Will Texas Rangers Follow Path of NHL Team Leaving TV Partner?

As the Texas Rangers try to navigate the evolving regional sports network market, the Vegas Golden Knights are the latest team to make a move.

The Vegas Golden Knights became the first NHL team to break away from its regional sports network (RSN) and sign a new local contact when the franchise announced a multi-year deal with Scripps Sports.

Scripps Sports owns Ion Television, which is better known for broadcasting family-friendly fare in 61 local television markets. But Scripps has sought to move into the sports space. The deal with the Golden Knights represents Scripps’ first deal with an NHL team. Knights games will be shown on the Las Vegas Ion affiliate.

Golden Knights games were previously broadcast on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain. But its parent company, Warner Brothers Discovery, will shut down its RSNs after the end of baseball season.

How does this impact the Texas Rangers? It shows how quickly things are changing in the RSN field as contracts expire.

Last month Phoenix’s two pro basketball teams – NBA’s Suns and WNBA’s Mercury – entered into an agreement with Gray Television and the Kiswe streaming service to broadcast their games. The franchises intend not to renew their contract with Bally Sports Arizona.

Bally Sports Arizona is currently suing the two teams. Details of the new deal with Gray and Kiswe have not been disclosed.

Rangers games are broadcast on Bally Sports Southwest, which is owned by Diamond Sports Group. DSG is going through Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Rangers are currently waiting for a payment from DSG after it failed to make its rights-fee payment on April 15. The Rangers have joined MLB, the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians in a legal effort to collect those rights fees from DSG.

DSG recently made a payment to the Cincinnati Reds to keep their games on Bally Sports Ohio, but DSG waited until the end of the deadline to cure the debt.

DSG’s failure to make its scheduled payments could allow those teams, along with MLB, to begin a process to break free of those contracts. The Rangers sent a letter to DSG before it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy stating it would terminate its TV rights agreement if the company became insolvent.

The Rangers consider the agreement to be severed, while DSG disagrees. The Rangers have also reportedly sought a new broadcast partner with DSG’s knowledge.

From the time DSG skipped the Rangers’ payment, it had 30 days to cure the payment. A bankruptcy judge will consider MLB’s full motion on May 31.

The Rangers originally signed a 20-year, $3 billion deal in 2010 with Fox Sports Southwest, which was purchased by DSG and became Bally Sports Southwest in 2019. It is believed the Rangers are owed $111 million in 2023.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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