Comcast Drops Bally Sports Channels, Stops Broadcast of MLB Team Games

Comcast Corporation, a media conglomerate, was revealed to have pulled out Bally Sports regional channels from its broadcasting schedules. As a result, many fans lost access to their favorite Major League Baseball (MLB) games.

Reuters said Comcast deactivated Bally Sports Regional Networks on Wednesday, May 1. This move prevented some MLB games from going on air, putting the bankruptcy restructuring of the sports channels' company, Diamond Sports, at risk.

Diamond Sports Bankruptcy is in Jeopardy

Diamond Sports operates and owns Bally Sports, a joint venture company formed by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Allen Media Group. It broadcasts almost half of the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), and MLB games in regional areas and is currently undergoing bankruptcy restructuring.

Since Comcast stopped airing Bally Sports channels, Diamond Sports has been in peril. This is because the success of the bankruptcy restructuring depends on the renewal of deals with three major cable groups, including Comcast, which accounts for 80% of the company's total revenue.

Rejected Proposal for Renewal

Diamond Sports shared that it forwarded a proposal to renew its deal with Comcast to continue airing MLB, NBA, and NHL regional games. However, the company revealed that the negotiations failed. Despite this, it hopes to continue negotiating with Comcast as its contract expired on Tuesday this week.

"It is disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams," The Washington Post quoted Diamond Sports as saying regarding the non-renewal of its deal with Comcast.

Meanwhile, CNBC reported that fans of 11 MLB teams, including the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, lost access to the network's broadcast on Wednesday. Moreover, the other baseball teams that are no longer available to Comcast subscribers are the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Milwaukee Brewers.

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