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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
Diamond Sports Group, bankrupt operator of what was previously called Bally Sports, announced a new linear rights and digital rights agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
The Cardinals have joined the Atlanta Braves as teams that will stay with Diamond if it emerges from bankruptcy, though a new deal with the Miami Marlins is expected to be announced in the near future. The company is still in talks with at least some of the other teams that were in its portfolio during the 2024 season.
Major League Baseball initially faced a 5 p.m. ET deadline to file an objection to Diamond’s restructuring plan, but that has since been postponed to 3 p.m. ET Friday. Diamond, which announced a new naming rights deal with FanDuel last month, has its confirmation hearing in Houston bankruptcy court scheduled for late next week, from Nov. 14 to 15.
The length of Diamond’s deal with the Cardinals was not announced.
Its broadcasts will air under FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, but fans will also have an in-market, direct-to-consumer option under the FanDuel website, making this the first MLB deal in which Diamond has acquired streaming rights it did not possess.
“We are pleased to enhance and expand our long-term partnership with Diamond and FanDuel Sports Network Midwest,” Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III wrote in a statement. “We valued the continuity for our fans of staying on the same network as the [NHL’s St. Louis] Blues, and we are excited to expand access to our games and other great Cardinals content across multiple platforms next year.”
Diamond finished the 2024 season with 12 MLB teams under its portfolio, a list that will be whittled down significantly.
In early October, the company submitted a reorganization plan that called for it to shed broadcasting rights for every baseball team except the Braves. Though negotiations with other teams on both lesser rights fees and the addition of a streaming component would continue, the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins — all on expiring deals — chose to join MLB, which will broadcast at least six teams in 2025.
The Texas Rangers, another team on an expiring contract, are considering other local media options.
That leaves the Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals as teams still in limbo.
Diamond remains in talks with at least some of those teams and is also in negotiations with Amazon on a commercial arrangement that would provide it access to its direct-to-consumer platform, Prime Video.
Diamond maintains linear and digital rights with 13 NBA and eight NHL teams.