The Diamond Sports/MLB saga is about to get interesting

After a few weeks of relative stability, if that's even imaginable, we again have some movement and news in regards to the Cleveland Guardians broadcasts on Bally Sports.

Quick recap: Last season, we started hearing reports that things were not going well financially for Diamond Sports (the company that owns and operates Bally Sports). Fast-forward to March 15th of this year and Diamond files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Then, on March 31st, Diamond announces it will not make its 2023 installment fee payment to the Guardians and a number of other clubs. That about sums it up.

Until this week. News broke Tuesday that Major League Baseball, on behalf of the Guardians and Twins, had filed an emergency motion, one in which the league is asking the court to compel Diamond Sports to pay the aforementioned overdue payments. And these are no small fees, as reports have surfaced that the Guardians are owed $55 million and the Twins are owed $42 million annually.

Of note is that the Arizona Diamondbacks also did not receive their payment, but had been notified prior to the Chapter 11 filing, thus adding the club to the list of creditors.

But back to the Guardians and Twins. Bally Sports is still broadcasting games for each club and making money all the while. So what exactly is the desired outcome of MLB's motion? For starters, the motion seeks to have a solution in place by April 13 where Diamond either pays the teams or terminates the contracts for both clubs. This would then allow Major League Baseball to acquire the rights for both, and then presumably broadcast the games via MLB.tv until another solution presented itself.

The next few days will be interesting for sure. It seems like the inevitable will occur, as we all figured that MLB would eventually take over before the season started. But as it usually goes in matters like this, there are many legal barriers/triggers that need to occur or resolved before things are clear. Who knows, maybe the club will once again take over its own broadcasts - will SportsTime Ohio be resurrected?!