Diamond Sports Group will not carry 11 MLB teams in 2025

Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt operator of the Bally Sports channels, announced that in 2025 it will stop broadcasting games for 11 of the 12 Major League Baseball teams currently televised.

Diamond announced the decision in court Wednesday and said it would continue to play Atlanta Braves games next season.

Seven of the remaining 11 teams – the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays – were under contract with Diamond for 2025. These teams will have to either negotiate a new contract with Diamond or find another operator.

The other four teams promoted by Diamond this season — the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers — had contracts with Diamond that expired after the 2024 season.

The Angels, Reds, Cardinals, Royals and Marlins have joint venture agreements that would result in legal action if Diamond terminates his agreements.

MLB attorney James Bromley said in court that the league was “blindsided” by the development, a point Diamond's attorney refuted.

“We have no information about what is being done,” Bromley said at the court hearing, according to The Athletic. “We have not had the opportunity to review and now we are in court being asked to give our opinion.”

A source at Diamond told ESPN's Alden Gonzalez that the company still hopes to agree to new terms with the 11 other teams and has already made proposals to each of them. However, MLB has consistently questioned Diamond's viability and has shown no willingness to negotiate new rights deals since the company's Chapter 11 restructuring nearly 19 months ago.

The confirmation date has been set for November 14th and 15th in bankruptcy court in Houston. The deadline for objections is November 5th.

Diamond secured new contracts with lower rights fees with the NBA and NHL on August 23, shortly after agreeing to a new broadcast agreement with Comcast that brought Diamond channels to the most expensive tier.

Diamond currently owns the rights to 13 NBA teams and eight NHL teams, having recently dropped the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans from the NBA.

In a statement, a Diamond spokesperson wrote: “Today marks an important step forward for Diamond with the filing of a baseline plan designed to enable us to emerge from bankruptcy as a viable, sustainable company before the end of the year. We have submitted proposals.” We firmly believe that through our linear and digital offerings we have created the best economic and fan-friendly engine for all of our team partners.”

MLB has long-term plans to consolidate linear and direct-to-consumer rights under a national umbrella, viewing it as a long-term pivot for a cable model that has become increasingly volatile. Assuming none of the 11 teams at risk of being barred by Diamond agree to new contracts, MLB – which handled the transfers for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks after they were barred last year – could – technically the league retains the rights to almost half.

With local media collectively accounting for about 20% of team revenue, Diamond's plans will create ever-increasing financial uncertainty for teams – the kind that could once again impact offseason spending.

ESPN's Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.