 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Diego County Imperial County Palm Springs Area Las Vegas Valley Southern Arizona Hawaii Nationwide (via satellite) |
| Network | Bally Sports |
| Headquarters | San Diego,California |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Spanish (viaSAP) |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Diamond Sports Group (Sinclair Broadcast Group andEntertainment Studios) |
| Sister channels | Bally Sports SoCal Bally Sports West |
| History | |
| Launched | March 17, 2012 (2012-03-17) |
| Closed | April 2024 |
| Replaced by | MLB Network (padres games only) |
| Former names | Fox Sports San Diego (2012–2021) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
Bally Sports San Diego was an Americanregional sports network owned as ajoint venture betweenDiamond Sports Group (itself a 50-50 joint venture between theSinclair Broadcast Group andEntertainment Studios),[1] and operated as an affiliate ofBally Sports. Prior to the team parting ways with the network in 2023, theSan Diego Padres owned a 20% stake. It was launched on March 17, 2012. The network was liquidated in April 2024.
The channel broadcast local coverage of sports events within theSan Diego market. Bally Sports San Diego was available oncable providers throughoutSan Diego County as well asImperial County,Palm Springs Area,Las Vegas Valley,Southern Arizona andHawaii; it is also available nationwide onsatellite viaDirecTV. Within the San Diego market,Cox Communications andSpectrum provided an alternateSpanish play-by-play feed during Padres games via asecond audio program feed from the team's Spanish radio network.
The network was established afterFox Sports Networks reached a 20-year broadcast agreement for the regional cable television rights to carry games from theSan Diego Padres ofMajor League Baseball, displacing previous rights holder4SD, a local cable channel owned by Cox Communications.Henry S. Ford, an executive who previously ran operations at Fox's regional sports networks inDetroit andOhio, was appointed as president andgeneral manager of Fox Sports San Diego.[2]
Fox Sports San Diego launched on March 17, 2012, with a San Diego Padresspring training game against theKansas City Royals.[3] The network started operations with a minimal presence and no dedicated editing facilities or studio; during its first season, Padres game broadcasts were produced from ahigh-definition production truck inherited from 4SD.Pre-game andpost-game shows were also produced from the same truck, and broadcast from a semi-permanent stage in the "Park at the Park" area ofPetco Park, using a set inspired by a similar staging used by Fox for major sports events televised nationally. Resources have been shared with other FSN outlets; editing facilities were initially based out ofLos Angeles, andmaster control is co-located alongside Fox's other regional sports networks at a facility nearHouston, Texas.[4]
On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,the Walt Disney Company announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from21st Century Fox, including the company's 80% stake in Fox Sports San Diego. However, on June 27, 2018, theJustice Department ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership ofESPN. On May 3, 2019,Sinclair Broadcast Group andEntertainment Studios (through their joint venture,Diamond Holdings) boughtFox Sports Networks from the Walt Disney Company for $10.6 billion.[5] The deal closed on August 22, 2019.[6] On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operatorBally's Corporation to serve as a newnaming rights partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021.[7] On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the2021 Major League Baseball season, Fox Sports San Diego was rebranded asBally Sports San Diego, resulting in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions.[8]
On February 15, 2023, Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports San Diego, failed to make a $140 million interest payment, instead opting for a 30-day grace period to make the payment.[9] On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports Group filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[10]
