MLB Files Court Grievance Against Diamond Sports (Bally) Over Comcast Dispute

If you have followed the Minnesota Twins at all the past handful of months among the most significant storylines has been regarding television rights. While the franchise themselves did nothing to open up their product to a wider audience, they took the most money from Diamond Sports and went on with business as usual.

MLB Files Grievance Against Diamond Sports

Now dealing with a blackout of Bally Sports on Comcast, Major League Baseball is trying to step up the pressure on Diamond Sports Group. In a court filing on Tuesday, Major League Baseball argued, “This abrupt loss of carriage is profoundly harmful to MLB. Without incoming revenue from Comcast, Diamond faces substantially increased risk of shutting down altogether.”

This line of thinking is beyond sensible, with Diamond and Comcast arguing over dollars, the company dealing with bankruptcy proceedings now has an even greater challenge when it comes to revenue.

It isn’t always typical for the league to get involved with carriage disputes, but Major League Baseball is seeing this latest Diamond Sports + Compast battle impact more than one-third of their league, given the company’s behemoth’s reach as one of the country’s largest cable providers.

While Diamond Sports continues to work through bankruptcy court in an effort to continue operations beyond 2024, Major League Baseball has watched as the owner of Bally Sports now deals with blackout restrictions for 12 teams through Comcast’s cable service. As the side continue to have discussions, the two-week mark has come and gone with the product off the shelf.

Court dates on May 22 and June 18 loom large in terms of objections and confirmation hearings, but Major League Baseball is beyond skeptical how the sides can continue to go forward like this.

Minnesota Twins Blackout From Diamond Sports Crushing

Diamond Sports contract with Comcast came to an end on April 30, meaning the Minnesota Twins last 12 games have not been televised by the mammoth cable provider. In that stretch Rocco Baldelli and his team have been among the best teams in baseball. The culmination of a 12-game winning streak was not widely distributed, and Minnesota’s six consecutive series wins hasn’t been shown either.