Marlins games shut out of Bally Sports broadcasts on Xfinity cable
Fans of the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays who watch their teams through Xfinity cable will have to find other options.
A dispute between Diamond Sports Group, parent of Bally Sports, and Xfinity parent Comcast has resulted in the removal of all Bally Sports channels from Xfinity cable systems across the country.
Among the blacked-out channels are Bally Sports Florida, which broadcasts Florida Marlins games, and Bally Sports Sun, home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The two channels also broadcast Miami Heat and Florida Panthers regular-season games. Headed into Wednesday night, the Heat were one playoff loss to the Boston Celtics from ending their season and the Panthers are headed to ESPN and TNT exclusively after dispatching the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
The channels are owned by Diamond Sports Group, which broadcasts 38 teams from Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL, in cities that include Atlanta, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles.
Comcast is the second-largest cable company in the U.S., with 13.6 million customers.
The Washington Post reported that the impasse could impact Diamond’s ability to emerge from a years-long bankruptcy proceeding and have a significant financial impact on all three leagues.
The Post said that the dispute is focused on Comcast’s desire to place the channels to a more expensive tier, and require subscribers to pay more to get them. Prior to the blackout, Bally Sports channels were available as part of Xfinity’s basic tier.
According to some news reports, the channels went dark in the middle of games in several markets.
The two companies released statements on Tuesday blaming each other for the blackout.
The Diamond statement said: “Comcast has refused to engage in substantive discussions despite Diamond offering terms similar to those reached with much larger distributors of ours. We are a fans-first company and will continue to seek an agreement with Comcast to restore broadcasts.”
The company urged fans to access its networks through streaming platforms Fubo, DirecTV Stream, or by subscribing directly to Bally Sports+, its streaming app.
Comcast’s statement said: “We have been very flexible with Diamond Sports Group for months as they work through their bankruptcy proceedings, providing them with an extension on the Bally Sports Regional Networks last fall and a unilateral right to extend the term for another year, which they opted to not exercise. We’d like to continue carrying their networks, but they have declined multiple offers and now we no longer have the rights to this programming.”
Comcast said it would “proactively” credit customers for the costs associated with the channels. Most subscribers will receive $8 to $10 a month in credits, the company said.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.