U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) has sent a letter to Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, urging him to get his cable company to "return to the negotiation table" with bankrupt regional sports network operator Diamond Sports Group and get a carriage deal done for Bally Sports North.
“My constituents are furious,“ Smith tells Roberts in the missive. “Minnesotans look forward to watching the Twins all winter long.”
Bally Sports channels have been off Comcast programming grids since April 30, with Diamond recently telling the bankruptcy court overseeing its restructuring that it’s at an “impasse” with the No. 2 U.S. pay TV operator.
Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About the Bally Sports Bankruptcy
Bally Sports North is the local TV home to Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins, as well as the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, which are currently in third place overall in the league.
The channel is also the RSN home to the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and NHL's Minnesota Wild.
For its part, Diamond asked the court for an emergency hearing on Tuesday to stop its league partners from demanding that it show details of its contracts with other pay TV operators.
The NBA, NHL and MLB want to know if Diamond has a viable business path moving forward. More specifically, they’d like to know if the Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary has “most favored nation” clauses in its contracts. If it does, capitulating to Comcast’s demands could trigger changes to its other pay TV deals.
