OKC Thunder games will remain at Bally Sports Oklahoma for the 2024-25 season
OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doing quick drawing
Timelapse drawing of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the OKC Thunder
Thunder fans may not have to question their spectator plans for this season for much longer.
Diamond Sports, the parent company of Bally Sports, made progress in its Chapter 11 proceedings on Friday, proposing a new agreement with the NBA that would allow the group to continue televising the games of the remaining 13 teams involved at least through the 2024-25 season.
The agreement still needs to be approved by the court, with a hearing scheduled for September 3, so there has been no official announcement from the Thunder yet. But everything points to the Thunder returning to Bally Sports, which will be renamed Fanduel Sports next season.
The continuation of the partnership beyond the 2024-25 season depends on Diamond Sports’ efforts to emerge from bankruptcy.
“We have reached a new agreement with Diamond Sports Group for the 2024-25 season in which Diamond RSNs will broadcast local games of 13 NBA teams,” an NBA spokesperson said. “The Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans have declined to continue broadcasting their games on Diamond RSNs and will shortly announce further details on how to watch the upcoming season’s games in their respective markets. This new agreement is subject to bankruptcy court approval.”
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While it was certainly impossible for the Thunder to ignore fans’ complaints about the Bally package – app accessibility, price, or general clunkiness – a return to Bally just two months before the start of the NBA regular season would provide some peace of mind.
And while opting for a terrestrial model – similar to what the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz have done – could certainly lead to more viewers, it would likely take some time to match the revenue the teams would receive through fees from Bally.
After the seemingly successful eight-game test of a partnership with Griffin Media’s KSBI last season, one would assume that the Thunder could have chosen to go the terrestrial route, thus reducing the panic had the Thunder not been included in the agreement.
But until the bankruptcy court makes a decision, OKC will apparently continue with Diamond and not develop a contingency plan.
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