Yesterday Bally Sports’ parent company Diamond Sports, 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.
Last year Bally Sports announced a deal to air 68 ACC Men’s and Women’s basketball games in the 2022-2023 season. Bally Sports also aired a few ACC college football games as a part of the deal.
Now it seems that both Raycom, who produces these ACC games, and Bally Sports have agreed to go their own ways, according to a court filing. No word yet on where these ACC games will end up in the future. We will have to wait for Raycom to make a new deal to air these sporting events.
In total, Sinclair owes $55 billion in sports-media rights, according to Bloomberg. A bankruptcy has put payments to many NBA and NHL teams at risk. Since Sinclair bought Fox Sports RSNs, payouts from cable networks are reportedly drying up as companies are refusing to pay the high price Sinclair wants for its Bally Sports RSNs.
It is reported that Sinclairs Diamond Sports Group has about $585 million cash in hand as of earlier this year but owes about $2 billion in fees to teams this year.
We are also awaiting confirmation that Bally Sports has paid the Rangers today. If payment is not made today, the Ranger’s TV rights will return to the MLB. Though it is being reported that Bally Sports is expected to make payment to the Rangers at this time though no confirmation of payment has been announced.
Over the next few weeks, Bally Sports has to pay 5 MLB teams or lose their TV rights. We will have to wait and see if Diamond Sports decides not to pay any of these teams.