Bally Sports still set to air games


As of Tuesday morning, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ official schedule online didn’t list any games being on Bally Sports Arizona this season, which might have caused fans to panic amid the speculation surrounding the uncertainty of the station, and other regional sports networks.
But Diamondbacks fans have no reason to fear according to the network’s official Diamondbacks broadcast schedule, at least right now.
Bally Sports Arizona is planning to air 159 Diamondbacks games this season on either its main channel or Bally Sports Arizona Extra, according to a master broadcasting schedule for the team obtained by The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.
155 of them are scheduled to air on Bally Sports Arizona.
Bally Sports Arizona Extra is set to broadcast four Diamondbacks games this season, while Fox and Peacock and AppleTV+ each have one game. FS1 will broadcast another game, according to the schedule, in addition to it being on Bally Sports Arizona.
Find a game:Next three games on schedule, TV information for Arizona sports teams
Diamondbacks games on Bally Sports Arizona Extra in 2023:
- Friday, March 31, 7:10 p.m., at Dodgers
- Sunday, April 2, 1:10 p.m., at Dodgers
- Friday, April 7, 6:40 p.m., vs. Dodgers
- Sunday, April 9, 1:10 p.m., vs. Dodgers
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Diamondbacks games not on Bally Sports Arizona or Bally Sports Arizona Extra in 2023:
- Saturday, May 27, 4:15 p.m., vs. Red Sox (Fox)
- Sunday, June 11, 8:35 a.m., at Tigers (Peacock)
- Friday, June 30, 6:38 p.m., at Angels (AppleTV+)
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Diamondbacks game on FS1 and Bally Sports Arizona in 2023:
- Saturday, June 17, 7:10 p.m., vs. Guardians
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Friday night on Arizona Bally Sports stations
Interestingly, the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Coyotes and Diamondbacks are all in action on Friday night, March 31, and Bally Sports Arizona is set to broadcast the Suns vs. Nuggets game at 7 p.m.
The Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers game is set to air on Bally Sports Arizona Extra at 7:10 p.m.
The Coyotes vs. Stars game is scheduled to be shown on a special Bally Sports Coyotes station at 7:30 p.m. that can be seen on DirecTV (686-2), Cox YurView (4 in Phoenix, 7 in Tucson), FUBOTV, Orbitel (225/925) and Altice (40/127).
More:Arizona Diamondbacks on TV: Bally Sports Arizona channel finder, service providers
Streaming options for Diamondbacks games
Diamondbacks fans can also watch the game on the Bally Sports app, but not on Bally Sports+, the streaming service that shows Suns and Coyotes games (Suns and Coyotes games are also available on the Bally Sports app).
Bally Sports currently has the rights to stream the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays on Bally Sports+, but not other MLB teams.
More:Phoenix Suns, Arizona Coyotes games to be available on new streaming service Bally Sports+
Murky future for Bally Sports Arizona, regional sports networks
Diamond Sports Group, which owns Bally Sports Arizona and several other regional sports networks, is currently in bankruptcy proceedings and speculation has swirled about the future of the stations, which broadcast a lot of MLB games.
Fourteen clubs, including the Diamondbacks, have broadcast agreements with Bally Sports. League-wide, approximately 21% of MLB’s $10.8 billion in annual revenue comes from local broadcast agreements.
In the season-opening press conference last month, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said that Diamond has told the league that it intends to pay its contracts for this season. Manfred also reiterated that, “our first choice would be that Diamond pay the clubs what they’re contractually obligated to pay them.”
“It’s hard to escape the reality that the change in media consumption has been particularly hard on the (regional sports networks),” Manfred said. “Obviously we want all of our broadcast partners to be successful, we don’t want them to have financial difficulties. And we have been spending a lot of time and effort trying to work with Diamond to figure out exactly where they are.”
As for now, it looks like the Diamondbacks games will go forward on Bally Sports Arizona as scheduled.
Theo Mackie contributed to this story.
More:MLB commissioner outlines future for Bally Sports deals amid bankruptcy speculation
Reach Jeremy Cluff at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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