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Diamond Sports Group, NBA reach agreement: Grizzlies games expected to air on Bally Sports
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- Diamond Sports Group, NBA reach agreement: Grizzlies games expected to air on Bally Sports
Memphis Grizzlies games are one step closer to being aired on Bally Sports for the 2024-25 season.
The NBA and Diamond Sports Group reached an agreement that will allow 13 NBA regional sports networks with Diamond to distribute games locally. Nine other NHL markets are included in the agreement, according to court filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. The decision is pending approval by the bankruptcy court before being finalized.
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Diamond Sports is the parent company for Bally Sports, which is where local Grizzlies TV games are aired. When the Grizzlies released their 2024-25 NBA schedule, Bally Sports was not listed as carrying any of the preseason or regular-season games. That will remain the case until the decision reaches approval through a bankruptcy court, but Friday's development was positive news for Grizzlies, NBA and NHL fans.
"We are appreciative of the ongoing collaboration and long-term partnerships with the NBA and NHL," David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond Sports Group, said in a statement. "These new agreements that cover NBA and NHL linear and DTC rights are another major milestone and continue Diamond's momentum toward emergence, which will enable us to provide value for our NBA and NHL partners and continue to serve dedicated local NBA, NHL and MLB fans. Having completed negotiations with key partners that provide certainty around our content and distribution, Diamond is well-positioned for the future. With the support of our creditors, we are focused on finalizing our reorganization plan to support our emergence and presenting that plan to the Court in due course."
Diamond Sports Group announced in July that it reached a distribution deal with Comcast after Xfinity customers weren't able to watch games since May. In January, DSG entered a Restructuring Support Agreement with its largest creditors in a plan to provide a framework for reorganization by clearing Diamond from bankruptcy and continuing its operations. Part of that plan included Amazon making an investment in Diamond to stream games on Prime Video for next season.
In March 2023, Bally Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — often called reorganization bankruptcy. This allowed Diamond to continue running its business with court approval to borrow money.
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The current agreement in place for the Grizzlies and 12 other NBA teams extends through the end of the 2024-25 season.
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The Phoenix Suns , a former Bally Sports partner, made waves last season when they decided to air their local games through broadcast TV. A statement from an NBA spokesperson provided to The Commercial Appeal stated that two other former Bally Sports partners, "the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans declined to continue distributing their games on Diamond RSNs."
The Pelicans announced earlier this month that their games will air on broadcast TV, while the plan for the Mavericks is currently unknown.
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The Grizzlies will begin preseason action on Oct. 7 against the Mavericks, and regular season play starts on Oct. 23 on the road versus the Utah Jazz .
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com . Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Grizzlies games expected to air on Bally Sports for 2024-25 NBA season
