Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s regional sports business, Diamond Sports Group LLC, is preparing to file for bankruptcy soon, after having missed a $140 million interest payment to its bondholders, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Diamond Sports has engaged law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP to advise on its financial restructuring. The company’s earnings have been pressured by the cord-cutting trend, leading to lower-than-expected revenue that can’t sustain the payments it has to make to professional sports teams and leagues for broadcast rights. Its earnings were also hit after it lost a major contract with Dish Network Corp. in 2021. Diamond Sports has a debt load of more than $8 billion, stemming from Sinclair’s acquisition of sports networks from Walt Disney Co. in 2019 for $10.6 billion.
