Over the last couple of months I have written here about the looming bankruptcy of Diamond Sports, which operates the Bally Sports regional sports networks. Those channels control the rights to 14 MLB teams. To refresh your memory, this article from January and this one from February have more details.
Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed this issue at his Cactus League media day news conference:
Manfred said, “No matter what happens with Diamond, we want to make sure the games are available.” Pressed further on what that might mean if Diamond was unable to broadcast games at all, Manfred said that it’s MLB’s expectation that Diamond would pay the clubs and continue as they have been, but if not: “We’ve been really clear that if Diamond doesn’t pay, for every single broadcast agreement, that creates a termination right.