Diamond Sports Will Keep Broadcasting Texas Rangers Games: Report

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman

It would appear that Diamond Sports’ Bally Sports Southwest will continue to broadcast the Texas Rangers games for at least three more months and probably through the 2023 season.

Evan Grant, a baseball writer for The Dallas Morning News, reports this afternoon that Diamond Sports has given the team its back rights fees. In addition, Grant says two sources tell him that Diamond Sports is expected to make its next regular quarterly payment to the Rangers, which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Diamond Sports, which declared bankruptcy in March, notified the bankruptcy court last week that it was considering ending its TV rights deals with more teams. The company, which owns 18 Bally Sports regional sports networks, dropped the rights to the San Diego Padres games on May 30 when it decided to stop paying the team. Major League Baseball took over the broadcasts, starting with the team’s May 31 game against the Miami Marlins.

The RSN firm has owed back rights fees to five teams: the Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, and Arizona Diamondbacks, which has made them possible candidates for a contract rejection. The next quarterly payments to the Diamondbacks, Twins, Guardians are scheduled for July 1 while the Reds fees are due July 15.

If Diamond Sports had rejected the Rangers agreement by failing to pay, it could have been an indication that it would do the same with the other teams, which are in smaller markets and less likely to be profitable. But if Grant’s report is correct, the Rangers agreement is now safe and the baseball world will look to July 1 for the next signal from the bankrupt company.

If Diamond rejects a team agreement, which it can do under bankruptcy law, Major League Baseball would step in and do the games.

The TV Answer Man will monitor this situation and report back here if anything significant changes. Until then, happy viewing and stay safe!

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