Bally Sports North owner may file for Chapter 11: Bloomberg – The Business Journals

The company that pays to telecast Minnesota pro hockey, baseball and basketball games may be headed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Diamond Sports is likely to skip a $140-million interest payment in February on the company’s $8.6 billion in debt. According to Bloomberg, Diamond Sports is preparing for a possible Chapter 11 restructuring of debt the company used in 2019 to buy regional sports networks.
Bally Sports might approach MLB, NBA and NHL teams about renegotiating their contracts, including potentially interrupting or decreasing payments, according to sports-industry and sports-media publications and websites. Television rights contracts are key revenue sources for professional sports teams along with ticket sales and sponsorships.
Diamond expects to emerge from any restructuring by May or June, a source told Bloomberg.
The Star Tribune’s Miichael Rand has a post on potential impacts to local teams — The Minnesota Twins, for example, get $40 million in annual local TV revenue — and fans. There is no indication that a financial reorganization by Bally Sports North owner Diamond Sports Group will disrupt local sports telecasts on cable and satellite services.
Diamond Sports is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI), which paid $10.6 billion in August 2019 to acquire 21 Fox regional sports networks — including the Minnesota market — from the Walt Disney Co. Sinclair renamed the networks “Bally Sports” in 2021 as part of a partnership with casino operator Bally’s Corp.
Diamond said in November 2022 that its regional sports networks, which include Bally Sports, “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.”
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