a basketball are noticed in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on December 1, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto through Getty Photos)NurPhoto through Getty Photos

Diamond Sports Group, the owner of 21 regional sports networks operating beneath the name Bally Sports, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy final week. These networks have the rights to 42 expert teams, such as the Dallas Mavericks.

The filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas comes right after the group missed a $140 million interest payment final month. Diamond expects to continue day-to-day operations at all its RSNs as it performs to restructure and do away with $eight.67 billion in debt and kind a separate business from Sinclair Broadcast GroupSBGI.

“DSG will continue broadcasting games and connecting fans across the nation with the sports and teams they appreciate,” Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack stated in a statement. “We appear forward to functioning constructively with our group and league partners and all DSG stakeholders all through this approach and beyond.”

For now, nothing at all will transform for fans who want to watch the Mavericks play on Bally Sports Southwest in the course of the remainder of the standard season and the initial round of the NBA Playoffs. ABC, ESPN and TNT have exclusive NBA playoff rights right after the initial round.

Whilst Mavericks games will nevertheless air on Bally, lots of fans nevertheless do not have access to the network. Bally Sports Southwest is nevertheless unavailable on YouTube Television, Hulu Reside, Dish, Sling Television and other common streaming solutions. For cord-cutters, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV are the only streaming providers that carry the network in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The access headaches for fans triggered Mavericks governor Mark Cuban to companion with DirecTV Stream and offer you discounted service in November 2021. Cuban arranged for the initial ten,000 new DirecTV Stream subscribers who signed up for a Option package or larger to obtain a $50 per month credit for every month of maintained service for up to 5 months.

The offer you didn’t carry more than to the 2022-23 NBA season.

All round, the NBA has remained fairly quiet on the economic troubles of its biggest tv companion. The league reportedly renewed its deal with Diamond Sports Group to stream 16 of its teams locally on the Bally Sports+ streaming service. The arrangement runs by means of the 2024-25 season and consists of a series of one particular-year offers with far more than a dozen circumstances attached that Diamond will have to meet.

Sinclair purchased the regional sports networks that would turn out to be Bally Sports from The Walt DisneyDIS Co. for almost $ten billion in 2019. The Division of Justice essential Disney to sell the networks as component of the approval approach for acquiring 21st Century Fox’s film and tv assets.

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I am a credentialed reporter covering the Dallas Mavericks. I also create about the WNBA’s Dallas Wings and Mavs Gaming.

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