ST. LOUIS – There’s a possibility that St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues games could be broadcast on Amazon Prime after their 2024 seasons.
E-commerce giant Amazon is considering a partnership with the Diamond Sports Group that could lead to Amazon Prime streaming games currently airing on Diamond’s regional sports networks, according to reports Monday from the Wall Street Journal and Axios. That would include games on Bally Sports Midwest, the broadcast home of the Cardinals and Blues.
Diamond Sports Group, the largest owner of regional sports networks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March after missing a $140 million interest payment. Last month, multiple reports hinted that the Diamond Sports Group could shut down after fulfilling obligations for the 2024 MLB regular season, which ends in late September.
For now, the Blues will finish up the 2023-24 season, and the Cardinals will play the 2024 season on Bally Sports Midwest. The future beyond that remains to be determined.
Wall Street Journal reports there is a “deal under discussion” between Amazon and Bally Sports, but not many specifics have been disclosed as to what it could entail. Axios reports a bankruptcy judge would have to approve any potential deal.
The Diamond Sports Group has the rights to 39 professional MLB, NBA and NHL teams. A Bloomberg report from November says a plan for liquidation is not yet fully certain and that Diamond Sports could continue to explore other alternative options.
Since its bankruptcy, Diamond Sports has cut ties with MLB’s San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks and also agreed to a wind-down deal with NBA broadcasts that expires after the 2023-24 season.
The St. Louis Business Journal reports that Bally Sports Midwest posted a profit of $2.5 million last year, which has been followed by a net loss of $13.8 million to this point in 2023.
Prior to the bankruptcy, Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III told FOX 2 that the Cardinals ownership was aware of potential changes to streaming and that MLB would work on a contingency plan, as it has for the Padres and Diamondbacks.
