Get ready to stream a whole lot more sporting events on Amazon Prime Video. As part of Diamond Sports' restructuring deal after the monolith regional sports broadcaster filed for bankruptcy, Amazon has agreed to invest as a partner in the company.
Diamond Sports owns the Bally Sports family of broadcast networks — 18 in total — which control the rights to a whopping 37 professional teams (11 from Major League Baseball, 15 from the NBA, and 11 from the NHL).
Under the terms of Diamond's deal with Amazon, in addition to its minority investment Amazon will also be allowed to stream Diamond's library of content via Prime Video thanks to a commercial arrangement.
As ESPN explains, “Customers will be able to access their local team's content on Prime Video channels where Diamond has rights. Pricing and availability will be announced at a later date. Regional sports content will also remain available on cable and satellite providers.”
This is a major deal for any sports fan whose local team is broadcast on a Bally Sports channel, as it provides another cord-cutting option for a way to stream games.
In addition, ESPN further reports that “the agreement with Diamond Sports' largest creditors allows it to emerge from bankruptcy, continue operations and prevents a total collapse of the regional sports network system where the NBA, NHL and MLB would have to step in to take over production and distribution of most of their teams.”
Diamond Sports announced the deal with Amazon on Wednesday morning, though Amazon had no comment at this time. The agreement remains subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.
