Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves have raised issues with the restructuring plan and future viability of Diamond Sports Group, the country's largest owner of regional sports networks, in response to a bankruptcy court filing Friday.
The Braves and MLB said within the appeal that they’ve “serious concerns” in regards to the current plan because “there is a substantial likelihood that this will happen.” [Diamond Sports] will again find themselves in financial distress and/or in bankruptcy court within the near future.”
The filing states that each MLB and the Braves have a vested interest in seeing Diamond Sports succeed with a restructuring plan, but they aren’t convinced that the currently proposed restructuring plan is viable.
A representative for Diamond didn’t immediately comment on the filing. The company has until Wednesday to reply to the objection. Meanwhile, Diamond will seek approval of its restructuring plan from a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday.
MLB and the Braves' concerns stem from a lack of awareness in regards to the restructuring proposal, which in response to the filing consists of 20 documents totaling 181 pages. Diamond's lawyers have said in court that there are limitations to its offerings, partly due to confidentiality agreements with the corporate's distribution partners, similar to pay-TV operators.
Additionally, each the league and the Braves have called for more clarity on what business partnership Diamond is searching for Amazon will look. Diamond lawyers had previously stated in court that discussions with Amazon were ongoing.
MLB and the Braves are also concerned about confusion over Diamond Sports' direct-to-consumer plan, a technique that has only change into more necessary as more customers opt out of traditional cable packages.
This isn't the primary time MLB has wanted more details about Diamond's financial plans. In October, an MLB lawyer said in a court hearing that the league wanted additional details about language utilized in a recent naming rights deal Diamond made with FanDuel for the regional sports networks Diamond owns, formerly often known as Bally Sports .
The Braves are a part of a publicly traded company Atlanta Braves Holdings after being Share away from John Malone's Liberty Media in 2023. Malone stays a shareholder in the brand new company and chairman of Liberty Media.
Diamond Sports previously said it is going to maintain its contract with the Braves as a part of its bankruptcy plan while it seeks to renegotiate or terminate its contracts with 11 other MLB teams with which it has contracts.
Friday's objection doesn't mean the Braves have turned away from Diamond over her regional media rights.
On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals and Diamond agreed to terms for his or her local rights, and in a court hearing in October, lawyers said Diamond was near a deal to play for the Miami Marlins.
The Cincinnati Reds said Friday they were leaving their regional sports network owned by Diamond, in response to a court filing.
Three Of the 11 teams Diamond attempted to transform contracts with, they’ve since turned to MLB to supply their local games.
image credit : www.cnbc.com