According to journalist JOE REEDY of the Associated Press, the following information was reported.

Amazon will partner with Diamond Sports as part of a restructuring agreement as the largest owner of regional sports networks looks to emerge from bankruptcy.

Diamond is the owner of 18 Bally Sports networks, which hold the broadcasting rights for 37 professional teams, including 11 baseball teams, 15 NBA teams, and 11 NHL teams.

Diamond Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas in March and has since been undergoing proceedings. In its financial filing for late 2021, the company reported a debt of $8.67 billion.

Diamond Sports announced the terms of the agreement on Wednesday morning. The terms were then presented to Judge Christopher Lopez at an afternoon hearing in Houston.

At the end of the hearing, Lopez stated that there is a lot of information to process, especially when reflecting on the events of the fourth quarter of last year. This new direction that the company is taking is certainly intriguing and is seen as a positive development.

Diamond Sports was in talks with all of the leagues to finalize deals before the upcoming baseball season ends.

Both the NBA and NHL have confirmed receipt of the documents and are currently reviewing them before determining their next course of action with Diamond. Major League Baseball was more direct in their assessment.

“We have a lot of information to process. However, it cannot be processed as it has not been bought, prepared, or served yet. Once we reach that stage, we will examine it and determine if it can be processed,” stated MLB attorney James Bromley during the hearing. “We will hold off on offering congratulations until we actually receive something.”

Amazon did not provide a prompt response. The agreement still needs to be approved by the bankruptcy court.

The deal with Diamond Sports’ primary debtors enables them to come out of bankruptcy and keep functioning, avoiding a complete breakdown of the local sports network structure. This means that the NBA, NHL, and MLB will not have to step in to handle the production and distribution of the majority of their teams.

During the previous season, MLB was responsible for producing and distributing the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks games after Diamond failed to make payment for the rights to the Padres and could not come to a new agreement with the Diamondbacks.

According to the terms of the reorganization deal, Amazon will make a small financial contribution to Diamond, estimated to be $115 million at first, and also establish a business agreement to offer access to Diamond’s content through Prime Video.

Customers will be able to access their local team’s content on Prime Video channels where Diamond has rights. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date, but it is unlikely that this content would be available as benefit included for current Prime subscribers. Regional sports content will also remain available on cable and satellite providers.

The YES Network has already made some New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games available on Amazon Prime.

As this bankruptcy case is quite intricate, it may take some time before games are accessible on Prime Video.

There is a preliminary agreement between Diamond and Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve their ongoing legal dispute.

In 2019, Sinclair purchased the regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for approximately $10 billion. The Department of Justice mandated that Disney sell the networks in order for their acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets to be authorized.

Prior to Sinclair’s acquisition of the local networks, the company was already facing challenges as a result of the trend of cord-cutting and a decrease in advertising profits. This was exacerbated by entering into costly, lengthy contracts with certain teams.

As part of a deal with lenders in the previous year, Diamond Sports Group was established as an independent entity from Sinclair.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sinclair has agreed to compensate Diamond with $495 million and offer continued assistance to facilitate Diamond’s restructuring. The funds from the settlement will also be used to settle outstanding debts owed to certain creditors.

David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond Sports, expressed excitement over the completion of a comprehensive restructuring agreement that outlines a plan for reorganization and provides significant new funding to ensure the company’s success beyond 2024. He also expressed gratitude for the support of Amazon and a group of major creditors who have shown confidence in the potential of the business. In the short term, Diamond’s main focus will be on implementing the restructuring agreement and emerging from bankruptcy as a viable entity, benefiting investors, employees, partnerships with teams and leagues, and the millions of fans who enjoy their broadcasts.

Diamond has recently entered into agreements with the NHL and NBA that will allow them to maintain local rights until the end of the current season.

I am currently negotiating with MLB regarding revised contracts. Diamond has not yet finalized new terms with the reigning World Series winners, the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians, and their agreement with the Minnesota Twins ended after last season.

However, Amazon has obtained the rights to directly distribute to consumers for the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays.

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This report was assisted by AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum.

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The latest sports news from the Associated Press can be found at: https://apnews.com/sports

Source: wralsportsfan.com