Diamond Sports Group has renegotiated its in-market contracts with the Guardians, Rangers and Twins as part of its ongoing insolvency proceedings. The Athletic's Evan Drellich reported this morning that MLB expects all three organizations to sign one-year deals to remain with Diamond's Bally Sports networks through the 2024 season. None of these contracts have yet been concluded.
The Twins' TV contract expired at the end of the 2023 season. The Rangers and Guardians still had contracts with Diamond, but the broadcasting company had called those contracts unprofitable and threatened to abandon them unless they were renegotiated at a lower price. Diamond has already terminated his contracts with the Padres and Diamondbacks during the '23 season.
This left Cleveland, Texas and Minnesota having to discuss reduced terms or risk losing their local broadcast license fees entirely. According to various reports, Cleveland made $55 million on his TV deal a year ago. Texas took in about $111 million from Diamond, while Minnesota's contract paid $54 million last season.
The specific terms under discussion are not known. However, Drellich reports that the Guardians and Rangers are expected to lose 15% or less of what they would have otherwise received in 2024. It's unclear how much of a trade-off Minnesota may have to accept on his next contract. On the one hand, this is still an unenviable situation for these organizations. A 15% reduction could reduce the Guardians' expected revenue by about $8.25 million, while the Rangers' deal could be reduced by about $17 million using this criterion. (The exact numbers are unclear as the teams' expected rights fees in 2024 were not necessarily the same as what they had done in 1923).
At the same time, getting more than 85% of their expected fees back is still a better outcome for these teams than giving up on Diamond entirely, which would likely have required teams to turn to MLB to handle the in-market broadcast. This is particularly true in Texas, which had one of the most profitable RSN contracts in the game. A one-year deal will still present long-term uncertainty for teams, but they appear to be on track to remain with the Bally Sports networks for at least another year.
When the new contracts are finalized, Diamond will once again be responsible for television broadcasting in the 12-team market. The company has already said it will honor next season's commitments to the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Marlins, Rays, Reds, Royals and Tigers at full price. Whether Diamond can last beyond the '24 MLB season remains to be seen. The recent restructuring agreement to sell its in-market streaming rights to Amazon for an inflow of $450 million is expected to keep the company afloat beyond this year. Approval by the bankruptcy court is still pending. Drellich notes that even if the court signs off on the streaming deal with Amazon, some in the baseball industry remain skeptical of Diamond's long-term viability.
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