Diamond Sports Group is set to formally exit bankruptcy proceedings, ending a process that began in March 2023, after Major League Baseball withdrew its objection to Diamond’s restructuring plan. Going forward, Diamond intends to continue operating its network of local regional sports networks, now known as FanDuel Sports Network (FDSN), and televise games to fans in local markets from 13 NBA teams, 8 NHL teams, and 6 MLB teams.
Before the bankruptcy process began, DSG had rights to 14 MLB teams, but surrendered the rights to the Padres and Diamondbacks during the 2023 season, and gave up the rights to the Brewers, Guardians, and Twins during the court proceedings. This leaves Rangers and Royals, both former DSG teams, as the only MLB teams without a clear local TV home for the 2025 season. The Reds announced Thursday their games will be produced and distributed by MLB.
In all of the markets where DSG will televise baseball games, the company also has rights to a basketball or hockey team in the same market, giving the networks year-round programming and leverage with distributors. Kansas City and Cincinnati do not have basketball or hockey teams, although Cincinnati shares a market area with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Columbus Blue Jackets, to which DSG does have rights. Notably, Diamond had rights to all three Dallas-area teams (Rangers, Mavericks, and Stars), but will now not have any major rights in the nation’s #5 media market.
In other DSG news, Amazon will begin making FDSN available to subscribers within the Prime Video app as part of Amazon’s investment in Diamond. Critically, the move will not allow fans to watch local games with just a Prime membership, but will allow viewers be able to purchase a FDSN subscription or access their existing one and watch games within the Prime Video app. Amazon selling third-party streaming subscriptions is not unique to this deal: fans can already watch content from Paramount+, Max, NBA League Pass and more by subscribing and transacting directly with Amazon. YouTube TV and Hulu also offer third-party streamers as add-ons to a base plan.
Finally, FDSN is expected to begin offering streaming coverage of NBA and NHL games on a single-game basis to in-market fans. The games will be priced at $6.99, compared to the monthly price of $19.99. The single-game option will not affect customers who subscribe directly to the network on a monthly, season-long, or annual basis, nor will it affect customers who receive the network as part of their cable, satellite, or vMPVD bundle.
The teams that did re-sign with DSG almost certainly did so while receiving a reduced rights fee, as the company attempts to achieve profitability in the face of dwindling cable subscribers. All of the above efforts (licensing through Amazon, single-game DTC sales) are an attempt to recoup a sliver of the revenue that the lucrative cable bundle model once provided these RSNs.
