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The MLB has rejected a proposal from Amazon to save Diamond Sports from bankruptcy. They offered $150 million to aid the struggling company that has 11 teams under its umbrella of broadcast. They went bankrupt some time ago, and both they and the league have been trying to fix the regional sports coverage issues since.
Diamond Sports is above Bally Sports, which does a ton of local sports. Teams in certain areas, not just MLB teams, have broadcasts from Bally and Diamond, which has been in jeopardy since they went bankrupt.
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A source told the New York Post the reasoning behind MLB's rejection of the $150 million bid:
“They rejected it because Amazon wanted a streaming deal for more than one year. Manfred said if you want a digital deal it will be with us.”
At the soon to come bankruptcy hearing in Houston, the league is expected to offer the television company a deal that reduces the media rights fees it pays for three of the 11 teams it covers. In exchange, MLB would gain the digital rights for all Diamond teams next year.
Diamond, who is currently bankrupt, could turn down the MLB proposal and try to work out a deal with Amazon still, but that would be difficult and precarious. Neither Diamond or the MLB have commented on the latest development.
The source added:
“Diamond was trying to renegotiate with baseball to get digital rights on a long-term basis [for all the 11 teams] so they could bring in Amazon."
Ultimately, Major League Baseball didn't like that and they rejected the bid.
Amazon tried to swoop in and help Diamond Sports
Diamond Sports has 11 teams that they cover, including the Texas Rangers and many others. With Diamond going bankrupt, Amazon attempted to come in to save the company and get the streaming rights to those teams.
Amazon does have occasional streams of MLB games. Every so often, the New York Yankees have games on Prime Video. This $150 million bid would have allowed them to have all 11 teams under Diamond.
That includes the Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves, but MLB rejected the bid outright.
