Diamond Sports Group’s broadcasts of Major League Baseball continue to take hits as the group dissolves in bankruptcy, and teams shift to MLB coverage.
Last season, the San Diego Padres—currently slugging it out in postseason play—and the Arizona Diamondbacks gave up on the broadcast media company. In 2024, the Colorado Rockies also abandoned ship. Now, the Texas Rangers say they will no longer broadcast on the network, opting for MLB coverage in an effort to expand viewership rights. The Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins will also not renegotiate deals with Diamond Sports Group as contracts ended at the close of the regular season.
“With the media landscape continuing to evolve, Major League Baseball is committed to serving our fans by ensuring they can see their favorite clubs, removing blackouts where we can, and ultimately growing the reach of our games,” Noah Garden, MLB deputy commissioner for business and media, said in a statement.
Diamond is currently engaged in bankruptcy filings in Houston and is expected to dissolve agreements with the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays while attempting to restructure deals with five clubs still under contract through next season. Those teams are the Cincinnati Reds, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Angels, the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Some markets are already seeing an expanded viewership and better marketing options after exiting the deal with Diamond Group. Among them, the Brewers are among the top teams to see huge gains.
“From a fan perspective, it’s great because you’re going to have total access and no blackouts,” Rick Schlesinger, the president of business operations for the Brewers said in a statement. “There’s a lot of staffing, a lot of infrastructure, a lot of decisions have to be made, a lot of people to be hired, a lot of sponsors to contact. This is the right time to do this. It’s a good jumping point, a platform to make sure when the calendar turns to 2025, we’re already fully immersed in this and that we know when the first game starts, that we’re ready to go and the product’s going to be outstanding.”
Sinclair Group, the acting partner behind Diamond Group, purchased the media rights from Disney Corp. in August 2019 after The Mouse House bought Fox Sports. Sinclair used $8 billion in borrowed money to fund the $9.8 billion transaction, only to see the global COVID-19 pandemic knock the deal into a double-play.
An attempt to restructure management and lower costs in August 2022 ultimately failed by November of the same year as Bally Sports reported losses of $1.2 billion attributed to “subscriber erosion,” according to Sportico.com.
Diamond Group will also face difficulties with numerous NBA media rights deals as the group continues to work through a long and trying bankruptcy process. Recent negotiations indicate the group hopes to continue in the market, though the loss of key teams—including playoff participants this season—is a warning that the company may find itself on financial rocky ground.
