Diamond misses Padres payment; Rights reverting back to team

Diamond Sports Group told the Padres that it would not make its rights fee payment by tonight’s deadline, meaning that the media rights will revert back to the team, sources tell SBJ's John Ourand.


MLB will produce the Padres' Wednesday game in Miami, with the same announcers -- who are employed by the team -- and many of the same producers and directors and camera operators, who work as freelancers. A source says MLB will stream the team’s games for free through Sunday. The league also plans to make the games available via outlets like Fubo, DirecTV, Cox and Charter. Station numbers will be released tomorrow.


This afternoon, the Diamond board elected not provide funding for the joint venture between the Padres and the San Diego RSN. Bally Sports San Diego is not part of Diamond’s bankruptcy filing because the team has an ownership stake in the RSN. The team, in turn, informed Diamond that it would take its rights back.


Diamond filed for bankruptcy protection around two months ago, and has been negotiating with MLB and its teams to get access to streaming rights. Diamond committed to pay its full rights fees over the lifetime of its contracts in exchange for those streaming rights. Those talks have not progressed, so Diamond is looking to shed contracts, like the Padres, where it loses money.


Diamond is in the middle of a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal with the Padres for Bally Sports San Diego that runs through 2032. Diamond loses money on the deal, which is considered team friendly. A bankruptcy judge will decide on Wednesday whether Diamond can reduce its rights fee payments to other teams that are in bankruptcy.


In a statement emailed to SBJ, Diamond confirmed that it would not make a payment and no longer would produce or carry Padres games after tonight. “While DSG has significant liquidity and have been making rights payments to teams, the economics of the Padres’ contract were not aligned with market realities. MLB has forced our hand by its continued refusal to negotiate direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming rights for all teams in our portfolio despite our proposal to pay every team in full in exchange for those rights. We are continuing to broadcast games for teams under our contracts.”

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