Rob Manfred -- MLB ready if Diamond Sports Group can't pay teams

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The impending bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the company that owns Ballys' 19 regional sports networks, will not impact fans' ability to watch their favorite teams play, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday, adding that the sport would pick up streaming in a worst-case scenario.

Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair, announced Wednesday that it would skip February's $140 million interest-only payment and thus enter into the 30-day grace period that will probably lead to a bankruptcy filing, an expected yet monumental development throughout the professional sports landscape. MLB, with 14 teams that pull in substantive revenue through regional sports contracts with Diamond Sports Group, could be severely impacted.

Manfred, speaking at the onset of spring training, hopes teams will continue to be paid their rights fees while the process plays out.

«Obviously we want all of our broadcast partners to be successful,» Manfred said. «We don't want them to have financial difficulties, and we have been spending a lot of time and effort trying to work with them, figure out where they are. Obviously our first choice would be that Diamond pay the clubs what they're contractually obligated to pay them, but because I guess I'm a contingency planner by nature, we are prepared no matter what happens with respect to Diamond to make sure that games are available to fans in their local markets.

»We think it will be both linear in the traditional cable bundle and digitally on our own platforms, but that remains to be seen. As I said, our first hope is that Diamond figures out a way to pay the clubs and broadcast the games like they're contractually obligated to do."

Sinclair, through