Diamond Sports Renews Fubo Pact With Comcast Talks Stalled

On Wednesday, Diamond Sports Group announced it has renewed a carriage deal with Fubo, the sports-based multichannel distributor. The deal means that the Bally Sports regional channels operated by DSG will remain on Fubo’s Pro package, which is its basic subscription level.

DSG operates 18 regional sports channels across the country, with multiple MLB, NBA, NHL, WNBA teams and college sports events under its umbrella.

“With the vast majority of our distribution partners in multiyear carriage agreements, Diamond remains focused on completing our reorganization and emerging as a sustainable, profitable business,” Diamond CEO David Preschlack said in a statement.

As it attempts to reemerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Diamond’s new pact with Fubo makes this the fourth renewal agreement with a video provider after coming to terms with Charter, Cox and DirecTV. However, the Bally Sports channels operated by DSG have gone dark on Comcast, the nation’s second-largest cable provider, since the two sides couldn’t hammer out a renewal agreement before 11:59 p.m. on April 30. The two sides have not talked in the nearly four weeks since the impasse began.

The standoff remains concerning to MLB, the NBA and the NHL, as lawyers for the leagues reflected during last Wednesday’s status conference in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. MLB, which took over production and distribution of Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres games last season after issues with their DSG channels, has aired grievances over DSG’s restructuring plan, which includes an investment from Amazon.

“The fact that we don’t have Comcast broadcasting Major League Baseball is a serious thing,” MLB counsel James Bromley said during the conference. “And we have multiple teams who are facing substantial problems … because their fans are unable to watch these games.”

While reupping with the first (Charter), third (DirecTV) and eighth (Cox) largest video providers in the U.S. is helpful for the beleaguered DSG, being shut out from the Comcast footprint—with its 13.6 million household subscribers as of 1Q’24—remains a major hurdle in pulling itself out of bankruptcy. Fubo, with 1.51 million subscribers, ranks only 10th among all video distributors and has just over one-tenth of Comcast’s total.

Fubo itself is trying to swim against choppy currents in the ocean of live sports distribution. Fearing that the recently named Venu Sports threatens its very existence, Fubo has been waging legal, PR and political battles against the sports skinny bundle conceived by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox that is set to launch this fall.

With assistance from Anthony Crupi.