Bankrupt U.S. sports activities broadcaster Diamond Sports Group reached agreements on Friday to televise Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins video games in 2024, giving it a roster of 12 Major League Baseball groups because it strikes forward with an Amazon-backed restructuring settlement.

Diamond Sports is a Sinclair Broadcast unit that operates regional sports activities channels beneath the Bally Sports model. It mentioned in courtroom filings in Houston chapter courtroom that the renewed agreements resolved a attainable lose-lose state of affairs that would have canceled the groups’ broadcast contracts outright, chopping into Diamond’s income and leaving the groups scrambling to seek out new broadcast preparations for a baseball season that begins in late March. Diamond didn’t disclose monetary phrases of the brand new agreements.

“We are pleased to have reached agreements with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers that work for all parties and enable us to continue delivering high-quality, live game broadcasts on Bally Sports to dedicated fans through the 2024 season,” Diamond Sports mentioned in an announcement. Diamond entered the 12 months with tv rights to 11 MLB groups, however sought to resume an expired settlement with the Twins and renegotiate phrases with the Rangers and Guardians, main these groups to hunt early termination as a substitute.

The agreements reached on Friday will permit Diamond to pay lower than its earlier contract fee, permitting the broadcaster to earn a revenue on the printed contracts for yet one more 12 months, whereas giving the groups respiration room in order that they the discover new tv companions for 2025, in keeping with the courtroom filings. The Rangers and Guardians will truncate their present contracts, whereas the Twins, whose contract expired in 2023, will basically get a brand new one-year contract with Diamond.

Diamond filed for chapter in March 2023, caught between costly broadcast rights agreements and a drop in income as a result of cord-cutting by sports activities viewers. The sports activities broadcaster had been headed towards a liquidation of its enterprise earlier than reaching a restructuring deal in January with its lenders, Sinclair, and Amazon. Diamond will obtain $450 million in financing from its present lender group, $495 million from Sinclair and $115 million from Amazon, utilizing the funds to pay down older money owed and proceed operations.

Amazon will take a minority fairness stake in Diamond as a part of the deal, and Amazon’s Prime Video will stream MLB, NBA and NHL video games as permitted by Diamond’s contracts with sports activities groups. Diamond has streaming rights for simply 5 of the 12 MLB groups – the Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers – beneath contract, which has been a supply of competition between Diamond Sports and MLB.

For 2024, Diamond and Amazon may have the proper to stream video games for 15 NBA groups, 11 NHL groups, in addition to these 5 MLB groups.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)