Diamond Has Fallen: Padres, Bally Sports Done, MLB Takes Over
The Diamond Sports Group has officially parted ways with its first of many regional network broadcasts in the Major League Baseball universe. Diamond, the corporation that owns Bally Sports, has decided to forfeit its coverage of the San Diego Padres by not making its scheduled payment to the team, according to John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
The original 20-year contract that the Padres held with Diamond was one that extended until 2032 for $1.2 billion. That all crashed and burned when it was revealed that Diamond was filing for bankruptcy.
The group actually managed to hold on to all of its deals up to this point, but it was only a matter of time before a team lost its deal. Diamond nearly lost the Reds before making a deal at the 11th hour. However, the Padres’ heat death seemed much more intentional.
Diamond has dealt with 14 other MLB partners, five of which can stream games, other than on cable. According to court filings when Diamond first declared bankruptcy, the company has lost $810 million over the last four seasons due to streaming services and their overall demolition of cable television, for the most part.
The Padres Bally broadcast team, including Don Orsillo and Tony Gwinn Jr., will remain in place, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Rights
Now, the rights to Padres games go to Major League Baseball. Luckily for Padres fans, the club will be available on MLB.TV. MLB.TV is great, it allows you to watch any team around the country for a $140 annual fee.
However, you cannot watch your favorite team on MLB.TV if you live within the range of the broadcast area, due to MLB’s awful blackout restrictions.
As a New York Mets fan living in South Florida, MLB.TV is crucial for me. I’m able to stream them, with no problem. However, when I’m back home in New York, I cannot use MLB.TV because they don’t provide in-market streams.
I’m sure this issue shook Padres fans living in San Diego, but here’s the catch: MLB is allowing people to pay $74.99 one time for the rest of the season to watch in-market games, only for the Padres. This way you can watch the Padres in the San Diego market with no problem.
I don’t like to fork over money to MLB, but at least they’re giving fans the option to pay if they want to watch their favorite team.
MLB should do this for all the Bally deals. I mean, why wouldn’t you? It’s an easy opportunity to make a lot of money on fans by selling the product yourself, instead of using a middleman. Plus, it’ll mean MLB is getting with the times and being proactive in the streaming industry. In fact, the Padres are excited about this factor as well.
“The Padres are excited to be the first team to partner with Major League Baseball to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option through MLB.TV without blackouts while preserving our in-market distribution through traditional cable and satellite television providers,” said Padres CEO Erik Greupner.
Bally Sports San Diego will not be the only domino to fall, but it was the first. At least we know that MLB actually has a plan in case things go sideways with Diamond, because we know that they inevitably will.
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