Diamond Sports, Comcast reach a deal to return Bally regional sports to cable customers

Bally Sports regional channels are returning to Comcast cable TV customers.

Diamond Sports — the owner of Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — reached a deal with Comcast on Monday that will see its networks go live for cable customers on Aug. 1.

The networks, which air regular season local games for Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League teams in various markets, had gone dark for Comcast cable customers on May 1 at the start of MLB regular season. Fans of 11 MLB teams, including the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins, were affected.

The deal paves the way for Diamond Sports’ survival after filing for bankruptcy last March. It has been working on securing contracts with various pay TV providers such as Comcast.

“Entering a new carriage agreement with Comcast, our third largest distributor, is a critical step forward in our restructuring effort, and we are pleased that fans will again be able to access broadcasts of their local teams through Xfinity,” said Diamond CEO David Preschlack in a news release.

Diamond has also reached carriage deals with Charter Communications, DirecTV and Fubo.

“With certainty on our distribution, we are focused on finalizing an agreement with the NHL and resolving our ongoing negotiations with the NBA. We are mindful that time is of the essence with basketball and hockey seasons fast approaching, and once agreements with our team and league partners are complete, we intend to move expeditiously to present a plan of reorganization to the Court,” Preschlack said in the release.

The leagues have recently voiced concerns over Diamond Sports’ future in court hearings, questioning whether the company could put together a viable business plan ahead of the upcoming NBA and NHL seasons this fall.

Diamond had been scheduled to seek court approval on Monday for its reorganization plan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, but postponed the hearing as it sought to reach an agreement with Comcast.

The company has said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy protection under the ownership of its creditors.

The negotiations between Diamond and Comcast broke down in May following a dispute over terms, namely how quickly the cable provider could shift the sports networks into a tiered model, meaning customers would have to opt into the packages that include the channels at a higher rate rather than having them included in broader cable packages.

The deal reached on Monday allows for Comcast to offer Diamond Sports networks on such tiers outside of the broader cable package, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss specifics of the deal.

Pay TV companies such as Comcast have been bleeding customers in recent years as customers opt for cheaper streaming options. Comcast said last week it lost 419,000 domestic cable customers during the second quarter and now has roughly 13.2 million subscribers in total.

Once a lucrative business, regional sports networks have been particularly squeezed by customers leaving the cable bundle.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.