Timberwolves fans with Comcast can be glad they made it through the season. It appears Twins fans won’t be quite so lucky.
As Diamond Sports Group, the owner of the Bally Sports Regional Networks, continues to reorganize amid bankruptcy proceedings, its deal with Comcast is expiring at midnight Wednesday, and it appears the regional sports networks will go dark from Comcast systems then, according to a statement from the organization.
Comcast said it has been flexible with Diamond Sports Group during the bankruptcy proceedings, even providing them extensions, but that they haven’t reached a deal.
“We’d like to continue carrying their networks, but they have declined multiple offers and now we no longer have the rights to this programming,” Comcast said in a statement. “We will proactively credit our customers for the costs associated with them — most will automatically receive $8 to 10 per month in credits.”
Diamond Sports Group offered its own statement, expressing disappointment that Comcast “rejected a proposed extension that would have kept our channels on the air and that Comcast indicated that it intends to pull the signals, preventing fans from watching their favorite local teams.”
“Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours. We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts, and at this critical juncture for Diamond, we hope that Comcast will recognize the important and mutually beneficial role Diamond and RSNs play in the media ecosystem,” Diamond Sports Group said in a statement.
The two sides reportedly agreed to a short-term deal in December, but that needed to be revisited and a long-term deal eventually needed to be negotiated. Diamond Sports Group recently reached an agreement in principle with DirecTV, according to Sportico, that would keep the Bally Sports networks on the carrier.
Diamond Sports Group also recently reached a deal with Charter Communications.
Sportico reported on Monday that most in the industry still believe that a deal will be worked out between Diamond Sports Group and Comcast, but it appears that won’t be before the networks go dark from Comcast systems, at least for the short-term.
