Diamond Sports Group, which owns 19 regional sports networks (RSNs), has ventured into bankruptcy, a predictable development that will nonetheless have a major impact on the way fans watch games and the way teams profit off them.
Diamond, a Sinclair subsidiary that is known to viewers as Bally Sports, stands as the largest distributor of live sports within the United States — and it is in serious financial turmoil.
The company took on $8 billion of debt to acquire the RSNs in 2019, watched as the rate of cord-cutting accelerated throughout the country and was forced to file for a Chapter 11 restructuring last week.
It's a situation that promises to have wide-ranging effects, particularly, given the timing, within Major League Baseball. What does it mean for fans?