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** [[HumiliationConga Things have only gotten worse for Sinclair from there]] -- in addition to a major cyberattack crippling the company in fall 2021 (the effects of which are detailed in the Real World folder on WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties, though ironically, the Bally [=RSNs=] weren't affected by this) and the sale of their pro wrestling division, Wrestling/RingOfHonor, in 2022, it became clear that Sinclair had only purchased the [=RSNs=] from Disney because they wanted to buy something after their own hubris led to the collapse of a deal to buy Tribune Media a couple years prior. By this point, the [=RSN=] industry simply wasn't what it used to be -- soaring rights fees to pro teams, a lack of viewership for programming outside of live events (something that had bedeviled Fox since they formed FSN back in 1996), and the rise of streaming (with many streaming services refusing to carry [=RSNs=] because of the insane fees charged to pay the teams, which is also a key reason why cable has become so expensive) have added up into a rapidly-collapsing market; Disney in effect had found Sinclair to be a willing sucker. Ergo, Sinclair has struggled with paying off the debt load as the deal they made to buy the networks was highly-leveraged. Ultimately, the cracks began to show in March 2023, when Diamond Sports (the holding company Sinclair owns the Bally Sports networks through) missed a $140 million interest payment, then declared bankruptcy 30 days later. As a result, Sinclair was unable to pay several teams carried by their networks, primarily MLB teams, forcing the league to begin creating contingency plans; the San Diego Padres ultimately left when Diamond missed a payment to keep the Padres on Bally Sports San Diego (for now the games can be seen blackout-free via the MLB.TV streaming service). Even worse, Diamond has also become entangled in legal maneuvering between them and the Phoenix Suns NBA team when the latter [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere opted to sign a deal with Gray Television to air their games OTA]], and worsening the ordeal, a short time later, the Arizona Diamondbacks also left Bally Sports Arizona following another missed payment (like the Padres, their games can currently be seen blackout-free via the MLB.TV streaming service). The resulting money drain on Sinclair has resulted in several of their small-market stations being forced to either cutback or completely scrap their (often low-rated) local news departments. The question isn't how Diamond will completely collapse, it's ''when''; Arizona ended up becoming the first Diamond network to [[NetworkDeath cease operations entirely]] following the loss of the Suns and Diamondbacks; the Arizona Coyotes, unlike the other teams, were willing to hang around, but Diamond decided to close shop altogether given the Coyotes' own woes (which date back long before the Diamond fiasco), leaving them to follow the Suns' lead by signing a deal with Scripps Sports, the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company, to run their games OTA.
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** [[HumiliationConga Things have only gotten worse for Sinclair from there]] -- in addition to a major cyberattack crippling the company in fall 2021 (the effects of which are detailed in the Real World folder on WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties, though ironically, the Bally [=RSNs=] weren't affected by this) and the sale of their pro wrestling division, Wrestling/RingOfHonor, in 2022, it became clear that Sinclair had only purchased the [=RSNs=] from Disney because they wanted to buy something after their own hubris led to the collapse of a deal to buy Tribune Media a couple years prior. By this point, the [=RSN=] industry simply wasn't what it used to be -- soaring rights fees to pro teams, a lack of viewership for programming outside of live events (something that had bedeviled Fox since they formed FSN back in 1996), and the rise of streaming (with many streaming services refusing to carry [=RSNs=] because of the insane fees charged to pay the teams, which is also a key reason why cable has become so expensive) have added up into a rapidly-collapsing market; Disney in effect had found Sinclair to be a willing sucker. Ergo, Sinclair has struggled with paying off the debt load as the deal they made to buy the networks was highly-leveraged. Ultimately, the cracks began to show in March 2023, when Diamond Sports (the holding company Sinclair owns the Bally Sports networks through) missed a $140 million interest payment, then declared bankruptcy 30 days later. As a result, Sinclair was unable to pay several teams carried by their networks, primarily MLB teams, forcing the league to begin creating contingency plans; the San Diego Padres ultimately left when Diamond missed a payment to keep the Padres on Bally Sports San Diego (for now the games can be seen blackout-free via the MLB.TV streaming service). Even worse, Diamond has also become entangled in legal maneuvering between them and the Phoenix Suns NBA team when the latter [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere opted to sign a deal with Gray Television to air their games OTA]], and worsening the ordeal, a short time later, the Arizona Diamondbacks also left Bally Sports Arizona following another missed payment (like the Padres, their games can currently be seen blackout-free via the MLB.TV streaming service). The resulting money drain on Sinclair has resulted in several of their small-market stations being forced to either cutback or completely scrap their (often low-rated) local news departments. The question isn't how Diamond will completely collapse, it's ''when''; Arizona ended up becoming the first Diamond network to [[NetworkDeath cease operations entirely]] following the loss of the Suns and Diamondbacks; the Arizona Coyotes, unlike the other teams, were willing to hang around, but Diamond decided to close shop altogether given the Coyotes' own woes (which date back long before the Diamond fiasco), fiasco and which would ultimately lead to plans for them to relocate to Salt Lake City after the 2023-24 season), leaving them to follow the Suns' lead by signing a deal with Scripps Sports, the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company, to run their games OTA.
