Recently we learned that Bally Sport’s parent company Diamond Sports has failed to make a payment that started a 30-day process before declaring bankruptcy, likely in the middle of March.
Now we have learned that the NBA new streaming deal with Diamond Sports allows the NBA to take back its rights if Diamond Sports declares bankruptcy, according to Sports Business Journal. This would mean 16 NBA teams could start streaming their games in-market or resell the rights to a different company.
Both the NHL and MLB have announced that they have plans if Diamond Sports is unable to complete their contract to make sure fans can watch NHL and MLB games.
NHL statement regarding the RSN situation: pic.twitter.com/ulJXRlLqUy
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 16, 2023
For years RSNs had been seen as a safe bet now, but with how fast cord cutting is growing RSNs seem to be in grave danger.
Bally Sports is reportedly trying to work with its partners to renegotiate its debts to avoid declaring bankruptcy. If its unable to do so, look for bankruptcy to happen in the middle of March 2023.