KC Royals games reportedly could be streaming on Amazon in the 2024 season
Weeks before the Royals’ 2023 season opener, there was big news regarding the company that airs the team’s games.
The Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group which owns Bally Sports Kansas City, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
That filing didn’t end up affecting Royals games, which continued to be broadcast on Bally Sports KC and streamed through the Bally app.
Now, a new streaming option for Royals games could be on the horizon.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s Lauren Thomas and Joe Flint, Amazon is in negotiations with Diamond Sports Group “about a strategic investment and a multiyear streaming partnership.”
That story said if the sides reach a deal, Amazon Prime eventually would become the streaming home for Diamond’s games, which would include the Royals. For cable users, Bally Sports Kansas City would continue airing Royals games.
Depending on how quickly a deal is reached, those Royals games could be streamed on Amazon as soon as the 2024 season.
The Athletic’s Evan Drellich noted that Bally Sports’ regional networks air the games of 11 Major League Baseball teams, but that the company has the digital rights to only five of them: the Royals, Tigers, Brewers, Rays and Marlins.
Those five have the best chance of having games stream on Amazon.
“Even if Diamond and Amazon do wind up with a court-approved arrangement, Diamond could not stream games via Amazon for any of its other MLB teams beyond those five,” the Athletic story says. “Of course, other teams and MLB could negotiate with Diamond for expanded digital rights access, but MLB and Diamond have not seen eye to eye on the worth of MLB’s streaming rights.”
Another caveat to Royals game being on Amazon: the Wall Street Journal reported that “any transaction is subject to bankruptcy-court approval and could still fall through.”
But a potential Amazon deal could provide a glimmer of hope for fans who have been frustrated with Bally Sports KC’s streaming option.
Bally’s future in doubt
When the Diamond Sports Group failed to make a scheduled payment to the Padres in May, Major League Baseball stepped in and began airing San Diego’s games on MLB-TV.
ESPN reported the Padres’ reach jumped from 1.13 million homes to about 3.2 million within the team’s TV territory after the move to MLB-TV.
A source with the Royals believes Bally Sports Kansas City may not exist after 2024.
Royals CEO/chairman John Sherman has expressed dissatisfaction with the limited reach of the team’s games. Should a potential deal between Amazon and Diamond fall through, Diamond still would have to navigate the bankruptcy process, and the Royals would be more than happy to have MLB take over broadcasting games.
“MLB has got a network and I think the commissioner has been clear that if anything happens with Bally’s, we’re gonna stand up that network, we’re gonna distribute the games via MLB Network and also direct to the consumer via streaming as well,” Sherman said of Royals games in the spring. “But regardless of whether the management of that is local, or in central baseball, it’s going to be very localized from our broadcast crew and how we deliver games to our fans.”
