Diamond Sports Group and DIRECTV Announce Multi-Year Distribution Agreement
May 01 2024 - 12:30PM
Business Wire
Diamond Sports Group (“Diamond” or the “Company”) and DIRECTV
today announced that they have reached a multi-year renewal of
their distribution agreement for the continued carriage of
Diamond’s portfolio of regional sports networks (“RSNs”).
Under the agreement, DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM customers who
select a CHOICETM, ULTIMATE or PREMIER package will maintain access
to live, local MLB, NBA and NHL games and team related content
featured on Diamond’s several RSN channels. Additionally, these
customers will soon be able to stream Diamond’s RSN content by
authenticating with their DIRECTV subscription credentials on the
Bally Sports app. Any DIRECTV or DIRECTV STREAM customers who do
not have direct access to Diamond’s RSN channels as part of their
primary video service will be able to purchase Diamond’s
Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) product via DIRECTV and access the full
complement of local DTC content for any teams to which Diamond
retains DTC rights.
David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond, stated: “We are pleased to
extend our relationship with DIRECTV to provide high quality local
sports telecasts for passionate fans in the home markets of our
team partners. This is a significant development for Diamond, and
we highly value the relationship we have built with DIRECTV and
their customers over the course of many years. We remain focused on
executing the steps necessary to reorganize Diamond with a
structure that drives sustainable value for our stakeholders,
including our distributors and league and team partners.”
Rob Thun, Chief Content Officer of DIRECTV, stated: “DIRECTV has
always been a sports leader and we continue to see significant
opportunity for both our residential and commercial customers in
local sports. We want to ensure our customers receive more
flexibility, choice and value, and this agreement provides them
with those capabilities. Diamond’s regional sports networks remain
a key component of our live sports offering, and we look forward to
working with Diamond and the many popular MLB, NBA, NHL, and other
teams it retains for years to come under this new agreement.”
Diamond’s agreement with DIRECTV follows Diamond’s previously
announced multi-year renewal of its distribution agreement with
Charter Communications, Inc and Cox Communications.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
About Diamond Sports Group
Diamond Sports Group LLC, an independently managed and
unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair Inc., owns the Bally Sports
Regional Sports Networks (RSNs), the nation’s leading provider of
local sports. Its 18 owned-and-operated RSNs include Bally Sports
Detroit, Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Great Lakes, Bally
Sports Indiana, Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest,
Bally Sports New Orleans, Bally Sports North, Bally Sports Ohio,
Bally Sports Oklahoma, Bally Sports San Diego, Bally Sports SoCal,
Bally Sports South, Bally Sports Southeast, Bally Sports Southwest,
Bally Sports Sun, Bally Sports West, and Bally Sports Wisconsin.
The Bally Sports RSNs serve as the TV home to nearly half of all
MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States. Diamond Sports
Group also has a joint venture in Marquee, the home of the Chicago
Cubs, and a minority interest in the YES Network, the local
destination for the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets. Diamond
RSNs produce over 4,000 live local professional telecasts each year
in addition to a wide variety of locally produced sports events and
programs.
About DIRECTV
As a leader in sports and entertainment for 30 years, DIRECTV
provides industry-leading content and an amazing user experience
with or without a satellite. By reimagining what is possible,
DIRECTV’s mission is to aggregate, curate and deliver exceptional,
innovative service to its customers. In 2023, DIRECTV elevated the
customer experience by delivering Gemini, which can integrate
customers’ content from their third-party streaming services onto a
single one-stop, digital experience. At DIRECTV, the sports season
never ends, and customers are treated to broadcasts of several
major sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and multiple
international soccer leagues. DIRECTV provides customers the choice
of watching sports, movies, and TV shows on their TVs at home or
their favorite mobile devices via the DIRECTV App.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240430215540/en/
Media For Diamond Sports Group: Paul Caminiti/Renée
Soto/Luc Herbowy, Reevemark DiamondSportsTeam@reevemark.com For
DIRECTV: Thomas Tyrer ttyrer@directv.com or media@directv.com