US regional sports network (RSN) owner and operator Diamond Sports Group (DSG) has agreed a multi-year renewal of its carriage agreement with US national satellite TV distributor DirecTV but negotiations have broken down with media giant Comcast.
The deal with DirectTV ensures that DSG’s range of 18 RSNs under its Bally Sports brand will continue to be broadcast on its services for at least the next two years, going some way to help the beleaguered DSG out of its financial peril.
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DirecTV customers with a DirecTV Choice, Ultimate, or Premier package will have access to DSG local broadcasts from the US’ elite National Hockey League (NHL), National Basketball Association (NBA), and Major League Baseball (MLB) competitions in local jurisdictions where DSG holds direct-to-consumer broadcast rights.
Furthermore, these customers will also soon be able to stream DSG content by linking their DirecTV credentials with the Bally Sports streaming app.
Under the Bally Sports brand, DSG owns 18 RSNs, which, combined, hold the local rights to 37 professional US teams (11 MLB, 15 NBA, and 11 NHL).
Speaking on the new carriage deal, DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun stated: “DirecTV has always been a sports leader and we continue to see significant opportunity for both our residential and commercial customers in local sports.
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By GlobalData“Diamond’s regional sports networks remain a key component of our live sports offering, and we look forward to working with Diamond and the many popular MLB, NBA, NHL, and other teams it retains for years to come under this new agreement.”
The announcement comes in the same week that DSG revealed it had also renewed its distribution deal with Cox Communications, maintaining its cross-country reach in the US amid a time of restructuring for the company following its 2023 financial woes.
However, DSG RSNs will be removed from Comcast after renewal talks collapsed.
This represents a major blow to the 37 sports franchises represented by DSG, with Comcast reportedly boasting over 14 million pay-TV subscribers in 2023, especially the 11 MLB sides whose season is already underway.
Comcast’s deal with DSG expired on Tuesday (April 30) with the carrier stating that it tabled multiple offers to DSG, none of which were picked up. This included a unilateral right to extend the term of their prior agreement for another year, one that DSG did not utilize.
The carrier stated that it would have liked to have continued hosting DSG but multiple offers had been declined, while DSG on the other hand argued that Comcast “refused to engage in substantive discussions” despite the terms it says it offered being close to what was agreed on in other DSG carrier deals.
