Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt operator of Bally Sports-branded local sports channels, has struck a deal to continue broadcasting Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers games through the upcoming Major League Baseball season, Bloomberg News reported. Diamond said Friday’s agreements with the three MLB clubs avoid potential disruption for fans and that the company will continue talks with the teams and the league as it hammers out a restructuring plan to save the broadcaster from closing. The plan is backed by Diamond’s major debt holders and Amazon.com Inc. The agreements shorten the duration of Diamond’s broadcasting deals with the MLB clubs, which will now expire following the 2024 season, according to court documents. Diamond, a subsidiary of Sinclair Inc., also bolstered the teams’ rights to repayment in chapter 11 should the company breach the new agreements. Financial terms of the deals were not publicly disclosed in court papers. Last year, MLB had to step in to help broadcast San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks games after Diamond dropped telecast-rights deals with those clubs after filing bankruptcy. Diamond has said that it loses money on some of its broadcast deals and attempted to use chapter 11 to reduce amounts it pays certain clubs.
