Diamond Sports RSNs Go Dark on Comcast as Talks Break Down
Diamond Sports Group’s long march toward emerging from bankruptcy experienced a significant setback in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning, as the owner of the Bally Sports RSNs failed to secure a renewal with Comcast.
The RSNs began going dark on Comcast systems shortly after midnight EDT, a shutdown which coincided with the expiration of Diamond’s legacy carriage deal. The nation’s largest cable operator had carried 15 of the regional sports networks before Diamond pulled the plug.
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As is standard operating procedure during a major carriage beef, both parties engaged in the blame game. Comcast issued a statement expressing its disappointment in Diamond’s decision to pull its programming, while the RSN owner countered with charges that the cable operator had rejected a proposed extension of the deadline.
While neither side shed light on the nature of the dispute, it is understood that the crux of the disagreement has to do with Comcast’s desire to move the RSNs to a higher-priced digital tier. Diamond would much prefer to remain on the more widely available basic tier, which is about $20 cheaper each month than the cabler’s beefed-up “Ultimate TV” package.
Comcast noted that while it would “like to continue carrying [the RSNs],” Diamond had “declined multiple offers” before the breakdown in the negotiations. The operator, which closed out the first quarter of 2024 with 13.6 million residential video subscribers, went on to note that it will issue credits to customers impacted by the outage, with most of these subs set to “automatically receive $8 to $10 per month” in compensation.
For its part, Diamond responded by saying that Comcast had “rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air,” before going on to charge the operator with a refusal “to engage in substantive discussions.” Diamond’s statement indicated that it “will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore” its programming.
Among the immediate disruptions that local sports fans will be forced to weather during the standoff include MLB games and a handful of remaining NBA and NHL playoff outings. For example, Comcast subs in the Miami area will have to switch to TNT’s coverage of Game 5 of the Celtics-Heat series, as Bally Sports Sun is now blacked out in the home market. MLB blackouts will be a far more pressing issue, as local baseball coverage in Comcast markets will be benched until a renewal is reached.
Fans who don’t want to deal with the rigmarole of switching their pay-TV provider have the option of streaming MLB games via the Bally Sports+ app.
After the deadline passed without a resolution, the Bally Sports RSNs for a time remained up and running in a number of Comcast markets, including Nashville and Minneapolis, while other areas began reporting outages shortly after midnight.
As much as Diamond has taken great strides toward emerging from bankruptcy—it recently nailed down a renewal with Charter and is close to a deal with DirecTV—a failure to reach an agreement with Comcast could very well halt the company’s progress. Approval of Diamond’s re-org plan could come as soon as Tues., June 18, when a Houston bankruptcy court is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing, but creditors are likely to be troubled by the distribution snafu.
While Diamond said that it hopes Comcast “will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role [the] RSNs play in the media ecosystem,” the balance of power would seem to lie with the operator. As much as getting bumped to a pricier tier is an unwelcome development for Diamond, which would prefer a more gradual transition up the cost ladder, the cable company seems unwilling to budge.
As much as a resolution may still come to pass, Comcast has demonstrated its willingness to walk away from a long-term distribution deal if the terms are no longer favorable to its bottom line. Case in point: Since Comcast stopped carrying MSG and MSG+ on Oct. 1, 2021, there’s been nary a peep between the two parties. Two-and-a-half years later, the split is so definitive that both sides have long since given up any hope of a reconciliation.
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