Diamond Sports proposes Braves remain on Bally Sports, per report

As you may have heard, there is a sticky ongoing dispute between Major League Baseball and Diamond Sports, which operates the Bally Sports network of regional sports channels, including the Atlanta Braves. On Wednesday, it appears Diamond Sports threw the league offices a curveball. Here’s the latest from Evan Drellich of The Athletic:

Drellich added additional background:

And clearly, Major League Baseball’s attorneys were thrown a curveball and not expecting the most recent proposal:

So, yeah, it’s a tad sticky.

As a refresher, Diamond Sports filed bankruptcy in March 2023. The company, which broadcasts thousands of MLB, NBA and NHL games annually across the country, was tasked with creating a reorganization strategy for the teams and markets it serves. Diamond is now in the midst of a lengthy court battle with the league offices, and the future is, as outlined in court today, unclear.

What does this mean for the Braves moving forward? At this point, we don’t know. Drellich added that MLB attorney Jim Browley said MLB was just “sandbagged” by Diamond’s proposal. It’s going to be a couple of ugly weeks and months in court, it appears.

Some clubs who were formerly with Bally, such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, switched to an in-house television and streaming service in 2023 (called Diamondbacks TV) that was hosted by Major League Baseball. It was available without blackouts in the Phoenix metro area and beyond, and local viewership skyrocketed. It was great for fans, although the impact on Arizona’s budget was likely felt in the front office. The Braves could also partner with one of the existing sports networks, which doesn’t necessarily seem likely given the current cable market.

We shall see, but it is clear — based on Diamond’s proposal today — that the Braves are still a highly desirable team from a television perspective.