Bally Sports’ Parent Terminates Contract With The Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks games will no longer air on Bally Sports Southwest. Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, is ending its contract with the Mavericks, pending NBA approval. Diamond is also terminating its contract with the New Orleans Pelicans.

The move to terminate the contracts with the Mavericks and Pelicans came as Diamond continued trying to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Friday, Diamond announced an agreement to continue airing games for 13 NBA and nine NHL teams for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

“We have reached a new agreement with Diamond Sports Group for the 2024-25 season in which Diamond RSNs will telecast local games for 13 NBA teams,” an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News. “The Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans declined to continue distributing their games on Diamond RSNs and will share more details soon on how to watch games for the upcoming season in their respective markets. This new agreement is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.”

In January, Mavericks alternate governor Mark Cuban said the team’s games would not air on Bally next season “unless something crazy happens, like Amazon buys them or something like that.” Amazon did partner with Diamond as part of its proposed debt restructuring agreement, but Cuban said earlier this month that the Mavericks would look elsewhere to maximize the distribution of their games.

While it’s uncertain what maximized distribution will look like right now, at least 30 Mavericks games will be nationally televised during the 2024-25 season. Dallas announced earlier this month that it would play nine games on TNT, nine on ESPN, seven on NBA TV and five on ABC. In a release, it said that a local broadcast schedule would be announced at a later date.

Last season, the Mavericks showed a willingness to work with local partners to broadcast games. The team and Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate WFAA struck an agreement to broadcast 10 games over the air for free toward the end of the 2023-24 regular season.

The 13 NBA teams continuing to have their games broadcast on Bally Sports are the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma Thunder, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs.

If Diamond does not have a Chapter 11 exit plan by the end of the next NBA and NHL seasons, the contracts will be terminated.