Padres to receive just a fraction of Bally contract money following settlement

The Padres will recoup just a fraction of what they were owed when Bally Sports San Diego’s parent company defaulted on its television contract last season, according to a copy of an agreement filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday.

Diamond Sports Group agreed last year to pay the team as much as $78.9 million, as first reported by Awful Announcing. However, a Padres source said Thursday the team is expecting just $17 million total.

The Padres originally sought $162 million from Diamond Sports Group, which was contracted to broadcast the team's games through 2032 at roughly $60 million per year — a total of more than $360 million.

The confidential agreement was made public as part of an exhibit in a motion for the federal judge overseeing the case in the Southern District of Texas.

The sides eventually settled for an initial payment of just under $10.5 million and a remaining-assets payment.

The first payment is due 30 days following Tuesday’s filing. It was not immediately clear when the second payment, which reflects 62.5 percent of the liquidated cash value of Bally Sports San Diego, is scheduled to occur.

As part of the settlement, all parties have agreed to drop current and future litigation.

A spokesperson for Major League Baseball, which took over producing Padres broadcasts last summer and now negotiates local TV contracts for the team, deferred comment to the Padres. The team said it could not comment, citing pending litigation.

Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy last year as it looked to eliminate more than $8 billion in outstanding debut.

The company made an 11 ^th -hour payment to the Padres on the eve of last year’s opening day and was required to make a final payment in May.

Instead, Diamond allowed a grace period to expire, sending broadcast rights back to the Padres and Major League Baseball. Diamond has since terminated its regional sports network contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks through bankruptcy proceedings, the fallout of years of losses set against the backdrop of consumer cord-cutting.

Last year's termination of the Padres’ contract arrived as the club pushed spending to a franchise-record $256 million. Major League Baseball agreed to backstop the Padres at 80 percent of its Bally contract for 2023. The Padres cut opening day payroll by more than $90 million to start 2024, although team officials have downplayed the impact that the loss of the Diamond contract would have on finances moving forward.

The team's current payroll projection is $161 million, good for 15 ^th in the major leagues according to information tracked at sportrac.com . The Padres ranked third last year.

“There’s a lot coming in that’s higher than it’s been in the past on the revenue side and some areas where we’ve taken small steps back,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner said in February . “But overall, the fan support that we’ve received, the attendance, the ticket revenue has allowed us to continue to field a competitive payroll, and we’re incredibly thankful for that. And we’re able to do that regardless of taking a little bit of a step back on the TV side.”

Staff writer Alex Riggins contributed to this report.

Updates :
9:32 a.m. April 18, 2024 : A team source on Thursday clarified the expected payment total.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .