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Bally sports going bankrupt

17,774 Views | 71 Replies | Last: 2 mo ago by DustysLineup
45-70Ag
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Best sporting news there will be this year.
Aston04
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Always was a horrible name for a network.
Hehateme1
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Good
Iowaggie
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So does Amazon or YTTV or someone pick them up?
greg.w.h
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More color:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/sinclair-s-diamond-sports-group-continues-its-march-toward-bankruptcy/ar-AA16MB1T
Divining Rod
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Fox sports southwest had a great texas high school football program. these people ruined it, so F them.
Texker
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Well deserved.
twk
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I'm not a bankruptcy lawyer, but this is the key part:

Quote:

Meanwhile, pro teams relying on TV rights revenue from their deals with the 19 Bally Sports RSNs will face severe belt-tightening, since rights deals with them can be terminated amid the restructuring.

For example, MLB's St. Louis Cardinals have been identified(opens in new tab) as a franchise likely to take one of the hardest blows, since so much of its revenue comes from RSN TV rights.
Sinclair was losing money on every one of it big league contracts, and, as part of the bankruptcy, will have the right to terminate those contracts, which will almost certainly happen. That means we could be in for a mad scramble for teams to work out something in relatively short order (maybe several months).

Bottom line for TV: If you are signed up for a certain cable, satellite, or streaming provider primarily because that carrier includes a package with a Bally channel that carries your local team, be prepared for that to go away.
TopoTacos
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Good. I know more than a few people in smaller pro-sports markets who have been unable to watch their state's teams through a terrible Venn diagram of national blackout restrictions and Bally's ineptitude.

It shouldn't be so hard to make a sports network and broadcast events normally, but I guess it's more fun to try and squeeze every last penny out of customers.
greg.w.h
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Just to be clear, as far as I can tell this is mostly Sinclair and if you've had the joy of living in an area with a station they run (they had two in Cedar Rapids…one owned, one managed) you already have pretty strong opinions on how they monetize over the air content they broadcast by making things miserable for the local media rebroadcasters (cable mainly is fully local.)

The bankruptcy is a slow rolling result of the Fox RSN agreements. Which Fox did for exclusivity. Then the Mouse was required by an agreed to consent arrangement to spin them off (and wanted to because of the economics of the deals.) I won't say Sinclair was unprepared, but I cringe, too, every time I see the Bally's logo because the deal isn't about pinball machines but turning all of this into a marke My platform that highlights Bally's most successfully current business…

As an aside, the blackout Venn diagram around the Cedar Rapids area was vicious. But we bought the MLB package and saw most games we were interested in after that. But not all…due to blackouts.
mustang1234
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Divining Rod said:

Fox sports southwest had a great texas high school football program. these people ruined it, so F them.
yep, plus no contract with Dish Network
Artimus Gordon
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It will forever be known as going Bally up!
94chem
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Wish I could get the Mavs and Rangers in Houston on YTTV. When I had Suddenlink, I could get the Rangers, but not the Astros.
94chem,
That, sir, was the greatest post in the history of TexAgs. I salute you. -- Dough
greg.w.h
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94chem said:

Wish I could get the Mavs and Rangers in Houston on YTTV. When I had Suddenlink, I could get the Rangers, but not the Astros.
Keep in mind that for truly out of market games this is an option: https://www.mlb.com/news/2022-mlb-tv-subscriptions-on-sale
ElephantRider
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**** Bally Sports. This is great news.
Ags77
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So, am I still gonna get the Rangers games this spring ?
Jarrin' Jay
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Doesn't just affect small markets, it affects Dallas/FW, LA, Chicago, Miami, Houston, etc. and will be a win for fans and consumers.

Until now the various teams of MLB, NHL, NBA really didn't care if the fans/consumers could see their games on various platforms as the games were available if you had the right TV provider. So long as they were getting paid their rights fees they could always just say to switch from Sling/Hulu/AT&T to whatever provider did have the games available.

Sinclair did a terrible job of pricing and overvaluing their product. It would be one thing if just one or two providers balked at the price and refused to carry the channel and negotiate further, but when just about ALL of them did, that should have sent a message and caused a rethink. Instead Bally doubled down and they tried to launch their own app/platform. The overall lack of interest and purchasing of the app/platform was further validation that Bally had badly missed the mark in their demand and pricing structure.

It has always been ridiculous that a large section (majority?) of people/fans in Dallas could not watch the Rangers/Stars/Mavericks games.

Hopefully the contracts get terminated as Bally can't make their payments, and the various leagues negotiate better deals with TV providers so that fans can get the games on almost all streaming and TV providers.

Bally has learned the hard way that consumer demand drives what consumers will pay, and without that demand the revenues do not follow...

I would guess that in 12-18 months the fans will see the benefits of this, hopefully.
twk
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Ags77 said:

So, am I still gonna get the Rangers games this spring ?
No one knows. They will be made available somewhere, but odds are high that you won't be watching the Rangers on Bally at the end of the season.
TxAG#2011
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Can't watch Mavs Rangers or 1st in division Dallas Stars cause of these guys. To hell with them
agwin12
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Fox Sports AZ was included in my Sports package until Bally showed up. Screw 'em.
"A life lived for others is a life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
CoolAggie
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Just to echo everything already posted here, F them.
cajunaggie08
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Jarrin' Jay said:

Doesn't just affect small markets, it affects Dallas/FW, LA, Chicago, Miami, Houston, etc. and will be a win for fans and consumers.

