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Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff WriterOct 8, 2024, 03:45 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it will produce and distribute local games for the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins for next season, signaling that all three teams will break away from the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group.
The Texas Rangers will also break away from Diamond, which is 19 months into Chapter 11 reorganization, but is considering other local media options for the 2025 season, MLB announced.
The Guardians, Brewers and Twins will join the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres as teams under MLB’s umbrella. The Diamondbacks and Padres were dropped by Diamond last year; the Rockies were previously affiliated with Warner Bros. Discovery, who shut down or sold their regional sports networks at the end of 2023.
MLB, which launched a local-media division when Diamond went into bankruptcy, will negotiate cable and satellite distribution agreements and make local streaming available through MLB.tv. Joining MLB and thus not being tied to the territorial rights associated with distributors will eliminate blackouts. MLB projects that games for the Guardians and Twins — teams that, unlike the Brewers, did not have a local direct-to-consumer streaming option — will see increases of 235% and 307%, respectively, in reach.
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The Guardians, Twins, Brewers and Rangers were all on expiring deals with Diamond. Eight other teams — the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals — are still in limbo.
Diamond recently submitted a reorganization plan that calls for it to shed broadcasting rights for every team in its portfolio except the Braves, though the company is seeking renegotiated terms with the other teams. A confirmation date, during which a bankruptcy judge will determine whether Diamond will move forward as a reorganized business, has been set for Nov. 14-15 in Houston.
