Diamond Sports Group lost the rights to televise San Diego Padres baseball games after its local cable TV channel failed to make a required payment to the MLB team, Bloomberg News reported. In a statement, Diamond Sports said that while it has significant liquidity and has been making payments to other teams, the terms of the Padres contract were “not aligned with market realities.” The broadcaster said Major League Baseball forced its hand by refusing to negotiate direct-to-consumer streaming rights for all the teams in its portfolio “despite our proposal to pay every team in full in exchange for those rights.” Diamond Sports, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for bankruptcy protection in March, a victim of the high debt load taken on by parent Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. to purchase the business and the shrinking ranks of cable-TV customers. The company has been trying to acquire the streaming rights to more teams to launch a new online alternative to its traditional cable channels. Diamond operates local channels under the Bally Sports name. A hearing in the bankruptcy case is scheduled for today.
