December 19th: The Athletic’s Evan Drelich reported that Diamond has streaming rights to five MLB teams with broadcast contracts: Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. Even if Amazon and the Diamonds reach a streaming agreement, they would need to negotiate additional contracts with MLB if they want to stream games from the other six teams.
December 18th: One of the big off-field stories in MLB last year was the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group. Teams contracted to Diamond, which operates Bally Sports’ regional network, are in a position of uncertainty about the revenue they can expect from their local TV deals as the conglomerate struggles to honor its broadcast contracts. That’s reflected in several clubs (including the Padres, Rangers and Twins) cutting or flattening their spending.
As Diamond’s bankruptcy proceedings progress, The Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas and Joe Flint report that Diamond is in talks with Amazon about a potential multi-year streaming deal. The discussion is do not have An agreement between Diamond and Amazon, which would require bankruptcy court approval, would ultimately result in Amazon investing in Diamond with the goal of acquiring the team’s streaming rights to these broadcasts. Dew. Diamond will continue to operate its cable network.
Due to Diamond’s reorganization, it is generally expected that Diamond will abandon all of its broadcast contracts with MLB after the 2024 season. The Athletic’s Evan Drelich wrote last week that the Diamonds and MLB are close to agreeing on a deal that will clarify which of at least 11 contracts* will be fulfilled in the 2024 season and how. The Athletic reported last month that the company was considering terminating contracts with the Rangers and Guardians before next season.
Even if the Diamonds meet most or all of their obligations next season, those clubs are uncertain about how things will play out after 2025. There’s some optimism that Amazon might back the company in exchange for streaming opportunities, but it’s still early in the process.
* The Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals and Tigers have existing deals with Diamond. The company terminated its contracts with the Padres and Diamondbacks during the 2023 season, and its contract with the Twins expired at the end of the year.