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Further changes are coming to Diamond Sports’ regional sports network.
The company said in court documents filed Tuesday that it has reached a naming rights agreement with the company. flutterFanDuel, owned by , will rebrand its Barry Sports Channel with the start of the National Hockey League season and the National Basketball Association’s 2024-2025 season less than a week away.
Diamond Sports said in its filing that FanDuel will be its “long-term naming rights partner” if it emerges from bankruptcy protection. The new naming rights agreement will also give FanDuel the right to purchase up to 5% of the reorganized company’s stock and obtain performance guarantees on up to 5% of the stock.
The agreement was approved by a bankruptcy judge Friday afternoon, despite concerns raised by MLB’s lawyers about the lack of information about the structure of the term sheet.
MLB attorney James Bromley said during the hearing that MLB wanted more information about the contract structure as it related to sports betting.
Joseph Graham, an attorney representing Diamond Sports, said the agreement still requires both parties to follow all existing league rules regarding gambling.
The judge ended the hearing by asking Diamond Sports’ legal representatives to show MLB and other stakeholders a redacted term sheet to alleviate concerns.
“The majority of FanDuel’s customers are avid RSN viewers, and this agreement allows us to further solidify the FanDuel brand among sports fans and provide a unique means of rewarding our users.” Mike Raffensperger, president of the group’s sports division, said in a company release. Immediately after the hearing ended.
The launch under the FanDuel Sports Network brand will officially take place on Monday across all 16 of Diamond’s regional sports networks. It may have various names depending on the region.
Friday’s court hearing was also the first time Diamond Sports or MLB said the Miami Marlins and Diamond were close to a deal.
A Miami Marlins spokesperson declined comment or confirmation.
Earlier this month, Diamond Sports announced that it plans to drop all MLB teams except the Atlanta Braves starting with the 2025 season. Existing teams are in various stages of contract with Diamond Sports, but in total, the company will be leaving 11 MLB teams.
Diamond Sports’ lawyers said in court earlier this month that withdrawing those teams “is not our preferred path.”
Three of those 11 teams will have games produced by MLB next season, according to a league release.
This new partnership brings Diamond Sports one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy and further increases the profile of FanDuel, already the leading sports betting company by market share.
Diamond said in court documents Tuesday that talks with FanDuel began in February but waited until agreements with the NBA and NHL were finalized to negotiate the final terms of the naming rights deal. Representatives for FanDuel declined to comment beyond the filing, and specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Diamond Sports said in court papers that it considers FanDuel to be an “attractive potential partner due to its high degree of collaboration” with its regional sports network and online gaming business.
What’s in the name?
This will be the third name for the regional sports network. As part of the acquisition of fox companyassets, disney The network had to be sold to obtain regulatory approval. In 2019, Disney offloaded the network, which was still under the Fox Sports banner, and Sinclair. After that, a naming rights agreement was signed with the game company. Bally’s Corporation.
The contract with Bally’s Corp. was terminated as part of a settlement reached between Diamond Sports and Sinclair earlier this year.
Although Diamond remains an independently operated, unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, the lawsuit claims that Sinclair’s ownership exacerbated the company’s problems. Mr Sinclair denied wrongdoing.
Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Since then, Diamond’s restructuring has been filled with back-and-forth negotiations with the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball as the debt-laden Diamond works its way out of bankruptcy.
Diamond Sports said in court documents that it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy as early as December based on financial projections.
Teams in all three leagues have left the network during the bankruptcy proceedings, leaving fans flocking to a variety of local viewing options.
Several MLB teams, including the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, left regional sports networks in 2023, and MLB has been producing local games for each team since then.
Some NBA teams that have left regional sports networks have turned to local stations to broadcast local games. The NHL’s Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks have launched an over-the-top streaming partnership for local viewing with Victory+, a sports streamer owned by Canada-based A Parent Media Co.
