[Mazrim]

https://theathletic.com/4307996/2023...ts-bankruptcy/

It looks like two companies are going down soon. Bally's grace period on their debt payment is up this week.

Diamond Sports, the company that owns the Bally Sports Regional Network, which carries 14 MLB teams, 16 in the NBA, and 14 NHL squads on 19 RSNs, will likely file for bankruptcy protection this week. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers Discovery said in a statement it will walk away from its deals with regional sports channels that carry three MLB teams by the end of March, leaving baseball fans, in particular, worried whether the games of the 17 teams in the strike zone will air come Opening Days in a few weeks.

Indeed, the current environment is not a reflection of the value of sports in the media. Baseball games on RSNs routinely are top-rated programs on the days they air. The issue is as more viewers abandon the cable bundle, the economics of fans paying cable operators, followed by cable operators paying RSNs, to the RSNs paying the teams, is breaking down.

“The one thing is that this is not a crisis in terms of the value of sports content, sports games, teams are being watched and the ratings are strong and much stronger than virtually any other television category,” said Berke, the sports media consultant. “It’s not the ratings that are a problem. It’s the business model that’s a problem and changing the business model that needs to be done in order to help everybody concerned fully realize the value of the sports content that they’re offering up.”