New Orleans Pelicans get punctual rights payment from Diamond Sports Group

The Pelicans have received their rights charge payment from Diamond Sports Group, permitting their games for the 2023-24 season to be televised by Bally Sports New Orleans. Pelicans SVP Greg Bensel confirmed that they are preparing to have Bally’s Sports broadcast their games this season, and they have currently had quite a few pre-production conference calls with the Bally’s Sports employees.

Diamond Sports Group, who filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, has left its 15 NBA teams in limbo as they face a court deadline to produce a reorganization program. Nevertheless, the most up-to-date improvement with the Pelicans is observed as promising by NBA executives.
Most of the 15 teams with Bally’s contracts are not scheduled to get payments till October or November. The NBA has assured teams that in case of non-payments from Diamonds, all games will be streamed by way of the NBA App. Nevertheless, teams will require to come across an more than-the-air companion rapidly to broadcast games on linear Television, which the Jazz and Suns have currently achieved.

There is concern amongst NBA teams about how a missed payment will influence their franchise, taking into consideration Diamond’s annual costs are about $40 million per group. Teams would have to recoup lost income by way of ad sales and direct-to-customer streaming packages, and they would require to negotiate offers with their linear partners on the split of production charges. Although teams think they can pivot rapidly if needed, financially it would not be achievable to attain the exact same level as ahead of for the initially couple of years. A broadcasting organization would require to be gradually constructed.