MLB news: Cardinals announce streaming deal as Diamond Sports ruling awaits
The St. Louis Cardinals are sticking with Diamond Sports Group and the recently rebranded FanDuel Sports Network Midwest as their regional sports network. The club announced a multi-year deal with Diamond on Thursday.
The contract includes linear and digital rights, and gives St. Louis fans their first direct-to-consumer streaming option within the Cardinals' extensive territory.
Bottom line: if you live in St. Louis and are willing to pay for Cardinals broadcasts, you will be able to do so.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) November 7, 2024
As described in Thursday's press release, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest will remain the home of the Cardinals, broadcasting all games that are not exclusively televised nationally, as well as pre and postgame shows and original programming.
Besides the streaming option, pay TV customers will be able to stream games and other programming on the FanDuel Sports Network app by authenticating with their pay TV credentials. More information regarding DTC subscriptions, including pricing, will be announced at a later date.
As noted by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Thursday also marks the objection deadline for MLB in the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy case.
The St. Louis Cardinals are sticking with Diamond Sports Group and FanDuel Sports Network Midwest as their RSN on a multi-year deal.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) November 7, 2024
Today is objection deadline for MLB in the Diamond bankruptcy case, so more news should be coming.
Diamond Sports Group is currently awaiting approval in bankruptcy court for its reorganization plan. At a hearing in October, Diamond reportedly filed an amended plan, which creditors and other parties can vote for or against by today's deadline.
A confirmation hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Over the last two years, the former Bally Sports Midwest network saw Cardinals telecasts lose 47% of their audience, according to figures from viewership-monitoring firm Nielsen reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"We are excited about deepening our relationship with the Cardinals and expanding our reach by delivering games to fans on a DTC basis," Diamond CEO David Preschlack said in a press release. "As we progress towards emergence from bankruptcy, we remain committed to providing fans in the Midwest region with high quality broadcasts through our linear and digital offerings and meeting fans where they are in the evolving viewership model.
"We remain in discussions with our other MLB team partners on go-forward plans, and we are confident that our linear and digital framework drives maximum value."
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