Report of potential bankruptcy for Bally Sports owner puts Pacers TV broadcasts at risk
The parent company of Pacers television broadcast partner Bally's Sports Indiana is headed towards a $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court according to a report last week in Bloomberg News, leaving the fate of the regional broadcasts of dozens of teams in the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, including the Pacers and Fever, in limbo.
According to the Bloomberg report, Diamond Sports Group LLC, owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., is preparing to skip $140 million in interest payments in mid-February, which would kickstart a 30-day grace period and could begin the path to Chapter 11 bankruptcy and put the company in the hands of its many creditors. According to the report, Diamond Sports had approximately $585 million in cash on hand as of Sept. 30, but owes about $2 billion in fees to teams this year with some of the most expensive rights payments coming in the first quarter of the year.
At this point, it's not at all clear what that means for Pacers broadcasts or for regional network sports broadcasts and regional media rights in general, but it could lead to a restructuring of not just Diamond Sports LLC, but the entire business of local and regional broadcasts and team media rights. According to Bloomberg, the Diamond group is in such dire of straits because of a decline in cable TV subscribers, a continual trend over the past decade.
Pacers on TV: Doyel: You can't watch Pacers for free. Or read this for free, either.
A spokesman for Bally's Sports declined comment to IndyStar. Daniel Lopez, the vice president for external affairs and corporate communications for Pacers Sports and Entertainment, acknowledged the issue but couldn't say much else.
"At this point, all I can say is that we are obviously watching the situation carefully and we’re hopeful there will be a positive resolution," Lopez said via e-mail. Lopez did not respond when asked via e-mail Monday if he could say for certain whether the Pacers would have their games broadcast on Bally's for the rest of the year.
The Pacers have counted Bally Sports Indiana as its partner for 27 years through various iterations, ownership and network names. It was previously known as Fox Sports Indiana, FSN Indiana and Fox Sports Midwest before it was among the regional sports networks purchased by Sinclair from Walt Disney Corporation in 2019 when it was spun off to allow Disney to complete its purchase of 21st Century Fox. The Pacers signed a "multi-year agreement" with the network before this season began but didn't release the terms of that deal.
Pacers have been frustrated with the network, however, because the only streaming service that maintains it is DirectTV Stream. Dish, Sling, YouTube TV and Hulu all dropped Bally Sports because of contract disputes with Sinclair. Bally had to launch Bally Sports+ as a streaming alternative for $19.99 per month or $189.99 annually to give fans without cable or DirectTV an opportunity to watch the team.
Please support as many media outlets as possible. Read the full Bloomberg story: Bally Sports Network Owner Headed Toward Bankruptcy as Cable Declines - Bloomberg
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers TV: Potential bankruptcy of Bally Sports puts broadcasts at risk
