Guardians reach TV deal for 2024

Diamond Sports to air games on Bally

Cleveland Guardians games will be televised by Bally Sports Great Lakes in 2024, pending court approval of an agreement with Diamond Sports Group, the team confirmed in a statement Feb. 2.

The agreement is newsworthy because Diamond Sports Group (DSG) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of last year, leaving in doubt where Guardians games would be aired the upcoming season. The agreement with Diamond was reached less than two weeks before the start of spring training Feb. 15 in Goodyear,

Az.

“We can confirm we have reached an agreement with Diamond Sports Group for the 2024 season,” a statement from the Guardians reads. “That agreement is currently pending court approval.”

Bally Sports has televised Guardians games since 2021. Diamond Sports Group is the parent company of Bally and other regional sports networks around the country broadcasting NBA and NHL games. Cavaliers games are televised by Bally Great Lakes.

Money from Amazon helped DSG crawl out of bankruptcy.

Diamond Sports Group paid the Guardians $55 million last year for broadcast rights. The Guardians were due to be paid between $60 million and $65 million in 2024, but they likely had to agree to a modest payment reduction to make the agreement work.

Diamond on Feb. 2 filed three bankruptcy motions in Houston to continue televising games for the Guardians, Twins and Rangers.

“We are pleased to have reached agreements with the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers that work for all parties and enable us to continue delivering high-quality, live game broadcasts on Bally Sports to dedicated fans through the 2024 season,” a Diamond Sports spokesperson told The Athletic.

Cavaliers fans are able to

watch games on their tablets, phones or other mobile devices on Bally Sports+, but Guardians fans will not have that same opportunity because the agreement with DSG does not include direct-to-consumer streaming rights for the Twins, Rangers or Guardians.

The Guardians, Twins and Rangers can sign their own separate media deals starting in 2025.

TIM PHILLIS — FOR THE NEWS-HERALD A base is shown prior to the Guardians’ home opener against the Mariners on April 7, 2023.