the games that ESPN did not pick up with their TV partner Raycom.
For now, we will have to wait and see what Bally Sports does next with the Reds and the Diamondbacks.