Sinclair(Bally's Sport) nearing a deal for NBA streaming rights for direct to consumer offering

[short ornery norwegian]

info from a reliable source - someone who works for a cable TV provider.

the cable provider received an e-mail stating that "this confirms that MN Twins games will remain on Bally Sports North in the near term."

cable providers were preparing to launch a Twins contingency channel as soon as July 1 if needed.
the e-mail told providers to keep the alternate channel ready "for any possible changes in the near future."

so, no change for now, but I certainly noticed the use of the terms "in the near term" and "in the near future."

 

[short ornery norwegian]

and the Strib chimes in with this article from Twins beat writer Phil Miller:

The Twins will remain on Bally Sports North for the rest of the 2023 season, according to a source with knowledge of the network's plans, after BSN's parent company, Diamond Sports Group, made a payment of several million dollars to the team by Saturday's deadline.

The 12-season contract, which expires this fall, loses money for the network because more than 37% of its former subscribers have dropped cable or satellite over the past decade, according to testimony by Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack in bankruptcy court in late May.

But BSN, which hopes to strike a new deal with the Twins for next year and beyond, chose to maintain its ties with the team, even at a loss, for the season's final three months.

if true, disappointing news for fans who were hoping that a move away from BSN might create new opportunities to watch the Twins - especially for cord-cutters who use streamers like Hulu Live and You Tube TV.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

bump for some Bally's related news:

Major League Baseball took over the Arizona Diamondbacks' game broadcasts after a federal bankruptcy judge granted a motion Tuesday for Diamond Sports to reject its rights agreement.

MLB took over production of the broadcasts beginning Tuesday night at Atlanta in a game the Diamondbacks won 16-13. There were some early glitches, which included closed captioning being locked on during the first hour.

MLB took over the broadcasts of San Diego Padres games May 31 after Diamond Sports missed a rights fees payment and let the grace period expire.

Diamond Sports determined its contract with the Diamondbacks was not profitable. Bally Sports Arizona paid the Diamondbacks on a per-game basis for any games played after July 1.

(in a statement, Diamond Sports Group added this)

''We are continuing to broadcast games for all other teams under contract without disruption and we anticipate making all rights payments to the remainder of the MLB teams in our portfolio through the end of this season.''

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Bump - in the "what the bleep" department - Diamond Sports is suing its own parent company - Sinclair.

from Yahoo Sports:

In addition to fending off creditors during its ongoing bankruptcy re-org, Diamond Sports Group has taken up a legal battle with parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The owner of the 19 Bally Sports-branded RSNs filed a lawsuit against Sinclair on Wednesday, July 19, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The complaint, which was filed under seal, alleges that Sinclair engaged in “fraudulent transfers,” “misappropriation of assets” and other fiduciary improprieties, resulting in the wrongful allocation of some $1.5 billion.

Among the defendants listed on the adversary-proceeding cover sheet include Bally’s Corporation, which Diamond has cited for unspecified breaches related to the companies’ joint naming-rights deal. Also named in the suit are Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley, executive chairman David Ripley, chief financial officer Lucy Rutishauser and exec VP of corporate development Scott Shapiro.

In a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, Sinclair shed some light on the complaint. Per that 8-K, Diamond is said to have taken issue with the distribution of “approximately $1.5 billion,” which Sinclair allegedly used to help pay down DSG’s $8.6 billion debt load. In addition, Sinclair notes that Diamond now claims that the Bally’s naming-rights deal was “not fair to DSG and was designed to benefit [Sinclair].”

Sinclair added that Diamond is seeking “unspecified monetary damages.” For its part, Sinclair declared that the defendants “believe the allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and intend to vigorously defend against plaintiffs’ claims.”

On the same day Diamond filed its suit against Sinclair, the company took similar action against JPMorgan Chase, which it originally subpoenaed back on June 28. The investment bank acquired $1.025 billion in preferred equity in Diamond Sports as part of Sinclair’s financing of its acquisition of the RSNs in 2019.

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FWIW - Diamond is still working on a proposed reorganization plan after filing for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court Judge has just given Diamond an extension through Sept 30 to work through creditor issues. In the balance - Bally Sports has the rights to 12 NHL teams and 16 NBA teams. So the whole saga that MLB teams went through could repeat for NHL and NBA teams this Fall.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Bump - in the "what the bleep" department - Diamond Sports is suing its own parent company - Sinclair.

from Yahoo Sports:

In addition to fending off creditors during its ongoing bankruptcy re-org, Diamond Sports Group has taken up a legal battle with parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group.

The owner of the 19 Bally Sports-branded RSNs filed a lawsuit against Sinclair on Wednesday, July 19, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The complaint, which was filed under seal, alleges that Sinclair engaged in “fraudulent transfers,” “misappropriation of assets” and other fiduciary improprieties, resulting in the wrongful allocation of some $1.5 billion.

Among the defendants listed on the adversary-proceeding cover sheet include Bally’s Corporation, which Diamond has cited for unspecified breaches related to the companies’ joint naming-rights deal. Also named in the suit are Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley, executive chairman David Ripley, chief financial officer Lucy Rutishauser and exec VP of corporate development Scott Shapiro.

