By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman
Diamond Sports, which declared bankruptcy in March, made its scheduled July 1 payment to the Cleveland Guardians, according to an article published today by Crain’s Cleveland Business.
But the publication writes that the owner of the 18 Bally Sports regional sports networks must make another payment to the Guardians by August 1. The July 1 payment should guarantee that the Guardians will stay on Bally Sports until at least the end of this month. But it’s unclear what happens if Diamond Sports misses the next deadline.
Diamond Sports had until July 1 to make its regular payments to both the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians. The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis has reported that Diamond Sports paid the Twins on time so it will broadcast their games at least for the remainder of the season.
But there has been no word on what happened with the Guardians. The Crain’s Cleveland Business report has not been confirmed publicly by either Diamond Sports or the team.
However, Diamond Sports has not filed a motion in bankruptcy court to reject the Guardians contract or a request to postpone the payment. The company filed a motion to reject the San Diego Padres deal on May 30 and Major League Baseball took over the broadcasts the next day.
Diamond also filed a motion to end its deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the company and team are now negotiating to continue the agreement. The bankruptcy court has set a July 17 hearing on the Diamondbacks case.
As of now, it would appear that Diamond Sports’ agreement with the Guardians is intact, and that the company’s Bally Sports channel will continue broadcasting the team’s games indefinitely. The TV Answer Man will continue to monitor this situation and report back here if anything changes.
Until then, happy viewing and stay safe!
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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
