Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
https://deadspin.com/bally-sports-si...oon-1850039587
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Diamond Sports Group, the subsidiary of Sinclair broadcasting that’s been running their sports RSN after they picked them up from Disney which picked them up from Fox, looks to be gearing up for an $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court. There are a lot of business and financial terms and policies to work through, but the long and short of it is that DSG is likely going to skip an interest payment it owes, which should be enough for them to get to the bankruptcy claim they’ve been rumored to be after for a while now.
Should they go that route, all their contracts with the MLB, NHL, and NBA will essentially disappear into the night. According to Bloomberg, if Diamond, which operates under the Bally Sports brand, files for bankruptcy, it could potentially put at risk crucial broadcasting-rights revenue for the likes of MLB.
No league has used their TV contracts as the crutch like MLB teams. For instance, the St. Louis Cardinals are currently bagging some $66 million a year from Bally from their 15-year, $1 billion deal they signed with Fox Sports in 2015. While the Cardinals are one of the better-supported teams in the league via attendance, you’d have to think $66 million going disparu would certainly be something they might notice. The Texas Rangers — you may remember them from such episodes as handing Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager, and Marcus Semien their own Caribbean islands in cash — inked a $1.6 billion, 20-year contract in 2010. There are 17 other teams on Sinclair/Diamond local TV deals, all of whom are going to have angry accountants when that local TV money goes to hang out with Harvey the Rabbit.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
This shouldn't affect the Reds much, since they are a nonprofit.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
https://substack.com/inbox/post/99088598
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It’s been a pretty precipitous fall for Sinclair/Diamond Sports Group. Less than four years ago the company paid a heavily debt-financed $10 billion to acquire the Fox Sports RSNs, which it renamed Bally’s Sports. At the time the channels were making money. But a rapid acceleration of cord-cutting and rising interest rates have squeezed the company and now the bill is getting harder to pay.
The Chapter 11 filing will allow the company to renegotiate broadcast deals with teams who partner with Bally Sports. That’s almost certainly going to lead to reduced payments, at least in the short run, and possibly in the long run too. Alternatively — or in addition — Major League Baseball, the NBA, and/or NHL may have to step in and assume an ownership stake in the networks in lieu of payment. Or they could simply say no and take back their broadcast rights, forfeiting payments, and go it on their own with streaming or something. The problem for MLB, of course, is that its fan base is a lot older than that of the other sports and selling the idea of 100% in-market streaming to the 50-70 year-olds who have been tuning in on the old Zenith with the remote provided by the cable company for the past several decades is gonna be hard.
As I said earlier this week when this general topic was being discussed I think that, in the long run, Major League Baseball and its clubs will find their way past the cable/RSN world and into the next one, but it’s gonna be a hard, financially painful journey for them in the meantime.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
- Buy the RSNs
- Get pulled from all streamers without a backup plan
- Come out with an overpriced app 2 years later
- File bankruptcy
What a terrible, terrible miscalculation that is going to create a mess for all involved
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
Once the Bally Sports contract goes toes up, does that mean local contracts are up for sale again?
Might the Reds turn to their own channel?
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
I would actually love for the Reds to have their own channel.. because then they have an incentive to put out a product that people want to watch.
I know the orginal article blamed "cord cutters" for Bally losing revenue, but what about teams like the Reds that are tanking?
I remember someone saying that the Reds ratings were down about 25% last year.. maybe that was not the exact number, but it was a pretty big drop.
I'm sure Bally's ad revenue took quite a hit from that.
Laura's Lean Beef is not going to pay a premium rate for a 100 loss team that fewer people are watching.
This might be the only hope of fixing tanking..
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Bourgeois Zee
Once the Bally Sports contract goes toes up, does that mean local contracts are up for sale again?
Might the Reds turn to their own channel?
Nothing is going to happen overnight would be my guess, but I would bet there are some seriously nervous ownership groups out there. I never understood how these RSNs, especially in the smaller markets, were worth the massive amounts they were paying. The fact that the Reds have gone on a total cheap-out could turn out to be a lucky thing, assuming the bankruptcy leads to contract restructuring or selling off on the cheap. This is going to be very interesting to see how it all plays out.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Bourgeois Zee
Once the Bally Sports contract goes toes up, does that mean local contracts are up for sale again?
Might the Reds turn to their own channel?
I think Rob Manfred wants to go with streaming exclusively
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Ron Madden
I think Rob Manfred wants to go with streaming exclusively
I wonder if they are regretting they sold BAM Tech, the streaming technology they developed to Disney.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Sassy Sal
I wonder if they are regretting they sold BAM Tech, the streaming technology they developed to Disney.
They probably are regretting a few things they've done since Manfred has been Commissioner
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
One would hope that this would cause ownership at least a moment of panic and regret for not having a worthwhile product to present when the cards get offered a new $60m restructure and they get .60 cents.
Instead, they'll just hack off from the future budget what they were getting before plus another $5m for safety and pop the champagne.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
Here is our own Doug Gray’s take on this issue:
https://www.redlegnation.com/2023/01...ts-ohio-folds/
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What happens with the Reds if Bally Sports Ohio folds?
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If the teams don’t get those needs met, though, it could leave teams in a strange place where there may not be an immediate answer for where you turn your television to in order to watch games. What would likely happen in that scenario is that Major League Baseball would quickly implement the no blackout streaming option through MLB.tv for your local games (but likely at a higher cost than the current rate of MLB.tv). That would at least make the games available in the home market for fans, but also allow teams to recoup *some* of the expected broadcast fees that they would no longer be getting from Bally Sports. Rob Manfred has spoken about how they want to be able to implement this kind of plan in the future, and now it may be something that they get to work on in an accelerated timeline.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
This may be the opportunity for MLB to start taking over the TV rights for all of the teams and they all would fall under one umbrella like the NFL. One thing it could do is eliminate or greatly reduce black outs. But I doubt MLB will do the right thing and just mess things up even more.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Bourgeois Zee
Once the Bally Sports contract goes toes up, does that mean local contracts are up for sale again?
Might the Reds turn to their own channel?
I would think so or either up for negotiation at a lower price. So if the Reds were getting $40M from this contract, they could be getting half that in a renegotiated deal. We also have to remember, the Reds have a stake in Bally Sports Ohio. As for the Reds starting their own channel, I'd say that's unlikely considering Phil is so intent on the Reds not losing any money and a startup channel is going to be a money loser for at least several years.
Re: Bally Sports possible bankruptcy?
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Originally Posted by
Bob Sheed
This shouldn't affect the Reds much, since they are a nonprofit.
Obvious cross-over would be for the Reds to set up own channel, run it as a public television station,hold pledge drives and run sponsorship messages from Viking River Cruises. Mr Votto's Neighborhood could run in the mornings for the kids.