The question Braves fans have pondered over the past month: How will Diamond Sports Group’s financial issues affect Braves broadcasts?
Well, Diamond – which operates Bally Sports – announced Tuesday that it filed for bankruptcy.
However, MLB released a statement that should ease the concerns of Braves fans:
“Diamond Sports Group’s bankruptcy declaration (Tuesday) is an unfortunate development that we have been expecting,” MLB said. “Despite Diamond’s economic situation, there is every expectation that they will continue televising all games they are committed to during the bankruptcy process. Major League Baseball is ready to produce and distribute games to fans in their local markets in the event that Diamond or any other regional sports network is unable to do so as required by their agreement with our clubs.
“Having streamed live games on MLB.TV for more than 20 years and produced live games for MLB Network since 2009, we have the experience and capabilities to deliver games to fans uninterrupted. In addition, we have hired additional seasoned local media professionals to bolster our capabilities in anticipation of this development. Over the long term, we will reimagine our distribution model to address the changing media climate and ultimately reach an even larger number of fans.”
Although it’s unclear what it would look like if MLB needed to step in and produce the broadcasts itself, the Braves will continue playing on Bally Sports until further notice.
Bally Sports South and Southeast, which broadcasts Braves games, will televise 149 contests during the 2023 regular season. Any Braves game that isn’t broadcast exclusively on a national platform – such as ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” for example – will air on Bally Sports South or Bally Sports Southeast.
Bally Sports also broadcasts Hawks games, and the team said its telecasts will continue as usual, too. In a statement, the NBA said: “Diamond’s bankruptcy filing was expected and we remain committed to ensuring that NBA fans in the markets served by Bally Sports have continued access to all local games.”
Bally Sports is available throughout Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and central and western North Carolina. The available providers are AT&T U-verse, Cox, DirecTV, DIRECTV STREAM, FuboTV, Spectrum and Xfinity. (FuboTV is a new inclusion this year).
-Staff writer Lauren Williams contributed to this article.
