The Bally Sports networks have decided to keep the Rangers but dump the Diamondbacks. Nine days before they are due a large rights payment from Bally Sports North's parent company, the Twins are still waiting to find out what the broadcaster will decide about them.
Diamond Sports Group filed a motion in bankruptcy court in Houston on Thursday seeking to terminate their contract with the Diamondbacks, citing huge losses on the deal that was supposed to run through 2035. Like the Twins, the Diamondbacks are due a payment on July 1, money that the regional network no longer wants to pay.
An emergency hearing has been scheduled for next Thursday, when a federal judge will rule on whether the bankrupt network can shed that contract. Assuming the judge agrees, MLB would likely take over broadcasts of Arizona games, as the league did in May with Padres games.
Diamond Sports would have to give the Twins similar notice and request a hearing, either separate from or combined with the Diamondbacks, before halting its broadcasts of their games. That process means the Twins should learn within the next few days whether Diamond plans to fulfill its contract, which is scheduled to expire this October.
The Twins, Rangers, Diamondbacks and Guardians sued earlier this season when their respective Bally networks paid only a portion of rights fees due in April, and a judge ruled earlier this month that Diamond must pay the full amount agreed to or cease broadcasting those teams' games. In the Twins' case, Diamond pays $54.8 million for over-the-air broadcast rights, plus more than $5 million more for limited streaming rights for its own customers and other considerations.
Bally Sports Southwest earlier this month indicated, by making an on-time payment, its intention to continue to broadcast Rangers games. The Twins have said they expect Bally Sports North to finish the season televising their games, though Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack testified in court that the network loses money on the contract.
