For the Angels, Bally Sports is Plan A. What could be Plan B?

Three days after the Angels completed the worst season in franchise history, their fans faced a new and pressing concern: Would they be able to watch their team on television next season?

The answer appears to be yes, and probably in the same way as this season. However, on Wednesday, Bally Sports' parent company announced that it was prepared to stop broadcasting games involving the Angels and all but one other team.

A federal bankruptcy court has the final say, so nothing is final for now, and the Angels and Major League Baseball declined to comment. Here you will find questions and answers about what we know.

What happens in court and what happens to the angels?

Bally filed for bankruptcy 19 months ago. His latest plan to emerge from bankruptcy could involve all teams except the Atlanta Braves opting out of their contracts. This doesn't stop other teams from negotiating new contracts that would save Bally millions in rights fees.

For the Angels, this is Plan A. The team is negotiating with Bally to restructure his current contract. The Angels would forego some guaranteed revenue to avoid the financial uncertainty of a streaming-first future.

Could I see the Angels on TV next year if the Angels don't sign a restructured deal with Bally?

Almost certainly. MLB could deliver the games the way it does now for the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies: by offering a streaming option while striking deals with cable and satellite companies. For example, the Padres' monthly streaming price this year was $19.99.

Could the Angels explore other options?

You could. The Ducks, for example, offer a free streaming option as well as 65 free over-the-air games on Channel 11 or Channel 13. The Ducks are one of several NBA and NHL teams sacrificing revenue — at least in the short term — in exchange for the ability to reach every fan in their local market.

Where does MLB stand?

Unlike the NBA and NHL, the MLB has asked its teams not to sign a new Bally's deal at a significant discount.

MLB has long hoped to launch a nationwide streaming package, assuming the league could secure streaming rights for a critical mass of its 30 teams.

The Bally strategy could push MLB in that direction. The plan unveiled Wednesday would strip 11 teams of any ties to Bally.

With three more MLB teams recently cut from another broadcast company, this could give the league the opportunity to market streaming rights to about half of its teams at the same time.

One party that might be interested in these rights: ESPN for its ESPN+ service. ESPN is reportedly considering renewing or renegotiating its national MLB package — highlighted by Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby and Wild Card games — and streaming rights could be an incentive to keep ESPN.

If the Angels and other teams return to Bally or go elsewhere, that could complicate MLB's plans depending on the terms of those deals. Regional sports channels usually only offer streaming rights to subscribers. Last season, five MLB teams – not including the Angels – granted Bally the right to stream their games to non-subscribers.

Would the Dodgers be part of a national streaming package?

Almost certainly not. The Dodgers' record $8.35 billion contract with SportsNet LA runs through 2038.

The Dodgers and other major teams that own local cable channels — including the New York Yankees (YES), Boston Red Sox (NESN) and Chicago Cubs (Marquee) — are expected to make a lot more money on their own. It's unlikely that small clubs would be willing to pay the billions it would take to buy out the big teams, even if those teams agreed to a takeover bid.

What is the Angels' current television contract?

In 2011, the company, then called Fox Sports, had lost the Lakers to Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers' television rights were about to go on the market. Angels owner Arte Moreno took excellent advantage of this situation by getting out of a $500 million Fox Sports contract and signing a new deal worth $3 billion.

This contract, inherited from Bally, remains in effect for the time being. According to Moreno, the Angels were owed $112 million in rights fees from Bally in 2023. According to Sportico, the team had an estimated total revenue of $407 million that year.

The uncertainty over what might happen to about 28% of the team's revenue could put a damper on the amount Moreno could approve in player spending next winter.

What did Commissioner Rob Manfred say about teams that lost their regional sports network?

“We think range is a really important change,” Manfred said at the All-Star Game in July.

“San Diego is kind of leading the way in Clubhouse there, getting close to 40,000 subscribers, which is a really good number. However, from a revenue perspective, it doesn't generate what the RSNs did. The RSNs were a great business. A lot of people paid for programs they didn’t necessarily want, and it’s difficult to replicate that kind of revenue.”

In 2023, the league guaranteed that any team that loses its local television contract will keep at least 80% of the revenue from that contract, with MLB making up any shortfalls. Does this guarantee still apply?

NO.