Until now the various teams of MLB, NHL, NBA really didn't care if the fans/consumers could see their games on various platforms as the games were available if you had the right TV provider. So long as they were getting paid their rights fees they could always just say to switch from Sling/Hulu/AT&T to whatever provider did have the games available.

Sinclair did a terrible job of pricing and overvaluing their product. It would be one thing if just one or two providers balked at the price and refused to carry the channel and negotiate further, but when just about ALL of them did, that should have sent a message and caused a rethink. Instead Bally doubled down and they tried to launch their own app/platform. The overall lack of interest and purchasing of the app/platform was further validation that Bally had badly missed the mark in their demand and pricing structure.

It has always been ridiculous that a large section (majority?) of people/fans in Dallas could not watch the Rangers/Stars/Mavericks games.

Hopefully the contracts get terminated as Bally can't make their payments, and the various leagues negotiate better deals with TV providers so that fans can get the games on almost all streaming and TV providers.

Bally has learned the hard way that consumer demand drives what consumers will pay, and without that demand the revenues do not follow...

I would guess that in 12-18 months the fans will see the benefits of this, hopefully.
Houston sports teams are fine for now. Who would have known that creating your own local network with comcast that went bankrupt and then got bought up by AT&T would have kept the Astros and Rockets safe from landing on Bally Sports. AT&T Sportsnet Houston may not have the biggest distribution, but I believe its available everywhere in the Houston market
HowdyTexasAggies
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Sinclair, and their hordes of lawyers, suck. They are the cause of the majority or all of provider issues. It was a total PIA to watch the Texas HS Football Championships the last two years due to this crappy Bally's deal, which NONE of the providers would touch except the equally inept AT&T, likely because they hate Sinclair as well.

Then, of course, this year the finally offered online streaming. thankfully making it possible to once again watch the HS games. I signed up for the free account and just cancelled after. Those idiots should have just required the $10 to sign up, I would have paid, yet they got nothing from me and likely 1000s others.

I wonder where the former FOX SW will land.
Ag CPA
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I get the impression that nobody on this thread knows how Chapter 11 works.
Iowaggie
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I wish Disney wouldn't have been required to sell off the RSNs. I also wonder if Disney/ESPN and/or Warner/TBS/TNT played political games or financial pressure to some of the streaming services that drove Sinclair from yttv, Hulu and other services.
Sinclair clearly did not have the negotiating power that Fox did.


I guess I hope Amazon or the Leagues just get the Network. Not sure what happens next
45-70Ag
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Ag CPA said:

I get the impression that nobody on this thread knows how Chapter 11 works.


The main thing to take from this thread is people hate Bally, want to see it go away and based on what's going on with St. Louis, there's a great chance to see it lose its stranglehold on Dallas sports
greg.w.h
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There's a reason the Mouse couldn't find another buyer…and Fox unloaded the RSNs to the Mouse…
Jarrin' Jay
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I understand perfectly how it works, and a Ch. 11 Reorg only works if there plan is viable. If they intend to keep trying to do what they are doing, that is not viable, creditors will punt and it will crash and burn.

Their only option is to go back to the negotiating table with the TV providers and streaming platforms and maybe also try to lower their rights fees obligations with the various leagues. The latter may give some relief. For the former we'll see if Bally has learned enough to negotiate a reasonable carriage fee.

All the $$ spent on their own app/platform is a total loss / write-off.

All along they acted like there were the big dogs and all these small streamers and TV providers didn't know what they were doing or talking about and didn't know what they were doing. I don't think they ever stopped to think that Hulu is Disney & Comcast, YouTubeTV is Google, Sling TV is Dish Network, etc. and that maybe, just maybe, those companies had a better idea and pulse of what carriage fees were acceptable / tolerable and what the true demand for those games/services were.

Sinclair may want it to be a Ch. 11 BK, but it won't be without substantive changes and a lot of pain, and it won't be a Ch. 11 BK unless they listen and learn and meet their strategic partners way more than half way.

I am guessing the various leagues and the teams can terminate the contract just based on one payment being missed for the rights, would be shocked if not so. As such that is why I believe that it will all be stripped away from Bally/Sinclair and then be more readily available and affordable to all people/fans in all markets.
Jarrin' Jay
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Did not know that and that is good for Houston. Here in D/FW there is only ONE tv provider that carries the Bally Fox Sports SW so many millions in D/FW don't get Rangers, Mavs and Stars games here. It is ridiculous.
Leander - Ag
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Good
annie88
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Never heard of them.

Now I don't need too.
TheCurl84
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Texker said:

Well deserved.
I second this
AggieTFA06
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I confess that I get Bally Sports here in College Station and the only reason I watch that channel is for the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks. I haven't had any issues watching Bally Sports and hope my ability to watch the Dallas sports teams isn't hindered.
To 1,000,000 touchdowns ...and beyond
greg.w.h
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AggieTFA06 said:

I confess that I get Bally Sports here in College Station and the only reason I watch that channel is for the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks. I haven't had any issues watching Bally Sports and hope my ability to watch the Dallas sports teams isn't hindered.
The best hope is someone else buys the mess. But likely either they get a debtor in possession with Sinclair managing for those who offered the funding. I merely hope someone competent takes over. And not the bean counters per se. After a bumpy start I can say the same about Rangers, Mavs, and Stars both on the linear broadcast and streams via the Bally's app once authenticated with the media provider. Spectrum's authentication service on the other hand…
AggieBuck02
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Didn't Fubo just pick up Bally's?
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