Bally bankruptcy might change the entire salary structure of baseball as we know it

[NickyPipes]

BUMP

Comcast has pulled Bally Sports channels as of May 1, due to failing to reach a new contract: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ed-air-comcast


This affects broadcasts of the Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Anaheim "Los Angeles" Angels, Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers.

Diamond Sports Group, who owns these channels, is presently in bankruptcy. They entered a 6-month agreement which expired May 1, 2024.

I lose both Rays and Marlins games, heat and panthers as well

Disgrace

[Dan Druff]

The only upside?

Comcast is giving each customer $8-$10 per month in credit, whether they typically watch baseball or not.

This only applies in the markets carrying the teams listed above.

Apparently the deal fell through because Comcast wanted to put it in a more expensive tier, and not for all customers. This would only compensate Diamond for those who were in that tier, whereas a general channel would automatically compensate Diamond for each customer.

[Sidewinder]

Umm, MLB is complete in their retardation.

Season is too long.

Wildcard playoff series are too short.

The best teams in the playoffs have long layoffs which is a huge detriment for the better team.

Along with college football, it is the only big $$ sport where the best team might not win bc of the brain dead playoff structure.

Remember when some random black MVPer bitched about the Georgia voting laws and the pandering execs moved the all-star game from Atlanta at the last minute and then the goofy BLM complainer guy still didn’t show up for the all-star game?

Imagine being a fan and giving these people your money. Dumbest sport ever and their fans deserve the blackouts and endless fuckery.

[gut]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/Tyann98/status/1786548242831785994

The fact that MLB hasn't stepped in yet to just throw some temporary money at comcast, or whatever, to fix this is asinine. Their target audience is the oldest of all the big sports. People that can barely navigate a TV remote. IDGAF as I watch almost everything on the other streaming sites.

Such a bad look right now.

[Dan Druff]

Comcast still telling Diamond (Bally Sports) to go fuck themselves.

This is despite the fact that Diamond has secured deals with Charter, DirecTV and Cox. Without Comcast, Diamond is screwed.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...er-devastating



Eventually this model is going to break.

[Orko]

Bally's is bankrupt huh, I wonder if they got plundered by private equity. Yep the ol make them lease the land they already own scam.
The media is totally complicit. Here's how the article described it.


Bally’s closes $500m sale leaseback with private equity firm
21st November 2022 |
Bally’s has closed a deal worth up to $500m (£423.3m/€488.1m) with a real estate private equity firm in Chicago, wherein the firm acquired the 30-acre Tribune Publishing Center site where Bally’s Chicago will be built.

As part of the deal, Bally’s will lease back the land from the real estate firm in a ground lease agreement. The agreement consists of an initial 99-year term, which will be followed by ten separate 20-year renewals.

In addition, the firm will invest up to $300m for Bally’s Chicago’s development through the deal.

“We are excited to be partnering with one of Chicago’s leading real estate private equity firm as we progress with building our $1.7bn flagship property in the Chicago market,” said Soo Kim, chair of Bally’s board. “We continue to demonstrate our commitment to delivering a world class entertainment facility that supports Chicago’s economy and community.”
That's the misleading bullcrap they tell everyone.

The rental rate for the lease is set to yield an 8.5% annual capitalization rate for the firm, which will adjust to 7.0% after Bally’s receives specified entitlements and gaming approvals.

The deal also allows Bally’s to repurchase the land from the equity firm at a fixed capitalization rate from the fourth to the eighth year of the lease term. In addition, if certain elements of the deal are not met or if Bally’s defaults under the lease, Bally’s may have to reacquire the site.

“This transaction is an important step in our development plan for Bally’s Chicago as we continue to work towards opening the temporary casino in mid-2023,” said Bobby Lavan, chief financial officer at Bally’s.

“With this new real estate partnership, Bally’s has ample liquidity on hand to fund Bally’s Chicago without needing to access the capital markets.”

Wow the future is looking good for Bally's, not.

[Dan Druff]

Wrong Bally's.

It's a confusing brand.

This is Diamond, which receives money for using the Bally Sports name.