ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers say the television network Bally Sports, whose parent company filed for bankruptcy in March, is not making required payments and that the club is tired of the network getting "a free lunch," according to a lawsuit filed in federal court this week.
The filing was yet another chapter in the ongoing saga surrounding Bally, which is only available through a handful of providers and has left North Texas sports fans largely frustrated over not getting to watch local teams.
Bally, whose parent company is Diamond Sports Group, has a subscription service that customers can purchase for $19.99 per month, without needing a cable provider, but the service does not carry Rangers games.
Now, Diamond, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, has missed a payment to the Rangers, the club's lawsuit said.
"That 'there ain't no such thing as a free lunch' is a well-recognized, simple, but axiomatic economic principle," the Rangers lawsuit said. "Everyone understands it - everyone, apparently, except the Debtors (Diamond Sports Group)."
Diamond Sports Group officials on Friday declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The Rangers lawsuit said Diamond has also missed payments to Diamondbacks, Twins and Guardians.
The Rangers in their lawsuit said Diamond needs to "make reasonable interim payments for the rights they are using."
"Unless and until the Debtors convince the Court that some other amount is reflective of the fair price for lunch, that is the amount the Debtors should be required to pay on an interim basis," the Rangers lawsuit said. "If the Court later determines that a different amount is fair value, that amount can be adjusted—up or down—in the remaining payments."
The publicly-available copy of the lawsuit was redacted in some areas, including specifics about the amount of payments and specific terms of the deal between Diamond and the Rangers.
It's not entirely clear what happens next in the court case, or with the Rangers game broadcasts, which continued to air on Bally as usual.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in February that the league would step in to produce and broadcast teams that impacted by the Diamond bankruptcy, if Diamond began missing payments.
It wasn't clear Friday if that stage had been reached, and Major League Baseball officials have not commented on the ordeal.
