Comcast Reaches Deal With Bally Sports – But It’s Going to Cost You

After a three-month hiatus, Detroit Tigers fans will once again be able to catch the games on TV as Bally Sports Network will be returning to Comcast (Xfinity). But it will cost you.

A Dispute Over Carriage Fees

Carriage fees are the fees paid by cable networks to TV providers for the rights to carry their programming.

Diamond Sports Group is the owner of Bally Sports Network, operating more than a dozen regionally branded sports networks, including Bally Sports Detroit. Diamond Sports and Comcast failed to reach an agreement at the end of April over carriage fees, so Bally's sports networks were pulled from Xfinity cable systems at the beginning of May.

A New Deal Between Bally Sports and Comcast

On Monday (7/29), Comcast and Diamond Sports Group announced they had reached a new deal, ending the three-month dispute over carriage fees.

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The terms of the new deal were not made public, but Bally Sports Detroit (and the provider's other regionally-branded channels) will again be available to Comcast Xfinity customers beginning Thursday, August 1.

Subscribers Should Expect to Pay More for Bally Sports Detroit

The agreement states that Comcast customers who subscribe to Xfinity's 'Ultimate TV' package can watch MLB games starting this week. This is Comcast's higher and more expensive tier but Xfinity says that basic-cable customers will be able to subscribe to the Ultimate TV package for three months at no additional cost.

Comcast's top-tier offering costs between $68.50 and $80 per month, varying throughout the US. Subscribers can also stream games using the Bally Sports app.

As bankruptcy issues loom large for Diamond Sports Group, it remains to be seen if the company will be around to provide access to NBA and NHL games.