Comcast had dropped Diamond Sports Group’s regional sports networks (aka Bally’s) in fifteen (15!) markets nearly three months ago amidst a contract dispute. What does their settlement mean for customers who have gone without baseball all summer?
Anthony Crupi with Sportico —
Per terms of the agreement, the RSNs will be bumped up to Comcast’s Xfinity Ultimate TV package, with a monthly subscriber fee about $20 higher than the basic tier that once housed Diamond’s local sports channels.
Let me get this straight: in the age of cord-cutting, the response to people dropping cable altogether is to ask the remaining few to pay more to watch their teams.
Among the dozen MLB clubs that had been sidelined in their hometown markets during the standoff include the Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers. On the whole, local baseball ratings took a 6% haircut during the impasse.
And in those markets, that means you’re asking people who have already gone without watching their teams all summer to care to pay for the final two months of the season. Good luck with that strategy.
But wait! There’s still the whole bankruptcy proceeding for Diamond Sports. What is going on there?
The successful negotiation is expected to put Diamond’s bankruptcy case back on the fast track toward rescheduling the crucial confirmation hearing that was postponed last week.
On Wednesday, Diamond counsel Brian Hermann informed the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas that the company would need a few additional days to finish cutting a deal with Comcast; originally set to take place on June 18, the twice-delayed confirmation session was supposed to have taken place earlier today.
And so, we wait.