Jose Siri, #26 of Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros, steals second base as Dansby Swanson, #7 of the Atlanta Braves, is unable to handle the throw from Travis d’Arnaud, #16, in the eighth inning during Game 3 of the 2021 World Series at Truist Park in Atlanta on Oct. 29, 2021.
Daniel Shirey | Major League Baseball | Getty Images
Diamond Sports moved closer to exiting bankruptcy on Thursday after a bankruptcy judge said he would sign off on the company’s reorganization plan.
The green light is a significant milestone for the owner of regional sports networks, which has been under bankruptcy protection since March 2023. During that time, the company has made dramatic changes to its deals with professional sports teams and leagues, as well as its business model, to prove it can be a viable company in the future.
“This is a pretty significant day for this company. When we entered bankruptcy, I’d love to be able to tell you that I knew with confidence that we would reorganize this business. I thought we would, but couldn’t tell for certain that we could,” a Diamond Sports attorney said in court Thursday.
“We took a pretty twisted journey to get here with potential wind-down as an option, but we are here today to reorganize this business,” he continued.
In the weeks leading up to the hearing, Diamond inked various deals, including an agreement with Amazon’s Prime Video to stream games and a naming rights deal with Flutter’s FanDuel.
In the days going into the hearing Diamond faced opposition from Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves, but the company managed to resolve those issues prior to Thursday’s court hearing. It presented its reorganization plan to the court with a sole objection from the U.S. Trustee, a watchdog overseeing the case. The judge on Thursday overruled the objection and approved the plan.
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