Diamond Sports Group and Comcast failed to reach an extension on their carriage rights deal by Tuesday’s deadline, meaning Comcast customers will lose access to Bally Sports regional sports networks.
Comcast was the second-largest cable carrier in the U.S. in 2023 with 14.1 million subscribers at year end, according to Leichtman Research.
“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,” Diamond Sports Group said in a statement. “Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours.
Diamond Sports Group’s statement on Comcast: pic.twitter.com/lgMgcPqWfQ
— Shawn Medow (@ShawnMedow) May 1, 2024
The statement noted that Diamond will continue to seek a new deal with Comcast, and in the meantime, Comcast customers can access Bally Sports through Fubo, DirecTV, or through Bally Sports+.
A Comcast statement said Diamond had “declined multiple offers.”
“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,” the statement read.
Comcast statement: “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,…
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) May 1, 2024
The Comcast news comes just hours after Diamond had announced an agreement with Cox Communications to continue carriage earlier in the day. The agreement, announced via a Diamond media release, will keep Bally Sports networks on Cox systems throughout the U.S.
And Tuesday’s news comes just a day after Diamond announced a new multi-year deal with DirecTV, the nation’s third-largest carrier. In early April, Diamond announced a new multi-year carriage deal with Charter Communications, the largest carrier in the U.S. in 2023.
After mostly good news for Diamond in recent weeks, Tuesday’s Comcast development is a setback for the embattled company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023. In the time since, the company has hoped to restructure broadcasting agreements in a bid to stay afloat amidst ongoing legal battles surrounding its future.
