An all too common sight this NBA season has been fans of the 15 teams that still have local TV rights owned by Bally Sports complaining about the network’s streaming service being down.
With Diamond Sports Group in bankruptcy, which owns Bally’s regional sports networks, many of those fans have been hoping for a change to be coming some time soon. On Monday, John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal brought word of just such a reprieve coming for those 13 fan bases, as Diamond Sports Group and the NBA have reached a deal that, if approved by the judge presiding over DSG’s bankruptcy case, will allow those 15 teams to reclaim their local TV rights after this season.
Diamond Sports Group reached a one-season deal with the NBA that essentially guarantees that the Bally Sports RSNs will continue to carry NBA games through the end of this season. Diamond and the NBA unveiled some of the deal’s details in a bankruptcy court filing this afternoon. The court still needs to okay the deal before it can move forward.
The NBA likes this deal because it gives the league more flexibility as Diamond tries to navigate its way through bankruptcy. Regardless of the current length of some of the NBA teams’ Bally Sports deals, all are set to end after this season.
Now, as Ourand goes on to note, those teams could end up back with Bally Sports after next summer, but it will allow them to explore other carrier options. There are a few teams that have gone to a direct-to-consumer plan, as the Suns, Clippers, and Jazz each have deals with local TV affiliates but offer a streaming option fans that don’t have a TV subscription can buy to watch all of their local games. Other teams will certainly be looking to see how successful those models are, particularly with how many teams are about to have their local rights all come up. It also could represent an opportunity for other RSNs to look to expand, such as NBC Sports and Root Sports, should they be looking to do so given how many teams are set to shop their rights.
