Diamond Sports Group’s exclusivity extension motion draws MLB objection

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Oct. 12 – Diamond Sports Group, LLC’s motion seeking another extension of its exclusive periods to file and solicit votes on a Chapter 11 plan drew an objection from Major League Baseball, according to documents filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Several MLB teams have also joined in on the objection, including the Braves, Guardians, Tigers, Brewers and Rangers.

As previously reported, the company asked the court to extend the exclusive plan filing period through Nov. 29 and the exclusive solicitation period through Jan. 29.

The MLB said that from the outset of the cases, MLB and teams have been focused on obtaining certainty from the debtors regarding the debtors’ plans for their performance under, and treatment of, each of the clubs’ telecast rights agreements.

“For the entirety of the 2023 season, the clubs faced the risk that the Debtors might reject or abandon telecast rights agreements at any time, forcing the clubs and MLB to scramble to telecast games to millions of fans,” the objectors said in court documents.

“MLB was ultimately forced to take over the telecasts of two different clubs during the 2023 season on virtually no notice.”

The MLB said that during that time it waited for the debtors to reach consensus with their stakeholders and propose a Chapter 11 plan.

But after nearly seven months of Chapter 11 protection, one extension of exclusivity and more than one month of court-ordered mediation, the debtors still have no plan of reorganization and no go-forward business plan, the objectors said.

“It is now clear that the debtors have never been in a position to achieve the requisite consensus to adopt a viable strategy,” the MLB said.

“This was true before the March 2023 petition date. It was true when the debtors first moved to extend exclusivity on July 11, 2023. It remains true today.

“The debtors’ time is up.”

Diamond Sports Group is an independently managed and unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group. Diamond owns the Bally Sports Regional Sports networks, a provider of local sports. The Baltimore-based company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 14, 2023 under case number 23-90116.

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