Sinclair's $10B bet on regional sports became the biggest US media bankruptcy of 2023

In 2019 Sinclair Broadcast Group bought 21 regional sports networks from Disney for nearly $10 billion — a divestiture forced by regulators during the Fox acquisition. The networks, branded Bally Sports, broadcast about 5,000 live games a year for 42 professional teams: 14 MLB, 16 NBA and 12 NHL franchises.

The economics rested on cable subscriptions that were already shrinking, and the COVID-19 pandemic emptied the bars and restaurants whose subscription revenue mattered most. By early 2023 Diamond Sports Group had missed a $140 million interest payment, and on March 14, 2023 it filed for Chapter 11 with about $8.67 billion in debt and $425 million cash on hand — the largest US media bankruptcy in years.

The bankruptcy unraveled the regional-sports model team by team. The San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies left the network early, and by the time Diamond emerged, Major League Baseball had taken over production for seven teams and Diamond had shed most of its baseball rights.

On November 14, 2024, after 20 months in bankruptcy, a judge approved Diamond's emergence: debt cut from nearly $9 billion to $200 million, broadcast rights retained for 27 teams at lower fees, Sinclair's equity wiped out, a naming-rights deal with FanDuel, and Amazon Prime Video carrying Diamond's networks to streaming subscribers.