Comcast customers had a rude awakening Wednesday morning: They could no longer watch the Braves on Bally Sports.
The agreement between Comcast/Xfinity and Diamond Sports Group, the owner of 15 Bally Sports Regional Networks, including Atlanta, expired at midnight Wednesday. The signal was pulled from Comcast cable as the provider no longer had the rights to the broadcasts. Braves and Hawks games are carried by Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast. Bally’s regional networks filed for bankruptcy last March.
Fans will notice the impact right away. The Braves play the final of a three-game series at the Mariners on Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. They will also play a big three-game series at the Dodgers Friday through Sunday. All those games will be on Bally’s.
Both Comcast and Diamond have pointed at the other for being responsible for the dropped service.
Comcast customers saw the following message when they turned their televisions to Bally’s channels.
“The owner of Bally Sports is in bankruptcy proceedings, and we have offered them multiple options to continue to carry their networks. They have declined each one, and we no longer have the rights to continue carrying their content. As a result, we’ll be issuing proactive monthly credits to customers for the loss of this network.”
Comcast said it will issue credits to customers between $8-10 and they could be more in certain areas depending on the number of regional sports networks available.
A full statement from Comcast issued to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution read: “We have been very flexible with Diamond Sports Group for months as they work through their bankruptcy proceedings, providing them with an extension on the Bally Sports Regional Networks last fall and a unilateral right to extend the term for another year, which they opted to not exercise. We’d like to continue carrying their networks, but they have declined multiple offers and now we no longer have the rights to this programming. We will proactively credit our customers for the costs associated with them – most will automatically receive $8 to 10 per month in credits.”
Diamond Sports issued the following statement: “It’s disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams. Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours. We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts, and at this critical juncture for Diamond, we hope that Comcast will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role Diamond and RSNs play in the media ecosystem. In the meantime, fans in Comcast regions can access our networks through subscriptions to Fubo, DirecTV or DirecTV STREAM or through our direct-to-consumer offering, Bally Sports+ for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights.”
Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 14, 2023. It had a series of missed payments to teams and sued Sinclair Broadcast Group, its parent company, over transactions made when Sinclair had control over the company, in July.
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, and Spectrum.
The deal between Comcast and Diamond expired in September, according to people familiar with the situation, as indicated in Comcast’s statement. After a six-month extension was agreed upon, it took affect in October with an expiration date of April 30.
Diamond had the opportunity to extend that agreement to a year, but did not choose to do so by a March deadline, according to a person familiar with the situation. That meant the end of the rights expired on May 1.
Comcast customers have few options to watch Braves games. Purchasing a streaming service is the best way to watch games.
The Braves website lists subscriptions with DirecTV Stream and FUBO live as streaming services that will carry Braves games. Comcast customers will not be able to stream games on BallySports.com or the BallySports app. The BallySports+ service is also not available for Braves games.
Dish, Hulu and YouTube previously stopped carrying Bally’s.
The Braves posted the following on social media Wednesday morning: “A carriage dispute between Comcast and Diamond Sports Group is impacting several MLB teams, including the #Braves. As a result, Comcast customers are currently unable to watch our games. Customers using other cable providers or streaming services are not impacted. Fans can listen to the game live on http://680thefan.com.
The Bally regional networks are also not available on Comcast in all other 14 markets including Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit and Minneapolis.
The issue revolves around the price customers pay for regional sports networks. They are often the most expensive part of a customers cable bill. Comcast breaks down the fees on their bills. Typically, the RSNs are lightly watched by most cable consumers. Under the deal with Diamond, the content could not be moved to a preferred package, meaning all subscribers had to pay and not ones who chose to pay for the sports content.
Such deals have been worked for the Orioles and Nationals (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), the Pirates (SportsNet Pittsburgh) and the Mariners (Root Sports Northwest). Major League Baseball has stepped in to help deals with distributors, including Comcast, for the Diamondbacks and Rockies.
