Latest news suggestions Diamond Sports may cut ties with Cardinals' broadcast

According to Evan Drellich of The Athletic, Diamond Sports Group, the parent company to Bally Sports, intends on broadcasting only one of its teams with whom it has a contract agreement in 2025: the Atlanta Braves. This leaves nearly a dozen other teams -- including the St. Louis Cardinals -- without a commitment to broadcasting games in 2025 and beyond.

The contract that the Cardinals have with DSG is a bit complicated, as it's referred to as a "joint-venture team". Essentially, the Cardinals' agreement with Diamond is not a formal part of the bankruptcy proceeding that has been in progress for quite some time.

However, this doesn't protect the Cardinals from being cut, as the San Diego Padres were in a similar boat last year. Diamond decided not to pay the Padres in the middle of the 2023 season, so the Padres got their broadcasting rights back.

The court case surrounding Diamond Sports Group and Major League Baseball has been turbulent for over a year now dating back to July of 2023 when MLB took over broadcasting of the Arizona Diamondbacks games.

Teams like the Cardinals have two options now that DSG might cut ties with them: the team can either re-negotiate a deal with Diamond or go elsewhere to find a broadcaster. While other outlets like Comcast and Amazon have shown interest in taking on broadcasting rights to baseball teams, very little has solidified in those areas.

At the team's end-of-the-year press conference on Monday, team president Bill DeWitt III, the person who has been the most in touch with this situation for the Cardinals, spoke about the regional sports network issues surrounding Bally Sports and Diamond Sports Group. For months, DeWitt has kept his options open regarding this situation.

"It appears as though, under almost every scenario we're looking at, the fans will hopefully have a direct-to-consumer product to get our games, basically an app where they can stream games for a fee," said DeWitt III on Monday.

During the team's Winter Warm-Up in January, DeWitt laid out a few options the team could take to broadcast games to its fans. First, there could be a direct-to-consumer network hosted by the Cardinals. A second option includes a collaboration with MLB similar to what the Diamondbacks had last year. A tertiary option would include a joint venture with the St. Louis Blues which is also a direct-to-consumer network. Fourth, the Cardinals could seek to work with another company like Amazon or Spectrum to broadcast games. A new option that was opened up after these proceedings includes re-negotiating with DSG on a new deal.

The uncertainty surrounding the RSN situation has led ownership to be more tepid with its spending these last two years. This also lends credence to ownership's desire to cut back on payroll heading into 2025.

Updates will certainly come regarding the broadcasting of Cardinals games in the future. Stay tuned to Redbird Rants for more information on this developing story.