The bankruptcy saga of Diamond Sports Group is over.
Diamond Sports Group, operator of the now FanDuel-branded regional sports networks, announced Thursday that it has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and rebranded as “Main Street Sports Group,” ending a two-year saga that threatened the RSN industry.
The newly-rebranded company says that it has reduced its once $9 billion debt to $200 million.
Main Street exits bankruptcy owning 16 RSNs and rights to 29 teams between the NBA (13), NHL and Major League Baseball (eight each). Just last week, it extended its deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for the coming season. It began with 21 RSNs and rights to 42 teams, shedding networks and contracts throughout the two year bankruptcy process.
Thursday’s announcement is just the latest development in what has been a nearly eight-year journey for the RSNs once owned by 21st Century Fox. When Fox sold the majority of its assets to Disney in 2017, the RSNs were valued at more than $20 billion. Disney was forced to divest the RSNs in order to win approval for the broader acquisition, selling them $10 billion to local station owner Sinclair Broadcasting.
After the RSNs quickly accumulated billions in debt, Sinclair was forced by its creditors to set up an independent board of directors that eventually assumed management of the RSNs, filed for bankruptcy, and spent the past 20 months in court restructuring its business.
Though it remains far from clear that the RSN business has any long-term future, the resolution of the bankruptcy proceedings should at least provide needed stability after a stretch in which teams and leagues lacked assurances that the RSNs would even last through a given season.
