For those looking for some clarity regarding what’s happening with Bally Sports – don’t.

It’s one significant, convoluted mess of debt, sports rights and media evolution.

There’s little doubt that Diamond Sports Group, the holding company that owns and operates the Bally Sports regional sports networks via Sinclair Broadcasting, possesses significant debt. The argument when Sinclair dipped its toes into the sports waters was that those sports networks, purchased from the Walt Disney Co. so the latter could complete its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, was an overpriced luxury vehicle that was all show and no go.

That was way back in 2019.

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A pandemic and accelerated cord cutting later and that observation is proving correct — all while Bally’s makes much of its money on per-viewer carriage fees. Disney couldn’t get its asking price of $20 billion when trying to offload the networks, settling for the bargain basement price of $10.6 billion, according to reports.

Now, Diamond, according to a Bloomberg report, is looking to restructure its $8.6 billion debt in the hopes it can emerge as a stronger company. Diamond, however, currently owes $55 billion in sports rights across 19 properties for deals with NBA, MLB and NHL teams. Locally, that includes Bally Sports Great Lakes and Bally Sports Ohio, which hold sports rights for professional sports teams including the Reds, Guardians, Cavs and Blue Jackets.

What could happen if Bally Sports goes bankrupt?

Diamond is considering its options, the least favorable one being bankruptcy. If that happens it could cut off an important local revenue source of those teams. There exist any number of ways this could play out, including the teams being given their rights back or the leagues taking an ownership stake in any broadcast entity. That’s an idea that’s been floated before.

Cord cutting clogs Bally Sports revenue stream

That’s just the broadcast side of all of this.

There exists a fundamental reason why Bally Sports is in this mess – cord cutting, the movement that started as consumer empowerment, but it slowly but surely evolving into something else.

There was a time when live TV services (think YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV) served an economical alternative to cable TV systems.

People liked saving a few bucks and having most of what cable offered, including regional sports networks. That’s until those services didn’t offer sports. YouTube TV and Hulu eventually parted ways with Bally Sports. At that time, YTTV possessed more than 3 million subscribers and Hulu 3.3 million. They have grown without the “advantage” of having regional sports networks as YTTV now has over 5 million subscribers and Hulu claims 4 million.

It helps that Fubo TV recently announced it was getting into the regional sports game after three years. With it came a significant price bump to its reported 1.23 million customers.

It’s a calculated gamble. Fubo will certainly add some sports fans to its subscriber base, but it should be concerned about potential losses given the price increase. Sports viewers tend to squawk the loudest about carriage issues, but when it comes to actual numbers, they’re a minority – unless it’s the NFL – when it comes to viewership.

Research from Wizer, a marketing study firm, showed that 21.6% of pay TV subscribers watch ESPN regularly. That leaves nearly 80% who don’t give a rip about what some jokingly refer to as “sportsball.”

The loss of audience over time, despite that recent gain, has left Bally’s swimming in red. Where will that leave Guardians and Cavs fans?

When I get a crystal ball, I’ll let you know.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Potential Bally Sports bankruptcy muddles future of local channels