A U.S. regional sports broadcaster has failed to make a scheduled payment to Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, a sign that bankruptcy is near for the company that provides local television broadcasts for nearly half of MLB, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League teams, Reuters reported. Diamond Sports, a Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary that operates the "Bally Sports" branded channels, said in a Friday statement that it missed a payment owed to the Diamondbacks but continues to pay broadcasting rights fees owed to other teams. The broadcaster had said last month that it missed a $140 million payment owed to its lenders, which triggered a 30-day grace period on its debt agreements. The company said at the time that it would use the 30 days to pursue restructuring talks with creditors and other key stakeholders. Sources familiar with the negotiations who asked remain anonymous to speak frankly expect those talks to lead to a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing this week.
