CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The financially troubled parent company of regional sports networks that own the broadcast rights to 42 U.S. professional sports teams skipped about $140 million in interest payments due Wednesday.
The missed payments by Diamond Sports Group started a 30-day grace period that could be the prelude to a bankruptcy filing, which could lead to changes in how televised games are made available to viewers.
“The company intends to use the 30-day grace period to continue progressing its ongoing discussions with creditors and other key stakeholders regarding potential strategic alternatives and deleveraging transactions to best position Diamond Sports Group for the future,” Diamond said in a statement.
Diamond is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and owns the 19 Bally Sports regional networks, which broadcast games of 14 Major League Baseball, 16 NBA and 12 NHL teams.
“Our Bally RSNs have been negatively impacted by elevated levels of subscriber erosion which we believe was influenced in part by shifting consumer behaviors resulting from media fragmentation, the current economic environment and related uncertainties,” Diamond said in its financial statement for the quarter ending Sept. 30. “These factors are expected to have a negative impact on future projected revenues and margins of our Bally RSNs.”
In addition to the Bally Sports networks, Diamond is also 50% owner of the Marquee Sports Network with the Cubs, which launched in February 2020 as the team’s exclusive pay-TV home. Crane Kenney, president of business operations for the Cubs, previously told the Tribune that Marquee is an “independent network” that is insulated from Diamond’s financial woes.
Diamond said as of Sept. 30 it had debt of $8.674 billion.
Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for nearly $10 billion in 2019. Disney was required by the Department of Justice to sell the networks for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets to be approved.
Diamond has nearly $1 billion in rights payments, mostly to baseball teams, due in the first quarter this year.
Chicago Tribune reporter Robert Channick contributed.
