Major League Baseball
MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) — Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt owners of Bally Sports Wisconsin and other Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) has informed a bankruptcy judge in Texas that they plan to drop nearly a dozen Major League Baseball teams from their broadcast portfolio next year.
According to multiple sources including The Athletic and Barrett News Media, the group informed a judge that they plan to retain the broadcast rights to the Atlanta Braves. No information on why the Braves would be retained was provided.
Teams left without a TV home in 2025 would include the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, and Detroit Tigers. The Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians, and Texas Rangers were on expiring contracts with no plans to renegotiate with DSG.
If the court allows DSG to follow through with the plan all of those teams would be left scrambling to find a TV home for next season. The situation is not entirely unprecedented; early in the DSG bankruptcy proceedings broadcast agreements with the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks were canceled due to late or incomplete payments. Major League Baseball picked up the slack by launching team-specific streaming platforms for those fans and recently launched a similar service for the Colorado Rockies.
It’s unclear if MLB would do the same for the Brewers and other clubs.
An attorney for the league was reportedly caught off guard by the announcement, saying they had no opportunity to review the information before Wednesday’s hearing.
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