Bally Sports parent co. in bankruptcy

Baseball Insider Board
#1

Pay wall

Overview:

  • Diamond’s own parent, Sinclair, staggered under more than $8 billion of debt from its 2019 acquisition of the RSN, an unpropitiously timed deal that came just as cord-cutting took hold.
  • Fears have swept leagues, particularly MLB, that its 14 teams carried by Bally would be abandoned by Diamond. That does not appear to be happening.
  • The prepackaged bankruptcy, which is still being negotiated with creditors, is expected to reduce Diamond’s debt by $8 billion and sever the company from Sinclair Broadcasting.
#2

And to make it even more fun, Warner Brothers Discovery, under which umbrella is the RSN rights for the Astros, Rockies and Pirates, is also threatening to walk away from those deals by the end of March.

Diamond may dump the rights to the Reds, Rangers, Guardians and Diamondbacks as a result of the bankruptcy, shedding teams that don’t make economic sense for them. However, Rob Manfred says if they drop one team, they lose all of them, which could result in a major court battle.

#3

Ugh. In my professional life I had to deal with several retailer bankruptcy’s. Some big retailers that owed us a lot. Let’s just say the folks they owed money to are screwed. Big time.