Comcast, Bally Sports agree on new carriage deal

Comcast’s months-long blackout of Bally Sports channels is finally coming to an end. The two sides announced Monday that they agreed on a new carriage deal, allowing baseball fans to watch their local teams beginning on Thursday, which marks the start of August.

The deal — which applies to the 15 regional sports networks owned by Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt operator of Bally Sports channels — allows fans to watch live, local MLB, NBA and NHL games if they are subscribed to Xfinity’s “Ultimate TV,” its most expensive cable package. Xfinity customers who upgrade to the “Ultimate TV” package by Aug. 30 can get it free for a three-month trial period, after which it will cost an additional $20 a month, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Comcast pulled Diamond Sports Group channels off the air at the start of May after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract. The sticking point in negotiations then, sources said, was Comcast’s desire to place Bally Sports channels on a higher tier, significantly limiting the company’s reach, sources said. That Diamond eventually came around perhaps speaks to Comcast’s importance in Diamond’s hopes to emerge from bankruptcy.

Diamond, 16 months into Chapter 11 restructuring, had a confirmation hearing scheduled for July 29 and 30 but asked a bankruptcy judge for more time during a status conference last week, largely because it was closing in on a deal with Comcast. With Comcast secured, Diamond hopes to strike new digital-rights deals with the NBA and the NHL.

The company holds linear rights to 12 MLB teams, with Comcast most prevalent in markets where the Atlanta Braves, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins play. Fans of the Marlins, Rays, Royals and Tigers — four of the five teams Diamond also has streaming rights for, along with the Milwaukee Brewers — have Bally Sports’ streaming app as an in-market option. But that is not the case for fans of the Braves and Twins, two teams who could end up in the postseason.

“Entering a new carriage agreement with Comcast, our third largest distributor, is a critical step forward in our restructuring effort, and we are pleased that fans will again be able to access broadcasts of their local teams through Xfinity,” Diamond CEO David Preschlack wrote in a statement. “With certainty on our distribution, we are focused on finalizing an agreement with the NHL and resolving our ongoing negotiations with the NBA. We are mindful that time is of the essence with basketball and hockey seasons fast approaching, and once agreements with our team and league partners are complete, we intend to move expeditiously to present a plan of reorganization to the court.”