((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer by Dietrich Knauth
Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association said Wednesday that bankrupt broadcaster Diamond Sports may not survive without a new deal with cable distributor Comcast CMCSA.O .
Sports leagues told a bankruptcy judge at a hearing in Houston that they need more information about the negotiating impasse that resulted in Diamond’s Bally Sports channels being pulled from Comcast earlier this month of May, when the baseball season was underway and the NBA and NHL were in the midst of the post-season playoffs.
Diamond, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group SBGI.O , had been pushing to complete its bankruptcy restructuring by June 15, but sports leagues said Diamond must first reach deals with the three major cable partners, including including Comcast, which provide 80% of the company’s revenue.
Without these agreements, Diamond’s revenues may not be sufficient to support its business, and leagues may have to seek other broadcast deals for teams currently under contract with Diamond. Diamond currently broadcasts games for more than a third of the NBA, NHL and MLB teams.
“Today we don’t know what the plan going forward is, or even if there is a viable plan,” said Shana Elberg, the NHL’s lawyer. “We cannot start a new offseason in this position
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez urged Diamond to continue working on its bankruptcy restructuring and provide more information to sports leagues at a status conference in two weeks.
“There has been a lot of good work, and I don’t want to lose sight of that,” Mr. Lopez said. “But there remain serious questions that need to be answered
Until now, the NBA and NHL had supported Diamond’s restructuring efforts, largely staying out of the company’s bankruptcy while it reached deals with other stakeholders. Diamond said it intends to enter into new long-term broadcast deals with NBA and NHL teams as part of its restructuring.
MLB, which was already at odds with Diamond () over the broadcaster’s desire to broadcast more games online, saw two teams’ broadcast contracts canceled during the bankruptcy and suffered further disruption when Comcast removed Bally Sports channels in May.
Diamond’s inability to reach a deal with Comcast was a “potentially insurmountable obstacle” that had already proven “deeply detrimental to MLB” and its fans, Major League Baseball wrote in a court filing before the hearing.
Diamond said it continues to negotiate with Comcast and has reached long-term deals with its other key cable partners, DirecTV and Charter.
Diamond filed for bankruptcy in March 2023, stuck between expensive broadcast rights deals and declining revenue due to cord-cutting by sports viewers.
2024-05-15 21:12:44
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