Rays make ‘amended’ deal to keep games on same TV network with new name

ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays have reached an "amended" deal with Diamond Sports Group to keep their televised games with the same, though renamed, regional sports network.

Under the agreement, revealed Wednesday night in a bankruptcy court filing, the games will be shown on FanDuel Sports Network Sun, previously known as Bally Sports Sun.

The games will continue to be available from some local cable and satellite providers, as well as a new option through Amazon Prime Video's streaming service. Direct-to-consumer streaming remains in place though the network's app.

"We are pleased that Rays fans will continue to be able to watch our games on FanDuel Sports Network," said Rafaela A. Amador Fink, the team's chief public affairs and communications officer.

The deal with the Rays, and several other MLB teams, is pending Diamond Sports Group getting approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy based on its reorganization plan. Diamond operates the regional sports networks for the parent Sinclair Broadcast Group.

That hearing is slated to begin Thursday in Houston. Major League Baseball, in the latest court filing, agreed to lift its objection to the plan, which would seem to be a good sign for approval.

The Rays' TV situation was thrown into flux on Oct. 2, when Diamond said in court it was halting its contracts with the team . That left the Rays to either renegotiate with the company for what presumably is a lower rights fee or arrange for coverage elsewhere. One option would have been to let MLB produce and distribute the games, as six other teams do.

Financial terms and length of what Diamond in the court filing called an "amended telecast rights" agreement were not available.

The St. Louis Cardinals reached agreement last week on a renegotiated deal with Diamond. The team reportedly took a 25% cut in its 2025 rights fee, which the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Athletic said originally was set at around $75 million. That is important, as local TV rights fees account for an average of 21% of a team's revenue, with a range of 12%-32%, according to players union data acquired by The Athletic.

The Rays just completed the sixth of what was supposed to a 15-season TV deal, terms of which were never announced. Forbes reported that the Rays' 2022 TV revenue was $56 million.

The Rays originally negotiated that deal with Fox, which was in the process of selling its regional sports networks to Disney, which then sold them to Sinclair.

Lightning games are currently being show on the rebranded FanDuel Sports Network Sun, with blue logos replacing Bally's red, but all personnel and coverage remains the same.

FanDuel is the largest sportsbook in the United States and provided Diamond with a source of financial backing and name recognition. FanDuel, however, can't do business in Florida, as the state's only legal online sports betting is through the Hard Rock Bet app.

Diamond also reached deals to bring back the Angels, Braves, Marlins and Tigers.

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