Texas Rangers ending partnership with Bally Sports after 2024 pending approval
Bally Sports and its parent company, Diamond Sports Group, announced in a court filing on Nov. 9th that they had reached an agreement with their creditors to resolve any remaining issues for the 2024 MLB season after which Bally will step away from broadcasting baseball games.
The deal is not yet official because Bally’s parent company DSG is in bankruptcy court and will have to have the agreement approved by a judge.
If approved by the judge it would end the Rangers partnership with Bally Sports which has broadcasted the team’s games since Diamond Sports Group obtained the rights from Fox Sports Southwest.
The deal led to consternation from many fans who were unable to watch the Rangers game due to many TV providers not carrying Bally Sports.
Since 2020 many TV providers have been in a contract dispute with DSG, which owns 21 regional sports networks and is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcasting. It has the rights to to over 40 professional sports teams, several of which are in the Metroplex including the Rangers, Mavericks and Stars.
Rangers fans in the Metroplex had to use DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, TV Max or Spectrum if they wanted to watch Bally Sports Southwest. Bally Sports Southwest did offer an app for fans but the cost was $19.99 per month, considerably more than ESPN+, Disney+ or Max.
Earlier this year the Rangers almost received their TV rights due to Bally skipping an April payment which caused the Rangers along with the MLB and other teams to take Bally to court which eventually led to Bally paying the Rangers rights fees.
If approved by a judge the Rangers would have a new broadcast partner for their 2025 season.