HOUSTON — Bally Sports San Diego will no longer televise Padres games, the team announced Tuesday. The Twins may learn Wednesday whether their games will remain on Bally Sports North.
A federal bankruptcy judge will hear arguments Wednesday morning in a lawsuit filed by the Twins, Guardians, Diamondbacks, Rangers and MLB against Diamond Sports Group, the owner of regional sports networks that carry the games of 14 different MLB teams. The suit seeks to force Diamond Sports to live up to the terms of their contracts with those teams, after their networks missed rights-fee payments due on April 1.
Diamond Sports, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, filed for bankruptcy protection in February, but kept airing games of the teams under contract, including the Twins. Bally Sports North later paid 75% of the money owed, but the teams want full payment — or their contracts terminated. MLB has said it is prepared to take over responsibility for broadcasting games, as it will do beginning Wednesday for the Padres.
For the Twins, the dispute is only a temporary one, since their contract with BSN ends in October and the team is believed to be investigating other options. But the team is paid more than $40 million annually for its rights, so the money at stake is substantial.
The four teams are asking Judge Christopher Lopez, who is expected to rule on Wednesday or Thursday, to order Diamond Sports to pay the full amount they originally agreed to, or terminate the contracts and return broadcast rights to the individual teams. Should that happen, MLB would step in and televise Twins games on other cable and satellite channels and streaming services.
That's what happened in San Diego on Tuesday, when Diamond Sports announced it would not continue paying the Padres under a 20-year contract worth $1.2 billion that lasts until 2032, a deal the broadcaster says is a money-loser. In response, MLB reclaimed the team's broadcast rights and will begin airing Padres games on Wednesday, using current announcers Don Orsillo and Mark Grant, who are team employees.
MLB announced Tuesday night that fans in the Padres' home television market will be able to watch games on DirecTV, cable and streaming services. It will also offer a direct-to-consumer streaming subscription for $19.99 per month or $74.99 for the rest of the season by registering at MLB.TV.