In a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday, Sinclair shed some light on the complaint. Per that 8-K, Diamond is said to have taken issue with the distribution of “approximately $1.5 billion,” which Sinclair allegedly used to help pay down DSG’s $8.6 billion debt load. In addition, Sinclair notes that Diamond now claims that the Bally’s naming-rights deal was “not fair to DSG and was designed to benefit [Sinclair].”

Sinclair added that Diamond is seeking “unspecified monetary damages.” For its part, Sinclair declared that the defendants “believe the allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and intend to vigorously defend against plaintiffs’ claims.”

On the same day Diamond filed its suit against Sinclair, the company took similar action against JPMorgan Chase, which it originally subpoenaed back on June 28. The investment bank acquired $1.025 billion in preferred equity in Diamond Sports as part of Sinclair’s financing of its acquisition of the RSNs in 2019.

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FWIW - Diamond is still working on a proposed reorganization plan after filing for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court Judge has just given Diamond an extension through Sept 30 to work through creditor issues. In the balance - Bally Sports has the rights to 12 NHL teams and 16 NBA teams. So the whole saga that MLB teams went through could repeat for NHL and NBA teams this Fall.

color me confused. Its like one of my kids suing me for not buying them something

 

[short ornery norwegian]

color me confused. Its like one of my kids suing me for not buying them something

As I read it, Diamond is claiming that Sinclair took or kept money that should have gone to Diamond, thereby making it harder for Diamond to operate as a profitable enterprise.

in another story, I saw a notice that Diamond and Sinclair have somehow redefined their legal status so that they operate more like separate companies. I think that is connected to the bankruptcy.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Another one bites the dust. The Colorado Rockies need a new TV home.

according to the Denver Post:

"The Rockies' TV future is in limbo. AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain notified its employees that the regional sports network is shutting down, according to multiple sources close to the situation. The last day of work for full-time employees at the network is Oct. 6, although it will continue running through at least the end of the year."

Options for the Rockies: revert the rights to MLB, or possibly join the Altitude regional sports network owned by Stan Kroenke, which airs the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets (both teams owned by Kroenke.)

 

[howeda7]

Another one bites the dust. The Colorado Rockies need a new TV home.

according to the Denver Post:

"The Rockies' TV future is in limbo. AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain notified its employees that the regional sports network is shutting down, according to multiple sources close to the situation. The last day of work for full-time employees at the network is Oct. 6, although it will continue running through at least the end of the year."

Options for the Rockies: revert the rights to MLB, or possibly join the Altitude regional sports network owned by Stan Kroenke, which airs the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets (both teams owned by Kroenke.)

The later seems a no-brainer. Denver never needed two RSNs.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I was listening to the Marchand and Ourand podcast about the dispute between Charter and Disney/ESPN. this could get very interesting.

one of the big points of dispute: Charter is proposing that its cable customers should receive access to Disney’s ad-supported streaming services Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu at no additional cost. Disney - as you might expect - disagrees strongly.

when ESPN rolls out a stand-alone streaming option - potentially in the next few years - that could be a big nail in the coffin for the traditional cable TV bundle. there are media people speculating that Charter may be ready to get out of the video business and move to an internet-only company.

 

[MplsGopher]

I remain unconvinced that people want or will pay for what will essentially be ala carte.

Would you pay $50/mo just for monthly access to ESPN, 2, U, News, and + ? Hell no.

I bet something like that is what it would take in order to break even on all the revenue they bring in from channel bundles.


That's the reason all of this has worked up to this point: you can force people to pay for channels they don't use. Because, there are a few channels they do use, and they're willing to pay if they get everything (even if they never use most of it).

People are not going to pay $50 for ESPN, $40 for FOX, $30 for Viacom, $30 for NBC/Comcast, $20 for Netflix, etc. etc. etc.


That's how you kill the whole damn thing.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

and now, another episode of "As Diamond Sports turns..."
a key week for the future of Diamond and Bally Sports.

from Barrett Sports Media.com --

Diamond Sports Group has until this Saturday to negotiate a restructuring plan with its creditors that would result in the end to its Ch. 11 bankruptcy it claimed in March.

Ahead of the start of regular seasons for both the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League – and the local broadcasts of 27 teams – the company is working to catalyze its efforts to reach a resolution. The original deadline was set for this Saturday, Sept. 30, but did not prevent the company from paying two teams that were due rights payments on Sept. 1 – the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans. Additionally, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been paid and will begin the season on Bally Sports Ohio, although that could change depending on ensuing circumstances. If the mediation were to fall through, however, the company could request teams return the payments.

Earlier in August, the NHL expressed to a bankruptcy court that it may look for emergency relief in order to exit the contracts if a plan is not completed. The league also viewed it as being “critical” that it knew the direction of the company by the start of its preseason.

The NBA stands ready to produce regional broadcasts itself that would be available to stream through the NBA app, and the league would negotiate linear distribution and sell advertising.

Diamond Sports Group is also in the midst of negotiating a carriage extension with Comcast ahead of the expiration of the contract at the end of the week. If no deal is reached, there is a chance that creditors would opt not to authorize upcoming payments that could halt payments for 15 NBA teams.