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Attorneys representing Diamond Sports Group on Thursday filed a motion with a Houston bankruptcy court requesting a 41-day extension of the date of the company’s scheduled confirmation hearing.
In a four-page document submitted to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Diamond’s counsel asked that the hearing be pushed from June 18 to July 29. While Diamond’s legal team did not specify why the company needed extra time to prepare for the confirmation session, the delay naturally would provide CEO David Preschlack with a generous buffer zone as he looks to secure a carriage renewal with Comcast.
As part of Thursday’s filing, Diamond’s attorneys noted that the modification of all dates and deadlines related to the case was in accordance with the disclosure statement order handed down by the court a month ago.
Fifteen of Diamond’s Bally Sports-branded RSNs have been dark in Comcast markets since the legacy carriage deal expired at the end of April. The operator closed out the first quarter of 2024 with 13.6 million residential video subscribers.
The Comcast outage is of particular concern to Major League Baseball, which has argued that a failure to resume carriage with the cable giant would interfere with Diamond’s plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Earlier this month, MLB counsel James Bromley told the court that the distribution stalemate was “devastating” for the league and its fans. “The fact that we don’t have Comcast broadcasting Major League Baseball is a serious thing,” Bromley said. “We have multiple teams who are facing substantial problems … because their fans are unable to watch these games.”
Formal talks between Comcast and Diamond have yet to resume since the signals went dark.
Speaking in New York this afternoon following an MLB owners’ meeting, commissioner Rob Manfred bemoaned the fact that the league has no recourse with which to counter the standoff that has left so many baseball fans out in the cold. “We just don’t have the legal right or the ability to solve that problem,” Manfred said. “We always are concerned when we have fans who are not able to watch games. I mean, it’s a problem.”
Manfred went on to say that he could not make a definitive statement as to whether MLB would decide to oppose Diamond’s formal reorganization plan. “It’s hard to comment on whether we’re going to object or not because there is no plan at this point,” Manfred said. “Their whole plan is, you know, ‘We’re going to get deals with distributors. … We’re going to continue with the other leagues.’ They don’t have a deal with the NBA, they don’t have a deal with the NHL, and they don’t have a deal with us—So, other than that…”
That said, Manfred did note he expected Diamond would continue to carry in-market games for its 12 MLB club partners through the end of the 2024 season. Diamond has not missed a rights payment since it elected to part ways with the San Diego Padres one year ago.
MLB is eager to forge ahead with a plan to develop an in-house streaming platform, but such ambitions will remain shelved for as long as the Diamond case remains in front of Judge Christopher Lopez. While further delays in coming to a resolution may place an additional burden on Diamond’s team partners across the three leagues, Manfred acknowledged that the wheels of justice, as meted out in Chapter 11 proceedings, move sluggishly.
“Bankruptcy is bankruptcy. It goes at its own pace,” he said.