Amazon Prime Video to stream Diamond Sports regional networks

On Wednesday, November 13, Diamond Sports – which owns and operates 16 regional sports networks and recently rebranded through a partnership with the FanDuel Sports Network – reached a deal with Amazon Prime to allow the popular streaming service to broadcast their games as an add-on subscription offer for Prime customers.

This isn’t the first time a sports broadcast network has turned to streaming to combat declining ratings. Several networks, including the New York Yankees’ YES Network, which launched its own streaming service called Gotham Sports in October this year.

Amazon had previously invested much of the change in Diamond Sports. In January, Amazon reached a deal with Diamond to gain access to some of its local content during the MLB season — specifically games for the Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers. At the time, Amazon did not have access to the entire Diamond Sports collection. After all, creditors had invested $450 million in Diamond Sports to ensure they could continue to broadcast NBA and NHL games until the end of the 2023-2024 season.

Now, however, it looks like Amazon has started cashing in on the rest of the Diamond Sports ensemble. Here’s everything you need to know about Diamond Sports’ latest collaboration:

Isn’t Diamond Sports going bankrupt?

Yes.

However, just because Diamond Sports is going bankrupt doesn’t mean it can’t broadcast regional sports. Diamond Sports is currently undergoing a reorganization plan that has drawn skepticism from Major League Baseball. Diamond Sports has reportedly sought court approval to continue its partnership with Amazon despite MLB’s misgivings. More information should be available Thursday.

How will games be available on Amazon?

Diamond Sports announced earlier this week that it would offer games a la carte on Amazon and the FanDuel Sports Network app. Essentially, fans get the opportunity to spend $6.99 to watch individual games of select teams broadcasting through Diamond Sports. A subscription is not necessary.

However, that is quite pricey, and unfortunately that may be the case for a while. Networks have been careful when it comes to pricing their streaming options, not wanting to set them so low that it would disrupt the cable TV model and violate their contracts with distributors. Despite the rapidly declining cable television model, a large portion of Diamond Sports’ broadcasting still takes place via cable television.

Is this agreement exclusive?

No.

Diamond Sports would still have the option to find streaming deals from other streaming services. The main benefactor of this is FanDuel Sports, which acquired the rights to broadcast Diamond Sports’ content on its platforms in October. Streaming options with the FanDuel Sports Network, especially through the network’s app, will still be available despite much of the content coming to Amazon.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon Prime to stream Diamond Sports regional networks