After filing for bankruptcy, Diamond Sports missed a payment to the Padres in mid-March and entered a grace period. Diamond Sports eventually made the payment on March 29.[11] In mid-May, Diamond Sports missed a second payment to the Padres and once again entered a grace period. On May 30, Diamond let the grace period expire, saying it had "decided not to provide additional funding to the San Diego RSN that would enable it to make the rights payment to the San Diego Padres during the grace period." Because Bally Sports San Diego is ajoint venture between the Padres and Diamond, it is technically not in bankruptcy. Therefore, this missed payment did not have the same bankruptcy protections that Diamond's other missed payments had.[12] As a result, the Padres May 30 game at theMiami Marlins would be the team's last broadcast on Bally Sports San Diego, marking the first time since their bankruptcy filing that Diamond's local rights to a Major League Baseball team reverted to MLB and the affected team, while leaving the future of the network in doubt. MLB subsequently took over production of Padres broadcasts, with the games being made available on select cable channels, includingYurView California, and MLB.TV within the Bally Sports San Diego footprint.[13]
The network was liquidated in April 2024, following a settlement with the Padres.[14]
The channel airs professional sports teams from the neighboringLos Angeles-Orange County market, namely theNBA'sLos Angeles Clippers, and theNHL'sAnaheim Ducks &Los Angeles Kings, simulcasting those televised games by its sister networksBally Sports SoCal andBally Sports West (blacked out in Imperial County). Previously, Bally Sports San Diego also aired Arizona Coyotes games in Imperial County, simulcasting from its now defunct sister channelBally Sports Arizona. Until the team folded in 2014, the network also carried simulcasts of MLS'sChivas USA games from Prime Ticket for the2012 MLS Season.The channel also aired telecasts of theAHL'sSan Diego Gulls[1]
In May 2018, Fox Sports acquired the English-language rights to broadcast the home matches ofLiga MX clubsC.F. Monterrey andClub Tijuana across the Fox Sports family of networks, the latter being located in neighboringTijuana, Baja California, Mexico as well as having an established fan base in the San Diego area. The first match under this contract aired on July 21, 2018, with a match between Tijuana and Guadalajara which was also simulcast nationally onFS1 as well as other nearby Fox Sports regional networks. Bally Sports San Diego does not currently broadcast LigaMX matches.
The network was created as a result of the Padres and Fox Sports signing a 20-year broadcast deal, in which Fox would pay $28 million for rights in the first year and would likely escalate topping out at a potential $75 million in the final year of the contract.[2] The team employs both the radio and television play-by-play teams itself, thusDon Orsillo andMark Grant remained the team's announcers intact at the network's launch, withTony Gwynn Jr. likewise seamlessly transitioning from Bally Sports after the termination of their deal with the Padres.[4]
Cox Communications andDirecTV have carried the channel since its launch.[1][16] Initially, DirecTV only carried Fox Sports San Diego as a part-time feed for live game broadcasts; it later added the dedicated, 24-hour feed on April 1, 2013.[17]AT&T U-verse reached a carriage deal in September 2012, on the final day of the Padres regular season.Dish Network reached an agreement to carry Fox Sports San Diego on February 7, 2013, adding the channel to its lineup two months later on April 1.[18]
Of the five major television providers serving the San Diego region,Time Warner Cable (which is now known asSpectrum that serves roughly 22% of the market)[19] was a notable holdout in carrying the network on launch;[18] by contrast, during the Padres' later tenure with the channel, TWC did carry 4SD (which was also, by contrast, not offered by U-verse or on satellite providers, leading to complaints filed by AT&T to theFederal Communications Commission that eventually led to the removal of the "terrestrial loophole" in 2010).[20] In March 2013, the San Diego City Council held a hearing approving asymbolic resolution pressuring Fox and Time Warner Cable to reach a deal by the opening of the2013 season, citing "the importance of professional baseball in San Diego."[21] On February 10, 2014, Fox announced that they had finally reached an agreement with TWC to carry Fox Sports San Diego; the provider began carrying the channel on March 30, 2014, in time for the2014 season.[19]
In 2015,Frontier FiOS agreed to carry Fox Sports San Diego for the Coachella Valley in time for the2015 season.
The only cable TV providers that haven't carried Bally Sports San Diego since its launch in 2012 areCenturyLink Prism TV in the Las Vegas Valley andHawaiian Telcom in Hawaii.
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** Owned by third parties and operated by Sinclair through various operating agreements. *** Owned by Sinclair and operated byMarquee Broadcasting. JV Joint venture. | ||||||||||||||||||