Phoenix Suns moving forward with Gray Television, away from Diamond Sports Group
Diamond Sports Group is no longer standing in the way.
The Phoenix Suns are moving forward with Gray Television, Inc., as Diamond Sports Group had filed a lawsuit in May for breach of contract after the NBA franchise announced in late April it was leaving Bally Sports Arizona for Gray Television and Kiswe, a streaming service.
“Making Suns and Mercury games available to all our fans across the state, for free, was extremely important to us,” Suns team owner Mat Ishbia said. “It was a major priority and we got it done for our fans. We are excited about this for our fans."
Diamond Sports Group didn't make an offer before the deadline passed to make one as it had first right refusal, Suns team officials said.
This came after a Texas bankruptcy court ruling initially blocked the Suns' move to Gray Television and Kiswe.
Diamond Sports Group filed an emergency motion dated May 3.
"I am excited to be able to deliver to our Suns and Mercury fans this industry-shifting partnership with Gray Television,” Ishbia said in a statement. “We’ve had an incredible offseason, making a lot of exciting moves to build the championship-caliber Suns team our fans want. Now, this deal gives more than 2.8 million homes across Arizona access to Suns and Mercury games for free.”
KTVK (Arizona’s Family 3TV), KPHO (Arizona’s Family CBS5), the statewide KPHE (AZ Family Sports Network) and Kiswe are part of the partnership with Gray Television.
KPHE serves the Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma media markets.
The Suns are on an agreement for up to five years with Gray Television and Kiswe. The Mercury have a two-year deal.
“I am proud that we are at the forefront of this shift to make the game more accessible, which not only serves our fan base, but also helps to build future NBA and WNBA fans,” Ishbia added in the statement.
Diamond Sports Group is the largest owner of regional sports networks. Bally Sports Arizona was once Fox Sports Arizona before rebranding in March 2021.
Bally Sports Arizona is one of 19 regional sports networks owned by Diamond Sports Group, which in March announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after it missed a $140 million interest payment.
Diamond Sports Group's main issue at the time was it was still under contract with the Suns until the 2022-23 NBA season end over. They contended that even though the Suns no longer needed Bally Sports Arizona to broadcast games because TNT or ESPN/ABC aired the rest until their playoff run ended, by going to Gray Television and Kiwse, Diamond Sports Group has first right refusal and can match any deal offered to the Suns and Mercury while under contract.
The Mercury have been showing games on Gray Television this season as they had a different agreement with Bally Sports Arizona. The bankruptcy judge exempted the WNBA franchise from the order to block the Suns deal.
Ishbia, a billionaire mortgage lender, bought the Suns and the Mercury for a record $4 billion.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns move forward with Gray Television, games to air locally
