Comcast nears TV deal to re-air 12 MLB teams

Comcast subscribers could soon again be able to watch any of the dozen Major League Baseball teams they’ve gone without for nearly three months.

Since May began, Diamond Sports Group’s regional sports networks have not been carried on Comcast Xfinity because of a carriage dispute. Now, Diamond, which has been trying to emerge from bankruptcy since early last year, appears to have a deal with Comcast nearly complete.

“We believe that we have made substantial progress on resolving our issues with Comcast, and we have the intention of fully documenting and executing an agreement with Comcast to broadcast our RSNs in the very near term,” said Diamond lawyer Brian Hermann in a bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday afternoon.

A Comcast spokesperson declined comment.

Via its Bally-branded channels, Diamond Sports Group carries 12 MLB teams across its channels: the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.

Since early May, a Comcast TV subscriber in any of those teams’ markets has needed an alternate way to watch games.

Wednesday’s court hearing wasn’t all good news, though: it served to ultimately delay Diamond’s bankruptcy proceeding. And in a line of talk that was absent in recent months, a lawyer for Diamond volunteered in court that the company might not avoid liquidation.

“If we conclude that we cannot reorganize the business, which is a possibility, we will similarly pivot quickly,” Hermann said. “That is not our focus today, but that is a possibility and that’s not lost on us.”

Diamond has spent most of this year trying to put together a plan, with Amazon’s backing, that would bring it out of bankruptcy. A judge was set to evaluate the plan in what’s called a confirmation hearing starting July 29.

Diamond has now indefinitely pushed that date back, with Hermann saying multiple times the company is aware of a need to be hasty.

Diamond continues to work on deals with the NBA and NHL, its other two partner leagues besides MLB.

“The other good news that we have to report is that the company is in very active dialogue and productive discussions with each of the NBA and NHL,” Hermann said. “While no agreements have been reached at this time, these discussions are ongoing … with significant progress being made.”

Hermann also acknowledged that Diamond’s proposed business plan needs to be altered to satisfy some of its most prominent creditors.

None of the leagues made a comment in court Wednesday. A spokesperson for MLB declined comment after the hearing.

MLB and Diamond are not expected to reach their own deal; rather, MLB teams have engaged with Diamond individually.

Three baseball teams, the Guardians, Twins and Rangers, are on one-year deals with Diamond. Whether Diamond will exist in 2025 — and whether those teams return to Diamond if the company does exist — is still up in the air.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week that MLB could handle the role of an RSN for a team that chooses to step away from Diamond or any other company, as it does presently for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. But MLB is not issuing an edict to Diamond-affiliated MLB teams as to whether they can or cannot return to Diamond, Manfred said.

“We have said to the clubs, we’re available to you as an alternative,” Manfred said. “If in fact your rights are up and you find an RSN deal, whether it’s with Bally’s or somebody else, or for that matter, an over-the-air deal that you like — they’re your local rights, God bless you, do what you want to do.

“It may be a different issue when we get more prepared to go back to market in 2028 (to negotiate national-rights packages),” Manfred added. “But certainly in this interim period, it’s up to the clubs to make a judgment as to whether the alternative that we’re offering is the best one, or whether there’s another better alternative in the market.”

(Photo: AP Photo / Jeff Roberson)