ST. LOUIS — Diamond ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Group believes it can rapidly grow its streaming business in the next few years and offset the sagging cable viewership that pushed the broadcast company into bankruptcy last year.
Court records filed this week show that Diamond — the parent of Cardinals and Blues broadcaster Bally ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Midwest — expects a deal with Amazon to launch in October, ahead of the NBA and NHL seasons. As part of that agreement, Amazon Prime Video would become Diamond’s main streaming partner.
In the new filings, the company forecasts that while linear cable subscribers will continue to decline — to 24.9 million in 2026, from 29.8 million this year — direct-to-consumer streaming subscribers will grow to 3.4 million, from 1.1 million this year.
But the sports leagues that rely on Diamond to broadcast their games are raising concerns about the company’s timeline. Diamond’s networks broadcast games for 11 MLB, 15 NBA and 11 NHL teams.
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The Cardinals’ current deal with Bally ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ could continue into 2025 and beyond, depending on decisions made in the bankruptcy proceedings. But Cardinals officials have said they want to give fans more ways to access games and would study various options, regardless of what happens with Bally.
Diamond filed for Chapter 11 protection last March, following years of mounting financial pressure and declining cable subscriptions. The case set off a period of uncertainty for the dozens of professional teams that Diamond pays for the right to broadcast games.
After nearly a year in bankruptcy, the company in January announced that it had secured a lifeline: a series of deals to inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the business. A settlement agreement with parent company Sinclair promised $495 million in cash. And a deal with Amazon promised to bring the cable-reliant company further into the streaming business.
If executed properly, the proposal would allow Diamond to emerge from Chapter 11 proceedings and continue airing professional sports.
Over the past few weeks, the plan hit a hurdle when the NBA, MLB and NHL pushed back on Diamond’s request to take more time to work out those deals.
“These entities are beginning to get concerned,†said Abigail Willie, a visiting assistant professor at St. Louis University School of Law who reviewed the leagues’ responses. “They’re sitting there biting their nails, waiting to see if the debtor can pull this off.â€
The bankruptcy court judge approved an extension for Diamond this week, and the company offered assurances to the leagues at a hearing Wednesday. But the filings show that Diamond is under pressure to pull off several key negotiations in coming months.
In the court documents, attorneys for the NHL and NBA raised concerns that the bankruptcy case could stretch into another season. The NBA wrote that if Diamond fails to reach deals quickly and is forced to wind down its business, the league won’t have enough time to arrange another method of broadcasting its games and monetizing its rights for the 2024-25 season.
“These things do not happen overnight,†the NBA lawyers wrote. “They require time-consuming and costly preparation and sometimes challenging negotiations with third parties. After having had two NBA seasons adversely affected by (Diamond’s) financial distress and bankruptcy, the NBA and its fans should not be subjected to a third season of disruption and uncertainty.â€
An attorney for Diamond said during the hearing that the company is moving quickly and could get a plan finalized by mid-June, ahead of the basketball and hockey seasons.
Attorneys for MLB and seven of its teams (the St. Louis Cardinals were not among them) wrote in filings last week that they had “serious concerns†about the assumptions underpinning the bankruptcy plan. The league noted that Diamond depends on three distributors for the majority of its revenue — DirecTV, Charter and Comcast — but so far had only announced a renewal agreement with Charter. And the company hadn’t given evidence to support projections for its streaming business. Without those details, the attorneys wrote, the MLB couldn’t determine whether Diamond’s bankruptcy plan is viable.
Brian Hermann, an attorney for the company, said during Wednesday’s hearing that Diamond is confident it can reach agreements with DirecTV and Comcast.
Diamond filed a more detailed set of disclosures this week about its plan to emerge from bankruptcy, including its forecasts for streaming growth. On Wednesday, the judge said he planned to approve the disclosures, which a Diamond spokesperson called an “important step†in the company’s restructuring.