Pacers expect games to be broadcast on bankrupt Bally Sports when season begins
It's been five months since Diamond Sports Group formally declared bankruptcy, throwing the future of its Bally Sports branded channels and all of its broadcasting partnerships with NBA, Major League Baseball and NHL teams into limbo. However, the Bally Sports channels are still on the air and as such, the Pacers move into the 2023-24 season with the expectation that they will still have them as broadcast partners when the campaign begins in October with preseason games beginning Oct. 8 with the Pacers road game at Memphis and the regular season beginning on Oct. 25 with a home game against the Wizards.
Danny Lopez, Pacers Sports and Entertainment's vice president for external relations and corporate communications, told the IndyStar in an e-mail exchange that, "Nothing has changed on our end from where we were in January," when news broke that Diamond Sports Group would be seeking to file bankruptcy. At the time, Lopez provided a statement saying, "At this point, all I can say is that we are obviously watching the situation carefully and we’re hopeful there will be a positive resolution." Lopez clarified in a follow-up exchange that he expected Bally Sports to still be broadcasting Pacers games when the season begins.
Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy remains far from a resolution, so it's still not at all clear what the Pacers will be doing for the long term. It is clear that there will be a lot of litigation before a resolution is reached. Diamond sued its parent company Sinclair Broadcasting, accusing it of fraudulently withdrawing as much as $1.5 billion from Diamond, siphoning away assets and milking funds to more quickly push it toward bankruptcy.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers expect to still be on Bally Sports when season begins
