Will MLB take control of regional sports networks amid Diamond Sports Group's impending bankruptcy?

Diamond Sports Group is facing bankruptcy, which could have drastic effects on Major League Baseball. The company is a media company that owns Bally Sports' 19 regional sports channels, so this bankruptcy could theoretically impact fans' ability to watch their teams play.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred insists that that won't happen. He regrets that this is happening, but he knows it's a part of life. He said via ESPN:

"Obviously, we want all of our broadcast partners to be successful. We don't want them to have financial difficulties, and we have been spending a lot of time and effort trying to work with them, figure out where they are."

He continued, saying that he did have a plan for this sort of thing:

"Obviously, our first choice would be that Diamond pay the clubs what they're contractually obligated to pay them, but because I guess I'm a contingency planner by nature, we are prepared no matter what happens with respect to Diamond to make sure that games are available to fans in their local markets."

Diamond Sports Group is connected to 14 MLB teams, so it could affect nearly half the league. The company is said to be using the 30-day grace period to look at things, but the expectation is that they'll go bankrupt at the end of it.

Quotes via ESPN.

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How can MLB change things after Diamond Sports Group goes under?

There's hope that Diamond Sports Group's impending bankruptcy could free the MLB from their struggles. This could in turn help them stop black-outs and generally make the game more accessible.

Rob Manfred may have to step in

But that's a long-term thing. In the short term, that won't happen. Manfred wants to eventually get there, but that won't happen in the immediate wake of Diamond Sports Group's implosion.

Manfred said the following on the matter:

"In the event that MLB stepped in, what we would do is we would produce the games. We would make use of our asset, the MLB Network, to do that. We would go directly to distributors -- meaning Comcast, Charter, the big distributors -- and make an agreement to have those games distributed on cable networks."

Since bankruptcy is expected to take place before the season, this could be MLB's reality for the regular season.