Predators vs Canucks on Bally Sports South goes dark after group owner, Comcast can't reach deal
Nashville Predators fans wondering why their Bally Sports South feed of Tuesday's Game 5 of the NHL playoffs series against the Vancouver Canucks was cut off at 11 p.m. CT need to look no further than Comcast.
Because Diamond Sports Group, owner of Bally Sports South, and Comcast failed to reach an agreement to extend their rights deal by Tuesday, Comcast customers trying to watch the game were out of luck.
“It’s disappointing that Comcast rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams,” Diamond Sports Group said in a statement. “Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours."
Fans did have the option of tuning into TBS for coverage, or accessing the game on Fubo, DirectTV, DirectTV streaming, Bally Sports+.
“We have been very flexible with Diamond Sports Group for months as they work through their bankruptcy proceedings, providing them with an extension on the Bally Sports Regional Networks last fall and a unilateral right to extend the term for another year, which they opted to not exercise,” Comcast said in a statement.
In January, Amazon agreed to acquire a minority stake in Diamond Sports Group, which owns 18 networks with local media rights for 37 teams across three major leagues, including the Predators' affiliate, Bally Sports South.
That partnership is part of a restructuring agreement designed to help the largest regional sports network emerge from bankruptcy.
That did nothing to help alleviate Tuesday night's situation, though.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators vs Canucks game affected by Bally parent group, Comcast rights
