Burdened With $8 Billion Debt, Sports Broadcaster Gets Amazon’s Backing, as the $1.56 Trillion Co Gets Airtime for Mavericks, Suns and Clippers’ Games

Diamond Sports Group, the major owner of regional sports networks, succumbed to a colossal $8 billion debt burden, leading to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in Texas last year. The media company had the right to air major sporting events for various professional sports leagues in various parts of the country. So naturally, the bankruptcy filing by Diamond had raised worries for major sports leagues around the country including MLB, NFL, and yes, the NBA.

Well, now Amazon will reap the benefits of the Diamonds Sports Group’s financial decline in a move many had been anticipating for a while. Recently the Billion dollar giant swooped in to buy minority stakes in the bankrupt company, ensuring that Amazon had streaming rights to major sporting events across the country, from the biggest teams in each of the leagues.

For Instance, Amazon Prime will now be streaming the games of the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and Cleveland Cavaliers just to name a few. This news was confirmed by Joe Pompliano on X writing, “Big news this morning that Amazon is acquiring a minority stake in Diamond Sports Group. The regional sports network filed for bankruptcy last year, putting local media rights for 37 teams across the NBA, MLB, and NHL in jeopardy. Now, customers can watch games on Amazon Prime.”

Instability in broadcasting rights and streaming was also the very reason Billionaire Mark Cuban recently sold his majority stake at the Dallas Mavericks after being at the helm of the organization for 23 years.

Mark Cuban’s exit was partly due to ambiguity in the NBA’s future broadcasting rights

According to Forbes, Mark Cuban shared his perspective on why selling the team was the right decision for him. He stated, “Media companies are going out of business. Or they’re consolidating. That world is changing. And so what went from an advantage was not so much an advantage anymore.” Despite initially planning to own the team into his old age, Cuban, now 65, points to shifts in the business and media landscape, particularly the challenges posed by local TV deals. Additionally, he emphasized, “If you look at the teams that spend the most money right now, it’s not because of their media deals. It’s because of the real estate empires that they’ve built. And I have no knowledge in that at all.”

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Consequently, he sold the majority stake in the Mavericks to the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, who are associated with the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Cuban expressed confidence in their expertise, stating, “Patrick and Miriam, they’re the best in the world at what they do. Literally, around the world.” Well now, Cuban’s move feels like a stroke of genius with Amazon’s entry. Do you think Cuban was on point?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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