How Diamond/Amazon deal will change viewing options for Marlins, Heat, Panthers fans
Fans of the Marlins -- and very likely the Heat and Panthers -- will have another option to watch games in the wake of Diamond Sports’ announcement on Wednesday that it is selling a minority stake to Amazon.
Diamond, which owns the Bally Sports networks (including Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sun), filed for bankruptcy last March, jeopardizing local media rights for 37 NBA, MLB and NHL teams - including the Heat, Marlins and Panthers.
But a $100 million cash infusion from Amazon and a $495 million settlement payment from parent company Sinclair have positioned Diamond to survive and the Bally networks to remain on the air.
Here’s what the resolution means in South Florida:
Bally Sports Florida and Bally Sports Sun likely will continue to exist in the years ahead, and Marlins, Heat and Panthers games will likely continue to appear on those networks.
Meanwhile, Marlins games, beginning this season, also will be streamed on Amazon Prime, which is priced at $139 per year per $14.99 a month. Amazon hasn’t said whether there will be an additional charge, beyond that, to receive Marlins games.
It’s expected that Heat and Panthers games also would begin streaming on Amazon Prime at some point in the coming months or year, while also continuing to air on Bally Sports Sun and Bally Sports Florida.
The agreement also gives Amazon the right to stream the pre-game and postgame shows of its NBA, MLB and NHL teams.
But only five teams – the Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers -- know for sure that their games will be streamed on Amazon in 2024. Those are the five MLB teams whose streaming rights are owned by Diamond.
So the agreement essentially gives Heat, Marlins and Panthers fans a few options:
1). They can continue watching the games on Bally Sports Sun or Florida through a cable or satellite subscription.
2). Beginning with the Marlins this summer and Heat and Panthers eventually, they can drop Bally Sports (or more specifically, their cable or satellite provider) and stream the games on Amazon.
With ESPN expected to make available a direct to consumer option in the next year or two, moving away from cable television could become an appealing option for some sports fans.
3). Bally’s sports app will continue streaming Heat and Panthers games this season, at least until the point that Amazon begins streaming NBA and NHL teams that air on Bally.
Amazon’s deal would not allow fans to watch any out of market games but it might permit fans to watch their home team’s games if they’re out of town.
The Bally app, which costs $19.99 per month, currently allows Heat, Marlins and Panthers to watch their games when they travel out of town, as long they return to South Florida at least once every 30 days. It’s unclear if that policy will be used by Amazon.
Because of the once-in-30-day policy, Heat fans living exclusively in another part of the country could not purchase all Heat games through Amazon Prime, unless the NBA and Amazon strike a deal to authorize that.
NBA fans would need to purchase the league’s more expensive NBA League Pass to watch all of their favorite team’s games if they live exclusively out of market.
Diamond noted in a Wednesday news release that “Amazon also has committed to make a minority investment in Diamond and enter into a commercial arrangement to provide access to Diamond’s services via Prime Video. Under this arrangement, Prime Video will become Diamond’s primary partner through which customers will be able to purchase direct-to-consumer (DTC) access to stream local Diamond channels. Customers will be able to access all local DTC content, including live MLB, NBA and NHL games, and pre- and post-game programming, for the teams for which Diamond retains DTC rights.”
Diamond did not announce Amazon’s plans to stream the games for the Marlins and four other MLB teams beginning this year, but that was confirmed by a source.
Diamond was rescued not only by the Amazon cash, but the nearly half-billion dollar settlement with Sinclair Broadcast that resolved pending litigation that alleged Sinclair fraudulently withdrew as much as $1.5 billion from the regional sports business.
As part of the settlement, Sinclair will pay Diamond $495 million in cash and provide ongoing management and transition services to support its reorganization and separation from Sinclair.
This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 10:33 AM.
