Earlier this week Bally Sports’ parent company Diamond Sports let the deadline to pay the Padres and has returned the media rights back to the MLB. Now we are learning that Bally Sports has been ordered to make full payments to all of the MLB teams that it owes money to. Or if they fail they will also forfeit TV rights to nine more teams.
This comes as the Judge overseeing Diamond Sports’ bankruptcy has ordered Bally Sports to make full payments to all teams that it has held payments on.
If Bally Sports fails to make full payments to the Angels, Braves, Cardinals, D-backs, Guardians, Padres, Rangers, Reds, and Twins MLB teams or they risk losing TV rights to the teams. Bally Sports reportedly has the money on hand but has been asking the teams to agree to allow them to also stream games before making the payments. Now the judge has ruled that they must honor their contract even if they don’t get streaming rights.
If Bally Sports fails to pay what the MLB did for the Padres is what fans of these teams should expect. MLB officially announced this week that they will stream Padres games for free through June 4th. MLB has also announced a partnership with DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo to offer the games streaming in-market. Cable subscribers will be able to find the games in market on AT&T U-verse, DIRECTV, COX, and Spectrum.
MLB will also sell a streaming service for those who just want access to Padres games in-market. Now for $19.99 a month or $74.99 for the rest of the season for games that would have aired on Bally Sports in the past.
If you live outside of the Padres market you can subscribe to MLB.TV to watch the games just like you have always watched them.
The MLB will produce the games going forward for at least the rest of the 2023 MLB season.
It is very likely that the MLB will also do something similar for any other MLB team that loses their RSN.
For now, we have to wait and see if Bally Sports will pay the teams or forfeit their TV rights.