Sports Broadcaster Diamond to Hold Vote on Reorganization Plan

Steven Church, Bloomberg News

Diamond is set to lose all of its traditional broadcast rights to MLB games after this season.

, Photographer: Mark Cunningham/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- Diamond Sports Group will hold a creditor vote on a bankruptcy-exit plan backed by Amazon.com Inc. while the broadcaster tries to negotiate new television deals with two major US sports leagues.

US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez, at a Wednesday court hearing, gave Diamond permission to solicit votes for the plan. It’s proposed that senior creditors would forgive billions of dollars of debt in exchange for ownership stakes in the company.

“We are focused on reaching long-term agreements with our partners to enable us to continue serving fans across the US,” Diamond said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News.

Creditors have until May 22 to vote. Lopez will take the results into account when he makes a final decision on the plan at a court hearing set for June. Before then, Diamond will try to get new broadcast deals with the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association as well as distribution deals with cable and satellite providers.

Diamond, which shows games in the home markets of dozens of teams, is trying to extend traditional television broadcast deals with the NHL and NBA while it builds a streaming product. The proposal is backed by $115 million from Amazon, which would stream games for which Diamond has locked in digital rights.

Major League Baseball has fought Diamond throughout the broadcaster’s bankruptcy case, questioning the plan and demanding financial details to prove the company can survive once it leaves court protection.

Last year, Diamond was set to lose broadcast rights to MLB, NBA and NHL games after this season under an agreement with creditors and the leagues, according to court documents. That proposal was replaced by the Amazon deal, and Diamond now says it will keep broadcasting under terms of older contracts that allow it to televise some MLB games through 2035 and some NHL and NBA games through 2030.

Falling television ratings have pressured Diamond and other US regional sports networks as audiences move to streaming and cancel cable-television service. The company, owned Sinclair Inc., filed for bankruptcy in 2023 just four years after it was sold by Walt Disney Co. for $9.6 billion.

The case is Diamond Sports Group, 23-90116, US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston)

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